Willingness to Pay for Car Safety: Evidence from Sweden

This study estimates a marginal willingness to pay (WTP) function for a road-mortality risk reduction. Observed marginal WTP from the Swedish car market is used and found to be positively correlated with the baseline risk of the cars. No statistically significant relationships between examined owner attributes, e.g. wealth and background risk, and marginal WTP are found. When comparing the estimated monetary value of a non-marginal risk reduction derived from the integral of the marginal WTP-function with an estimate based on marginal WTP we find, in line with expectations, that the difference between the estimates is negligible for smaller risk reductions and small, 4–10%, also for relatively large risk reductions.      

Sensitivity of Willingness to Pay Estimates to the Level of Attributes in Discrete Choice Experiments

This paper considers issues raised in the application of discrete choice experiments (DCEs) to estimating willingness to pay (WTP). The main issue addressed is the sensitivity of WTP estimates to the level of attributes. A DCE, concerned with preferences for alternative cervical screening programmes, was carried out with women in the Tayside area of Scotland. A split sample design was employed in which respondents were divided into two groups. Each group received a discrete choice questionnaire that varied with respect to the levels of three of the six attributes. The price attribute was one of the attributes that varied across questionnaires. Whilst estimated coefficients were not significantly different across five of the six attributes included in the experiment, mean WTP estimates were significantly different for four of the five welfare estimates. However, from a policy point of view, such a difference may not be important. Consideration is also given to other general methodological and policy issues that are raised when using DCEs to estimate WTP. The findings suggest the need for further research into the design and application of DCEs as a method for estimating WTP.     

Despairing Over Disparities: Explaining the Difference Between Willingness to Pay and Willingness to Accept

This paper examines the three major explanations for the disparity between willingness-to-pay (WTP) and willingness-to-accept (WTA) observed in contingent value surveys and laboratory experiments: a belief that the results must be biased in some fashion, Hanemann's (1991) substitutes hypothesis, and the loss aversion model proposed by Tversky and Kahneman (1991). Starting from the assumption that individuals make utility maximizing choices, we develop structural equations that yield parametric tests of the hypotheses within a single, non-experimental framework. The approach is flexible enough to incorporate a variety of functional form and distributional assumptions and can be applied to either data from either open-ended bids or dichotomous choice questions. The usefulness of the approach is demonstrated using data from a survey that asked both WTP and WTA questions. The results provide weak support for loss aversion.     

Discrete Choice Experiments in Developing Countries: Willingness to Pay Versus Willingness to Work

A concern when conducting stated preference valuation studies in rural developing or very low income contexts is the use of monetary willingness to pay (WTP) estimates. In circumstances where cash incomes are extremely low, a significant proportion of the population are not engaged in waged labour and the exchange of goods or services is augmented through barter or work exchange, the role of money is likely to be different from that within an urban developed setting. As such, ability to pay using money may be impaired and downwardly biased when compared with other mediums of exchange. In recognition of this several studies have used hypothetical labour contributions as payment vehicles and a common finding is that households are more often willing to contribute labour than they are money. In this paper we present the results of a split sample DCE using money and labour contributions as payment vehicles for improved drinking water quality in Kandal Province, Cambodia. We find little differences between the payment vehicles in terms of attribute non-attendance, marginal utilities of attributes or derived welfare values. We argue that this provides support for the use of WTP in rural developing areas where there are functioning labour markets.     

A Comparison of Willingness to Pay Estimation Techniques From Referendum Questions

Referendum style willingness to pay questions have been used to estimatepassive use values. This referendum question format method may beproblematic for many reasons, including the statistical techniques used toestimate willingness to pay from discrete responses. This paper comparesa number of parametric, semi-nonparametric and nonparametric estimationtechniques using data collected from US households regarding Federalprotection of endangered fish species.The advantages and disadvantagesof the various statistical models used are explored. A hypothesis test forstatistical equality among estimation techniques is performed using ajackknife bootstrapping method. When the equality test is applied, themodeling techniques do show significant differences in some possiblecomparisons, but only those that are nonparamentric. This can lead toconflicting interpretations of what the data show. Resource managers andpolicy analysts need to use caution when interpreting results until anindustry standard can be developed for estimating willingness to pay fromclosed ended questions.     

种粮农户的信息需求与信息支付意愿分析——基于粮食主产区的调查数据

利用来自粮食主产区的548户种粮农户的调查数据,通过建立多元排序Logit模型和二元选择Logit模型,实证分析了种粮农户的信息需求和信息支付意愿。结果显示:种粮农户最关注的三类信息为种粮补贴信息、气象信息和市场价格信息;种粮农户的信息支付意愿明显较低;种粮农户对不同类型信息需求程度的排序结果与信息支付意愿排序结果并不完全一致;种粮农户的信息需求和信息支付意愿受农户的基本特征、收益特征、经营特征、信息特征和所处环境特征等五类变量的共同影响。     

The Willingness to Accept Value of Statistical Life Relative to the Willingness to Pay Value: Evidence and Policy Implications

Large disparities between willingness to accept (WTA) and willingness to pay (WTP) based values of statistical life are commonly encountered in empirical studies. Standard economic theory suggests that if a public good is easily substitutable there should be no marked disparity between WTA and WTP values for the good, though the disparity increases with reduced substitutability. However, psychologists have shown that people often treat gains and losses asymmetrically and tend to require a substantially larger increase in wealth to compensate for a loss than the amount they would be willing to pay for an equivalent gain. Although most transport projects may aim to improve safety, situations arise when a relaxation of an existing regulation saves resources but increases the risk of death and injuries. A survey was recently carried out in New Zealand to determine people’s willingness to pay to reduce road risks and their willingness to accept compensation for an increase in risk. This paper reports the disparity observed between the two measures and considers some of the problems posed for policymakers.     

Willingness to Pay for Voluntary Climate Action and Its Determinants: Field-Experimental Evidence

The determinants of individual, voluntary climate action (VCA) in combating climate change and its potential scale are frequently debated in public but largely underresearched. We provide estimates of the willingness to individually reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by one ton, using the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. Estimates are derived from an online field experiment with a large, highly heterogenous, and Internet-representative sample of voting-aged Germans. Jointly estimating willingness to pay (WTP), non-indifference to VCA, and prior knowledge, we uncover important determinants of preferences for VCA, such as education, the information structure among the population, and exogenous environmental conditions.     

Willingness to Pay and the Cost of Commitment: An Empirical Specification and Test

In a static setting, willingness to pay for an environmental improvement is equal to compensating variation. In a dynamic setting, however, willingness to pay may also contain a commitment cost. In this paper we incorporate the dynamic nature of the value formation process into a stated preference study designed to test whether there is an important dynamic component (commitment cost) in stated preference values. The results clearly indicate that stated preference values can contain commitment costs and that these can be quite large: respondents offered the opportunity to delay their purchasing decisions until more information became available were willing to pay significantly less for improved water quality than those facing a now-or-never decision. These results have important consequences for the design and interpretation of stated preference data.     

茶农生物农药属性偏好及支付意愿研究——基于选择实验的实证分析

利用选择实验方法实证分析了茶农生物农药属性偏好和支付意愿。结果表明:(1)茶农偏好"缩短安全间隔期""不提前使用"和"不产生抗药性"的农药属性,但在"缩短安全间隔期"和"针对防治"上存在偏好异质性;(2)茶农愿为优化3类属性多支付16.974、22.250和11.272元/亩/年;(3)种植面积小、受教育年限长、化学农药危害认知程度高的茶农倾向于选择生物农药;(4)生物农药实际支付高于各属性加总的意愿支付,应关注生物农药外部性。     

游客对旅游地教育服务的支付意愿研究

为有计划性、引导性的倡导使用者付费的理念,建立公开透明、科学合理的定价机制,运用条件价值评估法(CVM)对全国12个省12个旅游景区的中国游客进行了实地抽样调查,分析游客对教育服务项目的支付意愿。基于2 800份有效问卷数据,获得了受访者支付意愿的分布形态和规律,构建了游客支付意愿与其影响因素之间关系的模型。结果显示:49.40%的游客愿意支付教育服务费用,平均支付额度为28.6元;游客的年龄、婚姻状态、学历、职业、收入与其教育服务支付意愿之间存在显著性关系,旅游地游客教育水平也直接影响游客的支付意愿,而性别与其支付意愿没有显著的差异。同时,游客的年龄、学历、职业、收入对支付方式的影响较大,64.1%的游客想通过门票支付,27.5%的游客想通过小费支付。     

公众对森林碳汇服务的认知与支付意愿的调查研究——以哈尔滨为例

公众对森林碳汇服务的认知与支付意愿是了解森林碳汇需求的基础。在对国内外森林碳汇研究现状进行总结的基础上,以黑龙江省哈尔滨市地区为范围,随机抽取320位公众进行调查,获有效问卷319份,调查结果显示:公众对森林生态功能有一定认知水平,但不够深入和成熟。公众对购买森林碳汇服务的意识基础较好,但缺乏有效引导。主观因素、外界条件与购买渠道三方面都使公众在支付行动上面临障碍。同时,Logistic分析结果表明,影响公众购买森林碳汇服务意愿的主要因素有"森林固碳是否应得到补偿"、"个人是否有必要减排"和"年龄"等因素。最后提出了提高公民对森林碳汇服务的认知和支付意愿的建议。     

Willingness to Pay to Reduce Mortality Risks: Evidence from a Three-Country Contingent Valuation Study

Valuing a change in the risk of death is a key input into the calculation of the benefits of environmental policies that save lives. Typically such risks are monetized using the Value of a Statistical Life (VSL). Since the majority of the lives saved by environmental policies are those of older persons, there has been much recent debate about whether the VSL should be lower for the elderly to reflect their fewer remaining life years. We conducted a contingent valuation survey in the UK, Italy and France designed to answer this question. The survey was administered in these three countries following a standardized protocol. Our results suggest that the VSL is €1.022 million or €2.264 million, depending on whether we use median or mean WTP. The VSL is not significantly lower for older persons, but is higher for persons who have been admitted to a hospital or emergency room for cardiovascular and respiratory problems. Income is positively and significantly associated with WTP. The income elasticities of the WTP increase gradually with income levels and are between 0.15 and 0.5 for current income levels in EU countries. We use the responses to the WTP questions to estimate the value of an extension in remaining life expectancy. The value of a loss of one year’s life expectancy is €54,000 or €163,000.     

Modeling Spatial Patchiness and Hot Spots in Stated Preference Willingness to Pay

Stated preference analyses often impose strong assumptions regarding spatial welfare distributions that can influence the validity of welfare analysis and aggregation. These include spatial homogeneity and continuous distance decay. Global assumptions such as these are increasingly questioned by non-economics disciplines in favor of approaches that allow for local patchiness. Drawing from this literature, this article proposes methods to identify and evaluate hot spots in stated preference welfare estimates using local indicators of spatial association. Methods are illustrated using geocoded choice experiment data addressing river restoration. Results suggest the presence of statistically significant, non-continuous patterns overlooked by current approaches.     

Elasticities of Demand and Willingness to Pay for Environmental Services in Sweden

Are environmental services luxuriesor necessities? Are low-income groupsrelatively more willing to pay forenvironmental improvements than high-incomegroups? The discussion on the shape of theenvironmental Kuznets curve and environmentaljustice call for analyses that approach thesequestions. Following a survey-based approachfor modelling the demand for public goods, thispaper provides estimates of income and priceelasticities of demand for reduced marineeutrophication effects in the case of theBaltic Sea, using data from five Swedishcontingent valuation studies. Point estimatesindicate that reduced marine eutrophicationeffects can be classified as a necessity and anordinary and price elastic service. Confidenceintervals show however that the classificationas a necessity is not statisticallysignificant. Income elasticities of willingnessto pay, not to be confused with incomeelasticities of demand, are estimated for abroad range of environmental services inSweden. A basic finding is that income tends toinfluence willingness to pay positively andsignificantly. The elasticity estimates are inmost cases greater than zero, but less thanunity, indicating that the benefits ofenvironmental improvements tend to beregressively distributed. In a cost-benefitanalysis of a project suggesting environmentalimprovements, distributional concerns thereforecall for an introduction of weights or at leasta sensitivity analysis of how weighting wouldchange decisions about the project's socialprofitability.     

Distance Decay in the Willingness to Pay for Wine: Disentangling Local and Organic Attributes

This paper investigates how the residents of a French wine-producing region value the attributes of wine. We elicit the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for organic/non-organic and local/non-local wines with increasing levels of information on the impact of agricultural practices at both global and local scales. The analysis shows that there is a significant organic premium associated with both local and non-local wines. This organic premium significantly increases with information and significantly decreases with the distance between the consumer’s home and the vineyard. Based on the econometric predictions of the WTP, we show that a per-unit tax on non-organic wines or a standard imposing organic practices increases welfare through the internalization of the attributes revealed by the experiment.     

Repeated Dichotomous Choice Formats for Elicitation of Willingness to Pay: Simultaneous Estimation and Anchoring Effect

Repeated dichotomous choice contingent valuation data are generated from responses to a succession of binary questions regarding alternative prices for an environmental good. In this paper we propose a simultaneous equation model that allows for endogeneity and error correlation across the responses at each stage of the bidding process. The model allows us to study the evolution of anchoring effects after the second dichotomous choice question. Estimation involves the Bayesian techniques of Gibbs sampling and data augmentation, and the application focuses on the preservation value of a natural area. The results for a data set involving up to four successive dichotomous choice questions show that restricted multiple-bounded models are rejected by the data with the general model. In addition, willingness to pay tends to stabilize after the second stage in the elicitation process for the general unrestricted model. When taking anchoring effects into consideration, it is revealed that individuals’ responses in the latter stages are influenced by the sequence of bid prices offered in earlier questions. Nevertheless, they do not have a significant effect on welfare estimates.      

众筹模式下心理距离对投资者支付意愿的影响

众筹是一种新型的网络融资模式,投资者对项目的支付意愿受到众多因素影响。将众筹的研究视角延伸至投资者心理行为领域,从投资者心理角度,研究时间和空间距离与投资者支付意愿的关系,应用解释水平理论,验证了解释水平与心理距离匹配对投资者支付意愿作用的差异。     

耕地生态价值支付意愿的影响因素实证研究——基于武汉市的实地调查

以武汉市为例,采用问卷调查,获取城乡居民对耕地资源生态服务价值的支付意愿数据,以此为基础分析影响其支付意愿的社会经济因素。研究表明:受访农民的性别、文化程度、家庭年收入、是否支持环保活动等因素对其是否有支付意愿有显著影响,而受访市民仅有其家庭年收入的多少会对是否有支付意愿有显著影响。该研究为确定农地城市流转的福利补偿和耕地生态补偿提供参考,为政府耕地保护决策提供启示。