A Meta-analysis of the Willingness to Pay for Cultural Services from Grasslands in Europe

We investigate the willingness to pay (WTP) for cultural ecosystem services from grasslands using a meta-analysis based on 32 eligible research papers that provide in total 79 estimates. The average WTP (corrected for purchasing power) across these studies is 38 Euros per person per year. Yet, our analysis reveals that the transfer of these results needs careful evaluation. More specifically, it is essential to frame the monetary valuation exercise in relation to the direction of grassland change. A switch from cropland to grassland reduces WTP by 90 Euros while an increase in less-intensive land-use in mountain regions raises WTP by 53 Euros. We conclude that for an adequate consideration of grasslands in holistic ecosystem services assessments, the direction of grassland change is important.     

Estimating the benefits of recreation-oriented management in state-owned commercial forests in Finland: A choice experiment

As forestlands provide a variety of environmental services, the management of forest resources is a matter of public concern. In the present case of state-owned commercial forests in Finland, legislation requires specific management practices to enhance recreational benefits free of charge to the public. This choice experiment considers Finnish people's valuation of the recreation-oriented management of state-owned commercial forests to evaluate whether the recreational benefits produced justify the related loss of profits from timber sales. We focus on three management attributes: scenic buffer zones along lakes and rivers, habitats for game birds, and the quality of scenery as reflected by the frequency of clear-cut areas along hiking trails. Marginal willingness-to-pay (WTP) effects for the attributes are estimated with random parameters logit models specified in the WTP space, while preference-space models are used to estimate in physical terms the attribute levels that maximize the benefits to the public. Despite regional differences in preferences, people in all parts of Finland valued the current recreation-oriented management of state-owned commercial forests considerably. Nationwide, the aggregate benefits of recreation-enhancing management clearly exceeded the estimated opportunity costs. The most preferred levels of management attributes were slightly above the current levels, suggesting an increase in the provision of recreational services when not considering the associated costs.     

Do consumers value hydroponics? Implications for organic certification

Recent controversy about the inclusion of hydroponics in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic program has highlighted uncertainty about marketing hydroponic crops. In a controversial vote in November 2017, the National Organic Standards Board chose not to recommend that hydroponic farms be banned from organic certification. It is still unclear, however, how consumers perceive and value hydroponic production. This study used a nonhypothetical choice experiment to estimate consumers’ willingness to pay for hydroponic and traditional lettuce both with and without organic certification. No hydroponic premium was found, but exposing consumers to different kinds of information about hydroponics significantly affected consumers’ preference formation. Findings generally suggest that the National Organic Program should consider ways to ensure the stability of organic premiums as perceptions about hydroponics evolve.     

An empirical comparison of methods for measuring consumers’ willingness to pay

A valid procedure for measuring consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) is crucial in designing optimal pricing policies or for estimating demand for new products. Understanding potential sources of differences in WTP estimates that emerge from value elicitation studies constitutes an important step in research on how managers should estimate consumers’ WTP. This research presents an empirical analysis of two potential sources of differences and discusses possible means of mitigating them. We find substantial and significant differences between the WTP reported by subjects when payment of the stated price is real or hypothetical. Notwithstanding the dichotomy between real and hypothetical WTP, we find significant differences among the WTP estimates of a broad range of value elicitation methods.     

应用意愿价值评估法,科学制订生态补偿标准

本文系统梳理了生态服务及其价值评估、支付意愿与补偿标准之间的理论联系,分析了当前生态补偿实践中存在的理论误区,指出充分考虑利益主体的意愿是科学制定补偿标准的必要环节,意愿价值评估法的应用将增强我国生态补偿标准的科学性。最后,提出了该方法在生态补偿实践中存在的问题和研究方向。     

Consumer Willingness to Pay Price Premiums for Credence Attributes of Livestock Products – A Meta‐Analysis

Livestock products, such as dairy and beef, are increasingly regarded as resource intensive and concerns are raised about animal welfare and environmental sustainability. As a result, consumer awareness of these issues has led to an increasing demand for products with high quality credence attributes (CAs) that cannot be directly experienced or identified. A number of empirical studies have attempted to estimate consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for CAs, which represents the additional value placed on the benefits that they derive from those products. However, there are significant differences in these WTP estimates, mainly because both consumers' perceptions of CAs and the conditions of the studies vary. We conduct a meta‐analysis to examine consumers' WTP for different CAs of livestock products based on a systematic review of relevant studies. Meta‐regression models are used to control for the heterogeneity of WTP estimates and investigate factors that affect the estimation of WTP. Overall 555 estimates derived from 94 papers reporting WTP are included in this study. Meta‐regression results establish the presence of systematic WTP variation associated with types of products, CAs, and locations, though also indicate that WTP is subject to systematic variation associated with study methodology.     

Willingness to pay for over-the-top services in China and Korea

The increasing penetration of broadband and multiscreen availability has encouraged the development of premium video consumption through over-the-top (OTT) services. Netflix, the leading global OTT provider, is aggressively expanding its international operations and has ambitiously entered the Asian market. To prepare for the shift that the streaming service giant will bring, a proper understanding of consumer acceptance and intent to pay for OTT services is crucial. Therefore, this empirical study uses conjoint analysis to investigate the key attributes and to examine consumers’ marginal willingness to pay (WTP) for OTT services. We identified recommendation systems, resolution, and viewing options as important product attributes of OTT services that influence the WTP of Chinese and Korean consumers. The most important attribute for Chinese consumers of OTT services was resolution, followed by the recommendation system and viewing options. For Korean consumers, the recommendation system was ranked as the most valuable attribute, followed by viewing options and resolution. The overall WTP of Chinese consumers was 22.6 yuan (3.4 USD) per month, while Korean consumers’ intent to pay amounted to a total of 3530 won (3.1 USD) for OTT services.     

Policy-feasibility study of vertical/horizontal moving-assistant systems for the mobility-disabled using a contingent valuation method

The development of vertical/horizontal moving-assistant systems is at an initial stage. However, it is expected to enhance the efficiency of mobility-disabled individuals when it is used in the field of public transportation systems. Hence, this study involved analyzing the benefits and whether users would be willing to pay more as a type of tax to install the new systems into the public transportation sector by using the contingent valuation method as well as their willingness-to-pay for these systems. A survey was conducted among Seoul metropolitan subway users to establish a model and compute the total annual benefits of the new systems. The results indicated that individuals are willing to pay more of USD 1.65 for the installation of a new system. The findings also determined that the minimum and maximum total annual benefits of establishing these systems are USD 69.81 million and USD 200.32 million, respectively. Additionally, an analysis was performed to separately compare the value of installing these systems from the viewpoints of general and mobility-disabled users. This analysis indicated that general users consider the value of new systems that is not directly related to their own convenience as more necessary and valuable when compared to the perceptions of mobility-disabled users. There is a paucity of studies on vertical/horizontal moving-assistant systems in the field of transportation. Nevertheless, the results of the study suggest that the proliferation of the systems is feasible and leads to enhancements in the sustainability of the public transportation sector.     

基于居民支付意愿的洪水保险定价研究

洪水保险的合理定价是制约洪水保险建立和推广的瓶颈之一,以往的洪水保险定价研究都是从供给的角度考虑的,而供给与需求之间存在差异。为了探索居民对于洪水保险的需求价格,从居民的洪水保险支付意愿出发,运用条件价值评估法(CVM法),借助调查问卷,实证分析得出:我国居民洪水保险支付意愿价格为81元,并分析了对于支付意愿的影响因素。     

农户水稻保险支付意愿影响因素的实证研究——基于广东34地1772户农户的经验数据

文章基于对广东省34地农户稻作保险购买行为的调研,采用开放的二分选择式条件估价法获取1772户农户水稻保险支付意愿(Willingness To Pay,WTP)数据,运用Tobit模型针对稻作风险、农户风险意识、风险管理替代工具和农户家庭特征四类二十个因素进行了检验和讨论。研究表明,产量变异系数、风险损失频率等七个因素对支付意愿的影响最为显著性,家庭纯收入、对农业保险的认同等四个因素对支付意愿的影响较为显著,保险免赔率、生产总成本等六个因素对支付意愿有一定影响,而稻作面积、是否参与过其他保险等三个因素的影响甚微,文章最后根据测算结果提出了发展广东省农业保险的政策建议。