The use of the contingent valuation method to generate estimates of existence value for input to cost benefit analysis requires that individuals have utility functions defined over the relevant arguments. The validity of the assumption that the required utility functions generally exist has been...

The fundamental assumption of the contingent valuation method (CYM) is that responses to CY questionnaires may be interpreted as expressions of consumer preferences. The consumer preference interpretation has been challenged in recent papers arguing that willingness to pay for wildlife...