When modelling data generated from a discrete choice contingent valuation question, the treatment of zero bids affects the welfare estimates. Zero bids may come from respondents who are not interested in the provision of the public good; alternatively, some zero-bidders may be protesting about...

Distributional assumptions are crucial in the estimation of the value of public projects assessed by means of contingent valuation analyses, and it would seem obvious that tests for model specification should play an important part in the statistical analysis. It can be observed, though, that...

Selectivity bias caused by protest responses in Contingent Valuation studies can be detected and corrected by means of sample selection models. This paper compares two methods: the Heckman 2-steps method and the full ML, applied to data on forest recreation - where WTP is elicited as a...

This paper presents the results of a cost-benefit analysis of a conservation program for the Pentro horse. This horse breed has been reared for millennia in a Southern Italian wetland where it is now strongly tied to the traditions of the region, but presently faces extinction as only 150 horses...

By means of a single-bounded, referendum format contingent valuation, this paper estimates willingness to pay (WTP) for improved air quality among residents of Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA). Findings from this paper illustrate heterogeneity in WTP associated with environmental and social...

The Contingent valuation (CV) approach is commonly used in environmental and agricultural economics and is becoming increasingly popular in the valuation of health and health care. Whatever the context, CV surveys risk eliciting "protest" responses where respondents state a zero valuation for a...

In a static setting, willingness to pay for an environmental improvement is equal to compensating variation. However, in a dynamic setting characterized by uncertainty, irreversibility, and the potential for learning, willingness to pay may also contain an option value. In this paper, we...

In this paper we aim - through an 'experimentally-adapted' Contingent Valuation survey - to look into the attributes of Ghanaians' willingness-to-pay for green products. This would help us addressing two main issues: first, from a theoretical point of view, we shall assess whether Ghanaians show...

Much is known about private returns to education in the form of higher earnings. Less is known about social value, over and above the private, market value. Associations between education and socially-desirable outcomes are strong, but disentangling the effect of education from other causal...

Using an open-ended contingent valuation survey, we analyze how (i) experience of a power outage due to one of the worst storms ever to hit Sweden and (ii) a cheap talk script affect respondents' WTP to avoid power outages. Experience significantly increases and a cheap talk script decreases the...