公益林生态效益价值居民支付意愿实证分析——以贵阳市为例

以贵阳市公益林为研究对象,采用条件价值评估法（CVM）,通过设计问卷、调查实施,对贵阳市居民公益林补偿的支付意愿（WTP）及影响因素进行了分析。结果显示：（1）73.6%贵阳市居民家庭对公益林生态效益价值有支付意愿,平均意愿支付额为每户家庭每年人民币213.96元;（2）支付意愿受社会经济因素综合影响,其中年龄、收入水平及环境关注态度对支付意愿具有显著影响,是影响支付意愿的主要因素。在对居民支付意愿影响因素进行分析的基础上,提出了一些建议性政策。     

SEQUESTERING CARBON ON AGRICULTURAL LAND: SOCIAL COST AND IMPACTS ON TIMBER MARKETS

Planting trees to sequester carbon has broad political appeal. However, effects of a major tree planting program on the agricultural sector and on timber markets are unclear. This paper examines social costs of sequestering carbon in tree plantations on U.S. agricultural land and investigates harvesting's effects on timber prices and on private timber producers' welfare. The analysis links a model of the U.S. agricultural sector that includes the land base in major production areas with a model of the U.S. softwood economy. Using current data on planting, maintenance, and harvesting costs for tree plantations and carbon sequestration rates, the models estimate the price and welfare effects of alternative carbon sequestration goals. Results indicate a range of outcomes. Consumers pay higher prices for food as farmers divert land from crops to trees. However, wood products consumers gain from falling timber prices if the trees enter commercial markets. Agricultural producers and landowners gain from higher commodity prices, but private forest owners lose. Large tree planting programs imply that policymakers must compensate private commercial tree planting to prevent farmers from displacing present tree plantations.     

Public versus private demand for covering long-term care expenditures

This article studies the determinants of the Willingness to Pay (WTP) for Long-Term Care (LTC) insurance coverage. Two alternatives are considered: one compulsory, financed through taxes, the other purchased on a voluntary basis and paid through a premium. WTP was elicited through open-ended contingent valuation within a survey conducted in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna about LTC population needs. We model information on individual WTP as a two-stage process, where respondents first establish their interest for LTC cover, then state their WTP. Results show that interest and WTP are influenced by different variables, and that differences arise also between the WTP for public and private coverage.     

Who cares about relative status? A quantile approach to consumption of relative house size

I estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) to live in a house near neighbours with relatively smaller (or larger) houses using housing transaction data. I find that consumers in the 50^th and 75^th percentile are willing to pay the most for an increase in relative housing consumption while consumers in the lower percentiles and the highest percentile yield a smaller, and statistically insignificant, WTP. This gives evidence to popular media reports that the middle class values relative status the most.     

Are Korean consumers willing to pay a tax for a mandatory BSE testing programme?

The outbreaks of mad cow disease (BSE) have significantly increased the demand for food safety programs in the Korean beef market. Two issues that are getting much attention are about whether Korea should implement mandatory testing of slaughtered domestic cattle for BSE and whether consumers are willing to pay a tax for the programme. No study, however, has examined consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) a tax for a BSE testing programme. We conducted a contingent valuation (CV) study using a double-bounded dichotomous choice approach to estimate Korean consumers’ valuation for a mandatory BSE testing programme on slaughtered domestic cattle that are 21 months or older. Our results show that the sample-population adjusted mean estimate of WTP a tax per year is 4482 KRW (US $4.01) per household. This suggests that Korean consumers have a strong preference for a mandatory testing of domestic cattle for BSE. This study also found that Korean consumers’ WTP for the programme is greater than estimated implementation costs of the programme. These results imply that implementing a mandatory BSE testing programme in Korea could confer positive consumer welfare.     

Willingness to Pay for Ancillary Benefits of Climate Change Mitigation

Assessing the Willingness to Pay (WTP) of the general public for climate change mitigation programmes enables governments to understand how much taxpayers are willing to support the implementation of such programs. This paper contributes to the literature on the WTP for climate change mitigation programmes by investigating, in addition to global benefits, the ancillary benefits of climate change mitigation. It does so by considering local and personal benefits arising from climate change policies. The Contingent Valuation Method is used to elicit the WTP for ancillary and global benefits of climate mitigation policies in the Basque Country, Spain. Results show that WTP estimates are 53–73% higher when ancillary benefits are considered.     

Willingness to pay for a clear night sky: use of the contingent valuation method

This article applies the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to the issue of night sky pollution. Light pollution decreases the ability to view a clear, unobstructed night sky. We administered a survey to the students of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) to obtain estimates of Willingness To Pay (WTP) to improve night sky visibility and to prevent deterioration in visibility. This is the first CVM study that attempts to distinguish between these different WTPs. We find that students are willing to pay significantly more for a larger improvement in night sky conditions. We also find significant differences in WTP to improve versus prevent deterioration in night sky conditions.     

Valuing Global Ecosystem Services: What Do European Experts Say? Applying the Delphi Method to Contingent Valuation of the Amazon Rainforest

Valuing global public goods like the Amazon rainforest by stated preference surveys of a representative sample of the global population would be very costly and time consuming. We explore the use of the Delphi Method in contingent valuation (CV) by asking a panel of 49 European environmental valuation experts in two rounds what they think would be the result if a European CV survey of Amazon Rainforest protection plans was conducted. The experts’ best guess for the mean willingness-to-pay (WTP) by European households for preserving the current Amazon Rainforest, and thus avoiding a predicted loss in forest area by 2050 from currently 85% to 60% of the original forest in the 1970s, was 28 € per household annually as an additional income tax. Aggregated over all European households this amounts to about 8.4 billion € annually. This preliminary estimate indicate that WTP of distant beneficiaries is substantial, and could justify preservation of global ecosystem services where aggregated benefits of the local population often do not exceed the opportunity costs of preservation in terms of lost income from commercial activities. The income elasticity of WTP with respect to per-capita income in the European countries is 0.5–0.6. Recognizing the limitations and assumptions of the Delphi CV method, it could still be a time saving and cost-effective benefit transfer tool for providing international donors with much needed order-of-magnitude estimates of the non-use value of ecosystem services of global significance.     

Buying your way into a healthier lifestyle: a latent class analysis of healthy food purchases

A nonhypothetical second-price Vickrey auction was conducted to elicit consumer preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for vegetable attributes, including production technique, origin, taste and health benefits. Using a latent class analysis (LCA) we segmented participants based on health-driven motivations, WTP estimates and socio-economic characteristics. Two latent classes were found and characterized as: ‘Health Conscious’ and ‘Health Redeemers’. In particular, the ‘Health Conscious’ consumers presented healthy lifestyle habits, expressed price premiums for domestic and local-specialty food products after a blind tasting treatment, but they did not have price premiums for health benefits of the products. On the contrary, the ‘Health Redeemers’ presented unhealthy lifestyles but they were willing to pay more for healthy food products, perhaps in an attempt to make up for their unhealthy habits.     

Are There Income Effects on Global Willingness to Pay for Biodiversity Conservation?

This paper is concerned with the empirical relationship between biodiversity conservation values and income. We use random effects panel models to examine the effects of income, and then GDP per capita, on willingness to pay for habitat and biodiversity conservation. In a meta-analysis, 145 Willingness To Pay estimates for biodiversity conservation where existence value plays a major role were collected from 46 contingent valuation studies across six continents. Other effects included in the meta-analysis were the study year; habitat type; continent; scope as presented to respondents; whether WTP bids were for preventing a deterioration or gaining an improvement in conservation, whether a specific species or specific habitat was protected; whether the questionnaire used a dichotomous choice or an open-ended format; distribution format; and the choice of payment vehicle. GDP per capita seemed to perform as well as an explanatory variable as respondent’s mean stated income, indicating that it is wealth in society as a whole which determines variations in WTP. Even if large variation, our main conclusion is, that the demand for biodiversity conservation rises with a nation’s wealth, but the income elasticity of willingness to pay is less than one.     

An evening at the theatre: using choice experiments to model preferences for theatres and theatrical productions

This article examines people's preferences and demand for live theatre. It investigates the preferences for people attending a regional theatre, Northern Stage in Newcastle, in relation to other live theatres they could attend, and in relation to the attributes of theatrical productions and ticket price. It uses a Stated Preference (SP), discrete choice experiment, to assess people's utility and Willingness To Pay (WTP) for the different attributes of theatrical productions. The model assesses the effect of the attributes of plays on choice; and the impact of Socio-Economic (SE) and demographic variables on choice and demand. Results reveal the heterogeneity of theatregoers’ tastes for different types of plays and ticket prices. The models reveal the significance of ‘reviews’ and ‘Word Of Mouth’ (WOM) opinions on plays, as the most important variables determining choice.     

Consumers’ preferences for a local food product: a real choice experiment

This paper analyses consumers’ preferences for a local food in Spain and assesses their willingness to pay (WTP) using a real choice experiment to mitigate possible hypothetical bias. In particular, preferences for fresh lamb meat were investigated and two attributes evaluated, “locally grown” and the type of lamb meat. Data came from an experiment conducted in Spain during 2009. An error component random Parameter model with correlated errors was used to estimate the effect of the attributes on consumers’ utility and derive their WTP. Results suggest that consumers positively value both attributes and are willing to pay a premium of 9 % price increase for the “locally grown” lamb meat (“Ojinegra from Teruel”) and 13 % price increase for the “Ternasco” lamb meat. If we assume a market where only “Ternasco” lamb meat without indication of the local origin is sold, and then a new “Ternasco” lamb is introduced in the market with the “Ojinegra from Teruel” label, this new local lamb meat would capture 18 % of the market if the package is assumed to be sold at 3.5 \(\hbox {C}\!\!\!\!\!=\) and a 10 % market share if the package is assumed to be sold at 4 \(\hbox {C}\!\!\!\!\!=\) .     

Inverse probability weighting to control for censoring in a post hoc analysis of quality-adjusted survival data from a clinical trial of temsirolimus for renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

Objectives: The Belgian third-party payer wishes to set reimbursement tariffs at a level that reflects the costs of orthotic braces. This article aims to calculate production and distribution costs of a prefabricated hard neck and knee brace and to explore whether Belgian tariffs and actual retail prices correspond with estimated costs of these two braces.

Methods: The cost model considered manufacturing costs, general overheads, research and development costs, warehousing costs, profit and distribution margins. Data were gathered from manufacturers, a production site visit, desk research, a decomposition of finished products and stakeholder interviews. The price year was 2007.

Results: The cost model estimated a retail price of €55–€150 for the neck brace, depending on assumptions. The estimated retail price for the neck brace was lower than the reimbursement tariff of €194 and the actual retail price of €241. The estimated retail price of €331–€694 for the knee brace was lower than the actual retail price of €948.

Conclusions: Actual retail prices and reimbursement tariffs for a neck brace and a knee brace exceeded prices based on estimated costs. Therefore, there appears to be scope for reducing tariffs.     

Consumers’ preferences for the attributes of post-PC: results of a contingent ranking study

With the explosive growth of the internet and the change in consumer demand, post-PC is emerging as a substitute for the existing desktop PC and laptop PC. post-PC is a new computer which is portable with wireless networking, cheaper than the existing PC and specializing in the specific functions that consumers want. Rudimentary post-PCs such as PDA, web-pad and smart-phone are already in use. In the future, owing to technological progress, the heterogeneity of related companies and the low entry barrier, various post-PCs will be developed. This paper attempts to analyse consumers’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for post-PC with such attributes as portability, CPU speed, data input method (using key board or electric pen), monitor size, and price. To this end, a contingent ranking method is applied, which makes the respondents rank hypothetical post-PC alternatives featuring various combinations of attributes, via a survey data collected in Korea. Using the estimated WTP, the shape and the capacity of future post-PC are predicted and policy implications drawn for national- and company-level R&D strategies.     

Monopsony and Time–Consistency: Sustainable Pricing Policies for Perennial Crops

Since farmers in developing countries must make sunk investments to produce perennial crops, governments, in the guise of state-run marketing boards, face constraints on maximal sustinable price which can be charged by a marketing board assuming that "punishments" involve reversion to subsistence by untrusting farmers. This maximal price balances concerns about revenue extraction against the incentive of governments to cheat by capitalizing on sunk investments.     

Costs of administration,travelling, and productivity losses associated with hospital administration of multiple myeloma drugs in Finland

Aim: To estimate the drug administration, travelling, and productivity costs associated with infusion or subcutaneous proteasome inhibitor (PI) treatments (specifically carfilzomib and bortezomib) for multiple myeloma (MM) patients in Finland.

Materials and methods: Price tariffs of Finnish hospital districts are used as the basis of invoicing sent to healthcare service payers. A review of these price tariff lists was conducted and obtained data analysed to estimate the mean unit cost of PI administration visit. Travelling costs stratified by areas with different population densities were assessed, based on the national travelling reimbursement register data maintained by the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. Productivity costs due to time spent on administration visits and travelling were estimated based on an expert interview and a spatial healthcare accessibility analysis.

Results: Nineteen (95%) of the Finnish hospital districts were included in the review. Relevant unit cost information was found for 15 (75%) of the districts. The mean PI administration cost alone was 270€ (95% CI?=?189€–351€) per administration and increased to 371€ when travelling costs were included. Productivity costs added, the mean PI administration costs totalled 405€ for bortezomib and 437€ for carfilzomib.

Limitations: The costing rationale of price tariffs may vary between hospital districts. Productivity costs were estimated conservatively, due to lack of data.

Conclusions: The administration of intravenous or subcutaneous PIs to treat MM in healthcare facilities causes significant and potentially avoidable healthcare, travelling, and indirect costs, and they should be included in all health economic evaluations (HEEs). As the cost estimates utilized in this study represent most of central hospitals in the country, they provide useful information for future HEEs. A broader conclusion is that novel oral medications, such as the first oral PI, have a significant potential for reducing administration-related costs of subcutaneous or intravenous PIs.     

Marginal WTP and Distance Decay: The Role of ‘Protest’ and ‘True Zero’ Responses in the Economic Valuation of Recreational Water Quality

We evaluate the sensitivity of distance decay in individuals’ stated willingness to pay (WTP) for water quality improvements in eutrophied lakes. We extend the standard model of contingent valuation (CV) by allowing individuals to adopt a sequential evaluation process consisting of two decision stages. In the first stage respondents decide whether they are ‘protesters’, have a WTP   \(=\)   ‘true zero’ or a \(\hbox {WTP}>0\) . Conditioned on a strictly positive WTP, we use Lee’s selectivity-corrected model to determine the magnitude of their WTP in the second stage. Using CV survey data from Norway we find significant distance decay in the first stage classification of respondents as ‘protesters’, ‘true zero’ WTP, or positive WTP. In the second stage model for positive WTP responses, we find little or no significant relationships when correcting for selection. Results suggest that previous findings of significant distance decay in contingent valuation of lake and river water in Europe may be driven by the definition of ‘protest’ and ‘true zero’ respondents. We find that WTP for water quality may be more useful as a qualitative indicator of political support for user financed water quality measures, than as a cardinal measure of marginal utility of water quality improvements.     

Scale-perception bias in the valuation of environmental risks

The valuation of environmental risks is commonly approached with the utilization of stated preference methods such as contingent valuation. In these methods, money is utilized as the scale that reflects the individual's underlying utility function. However, this scale can vary across individuals due to different perceptions on what are the right or appropriate bounds for Willingness To Pay (WTP). In this article, we test for scale-perception bias and propose a correction method based on the utilization of anchoring vignettes that define different degrees of preference for the nonmarket good. The proposed method is applied to study the commonly found anomaly ‘probability neglect’, which is defined by the insensitivity to the probability levels in the valuation of environmental risks. The results show that probability neglect disappears when WTP responses are corrected for self-perception bias through the utilization of the anchoring vignettes approach.     

Willingness to pay for QALY: perspectives and contexts in Japan

Abstract

Objectives: Theoretically, willingness-to-pay (WTP) for quality-adjusted life years (QALY) can vary depending on social and personal preferences and on ex-ante and ex-post settings. However, empirical investigations into the theoretical differences are lacking. In Japan, setting the threshold has been controversial since a pilot project to implement health technology assessments (HTA) launched in 2016. The study aim is to estimate WTP values for one additional QALY from different perspectives, health statuses, and contexts to confirm the difficulty in setting a uniform price threshold using WTP.

Methods: More than 1,000 respondents representing a cross-section of the Japanese population answered each of nine questionnaire decks in an online panel. WTP values were estimated on three different perspectives (personal, social, and socially inclusive) and on two contexts (ex-ante and ex-post). This study primarily used the non-parametric spike model based on double-bounded dichotomous choice (DBDC) settings to obtain the conditional WTP values.

Results: WTP per QALY was higher in the severe health status than in the moderate health status from all perspectives. Respondents from the socially inclusive perspective estimated the highest WTP value for a new drug. Respondents were also asked about life-threatening diseases in ex-post and ex-ante. The WTP value in ex-ante was higher than in ex-post, and demographic factors affecting the WTP were different in both situations. The various WTP values were obtained from these surveys.

Limitations: The analysis was based on data collected from an internet panel, which could be biased. There is also a risk that respondents answered the questionnaire differently if asked in everyday situations.

Conclusion: Use of a uniform price threshold may not be appropriate in policy settings, because it may not reflect diverse preferences based on different situations, such as disease type and severity. Setting a price threshold as Japan institutes an HTA system requires further research.