Workshop: Using Contingent Valuation to Measure Non-Market Values (1994)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Workshop co-hosted by USEPA and Dept of Energy on using contingent valuation to measure non-market values for improvement in health and the environment. Includes transcripts of presentations and discussion by attendees, later published as a book.

Contingent Valuation Assessment of the Economic Damages of Pollution to Marine Recreational Fishing (1989)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Paper develops a fully utility-theoretic model for the demand for recreational fishing access days, applied to a sample of Texas Gulf Coast anglers. The model employs contingent valuation and travel cost data jointly to calibrate a utility function.

How people respond to contingent valuation question: A verbal protocol analysis of willingness to pay for an environmental regulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schkade, D.A.; Payne, J.W.

This paper investigates what a respondent is thinking when answering a willingness-to-pay question in a contingent valuation, using a [open quotes]think aloud[close quotes] technique for psychology called verbal protocol analysis. The willingness-to-pay responses we observed seem to be constructed from a variety of considerations, including an obligation to pay a fair share of the cost of the solution and signaling concern for a larger set of environmental issues. The finding that respondents seem to construct their values at the time they are asked, rather than reporting a more well-defined value, is seen as consistent with over two decades of researchmore » on the psychology of decision making. Potential uses of verbal protocols in contingent valuation studies are also discussed. 64 refs., 6 tabs.« less

Public provision of four-wheeled walkers: contingent valuation study of economic benefit.

PubMed

Haines, Terry; Brown, Cassandra; Morrison, Jan

2008-09-01

To quantify the economic value of publicly provided four-wheeled walkers as judged by recipients in Queensland, Australia. Contingent valuation study using willingness-to-pay approach. A sample of 49 Australian older adults who received a publicly funded four-wheeled walker in the past 3 months completed the survey via telephone. A discrete choice bidding response format with a randomly selected starting bid was employed to glean valuations. This approach yielded only one non-response, and one zero dollar response. The mean (standard deviation) valuation provided was $ A 290 ($ A 167), which was $ A 84 in excess of the price paid by the public provider agency to purchase the equipment. Starting bid was significantly associated with values provided. The current public provision program of four-wheeled walkers is likely to generate net societal benefit. These findings coupled with arguments based on equity build a moderate case for the continuation of this program.

Consumer willingness to pay for pharmacy services: An updated review of the literature.

PubMed

Painter, Jacob T; Gressler, Laura; Kathe, Niranjan; Slabaugh, S Lane; Blumenschein, Karen

2018-02-02

Quantifying the value of pharmacy services is imperative for the profession as it works to establish an expanded role within evolving health care systems. The literature documents the work that many have contributed toward meeting this goal. To date, however, the preponderance of evidence evaluates the value of pharmacist services to third-party payers; few published studies address the value that consumers place on these services. In 1999, a review of studies that used the contingent valuation method to value pharmacy services was published. The objective of this manuscript is to provide an update of that review. Relevant studies published in the English language were identified searching MEDLINE, ECONLIT and International Pharmaceutical Abstracts databases from January 1999 to November 2017. Only studies that specifically elicited willingness to pay for a community pharmacist provided service from actual or potential consumers were included. Thirty-one studies using the contingent valuation method to value pharmacy services were identified using the search strategy outlined. These studies included surveys in different demographic and geographic populations and valuing various pharmacy services. Improving the quality of studies using contingent valuation to value pharmacy services will aid the profession in marketing pharmacy services to consumers, and may assist practitioners who wish to implement various pharmacy services in their practice settings. A limited number of studies have been conducted, but the quality of contingent valuation studies valuing pharmacist services is improving. Understanding the pharmacy services that consumers value, and understanding the level of their monetary willingness to pay for those services will be crucial as the profession continues to work toward establishing a sustainable and economically viable role within the evolving health care systems. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

What ignited Forest Service interest in nonmarket valuation in fire economics?

Treesearch

John B. Loomis; Armando González-Cabán

2009-01-01

This paper traces the origin and evolution of the application of nonmarket valuation techniques to fire management within the USDA Forest Service. The motivation for contingent valuation (CVM) studies that quantify existence value is traced to the need for monetary benefits of protecting spotted owl old-growth forest habitat from fire in the early 1990s. Two large...

Warm glow, free-riding and vehicle neutrality in a health-related contingent valuation study.

PubMed

Hackl, Franz; Pruckner, Gerald J

2005-03-01

Criticism of contingent valuation (CV) stresses warm glow and free-riding as possible causes for biased willingness to pay figures. We present an empirical framework to study the existence of warm glow and free-riding in hypothetical WTP answers based on a CV survey for the measurement of health-related Red Cross services. Both in conventional double-bounded and spike models we do not find indication of warm glow phenomena and free-riding behaviour. The results are very robust and insensitive to the applied payment vehicles. Theoretical objections against CV do not find sufficient empirical support.

Assessing the Warm Glow Effect in Contingent Valuations for Public Libraries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Soon-Jae; Chung, Hye-Kyung; Jung, Eun-Joo

2010-01-01

This article aims to present evidence of the warm glow effect in a public library setting. More specifically, it tests whether individual respondents with different values for the warm glow component report different values for their willingness to pay (WTP). The data come from a contingent valuation survey conducted on randomly selected citizens…

Recreational benefits of urban forests: explaining visitors' willingness to pay in the context of the theory of planned behavior.

PubMed

Bernath, Katrin; Roschewitz, Anna

2008-11-01

The extension of contingent valuation models with an attitude-behavior based framework has been proposed in order to improve the descriptive and predictive ability of the models. This study examines the potential of the theory of planned behavior to explain willingness to pay (WTP) in a contingent valuation survey of the recreational benefits of the Zurich city forests. Two aspects of WTP responses, protest votes and bid levels, were analyzed separately. In both steps, models with and without the psychological predictors proposed by the theory of planned behavior were compared. Whereas the inclusion of the psychological predictors significantly improved explanations of protest votes, their ability to improve the performance of the model explaining bid levels was limited. The results indicate that the interpretation of bid levels as behavioral intention may not be appropriate and that the potential of the theory of planned behavior to improve contingent valuation models depends on which aspect of WTP responses is examined.

Aiding priority setting in health care: is there a role for the contingent valuation method?

PubMed

Olsen, J A

1997-01-01

The paper discusses some methodological and measurement aspects with the contingent valuation (CV) method which appear to create problems when eliciting preferences for the relative social valuation of alternative health care programmes. After pointing to biases which tend to exaggerate the true valuations, emphasis is placed on framing issues when applied to health care. Thereafter the paper discusses the extent to which preferences elicited through one's willingness to pay can be used to infer how the respondent would prioritize between the health care programmes in question. New empirical evidence is presented which suggest discrepancies between a CV ranking and the ranking expressed when making a direct ordinal comparison.

Measuring the difference in mean willingness to pay when dichotomous choice contingent valuation responses are not independent

Treesearch

Gregory L. Poe; Michael P. Welsh; Patricia A. Champ

1997-01-01

Dichotomous choice contingent valuation surveys frequently elicit multiple values in a single questionnaire. If individual responses are correlated across scenarios, the standard approach of estimating willingness to pay (WTP) functions independently for each scenario may result in biased estimates of the significance of the difference in mean WTP values. This paper...

Explaining the discrepancy between intentions and actions: the case of hypothetical bias in contingent valuation

Treesearch

Icek Ajzen; Thomas C. Brown; Franklin Carvajal

2004-01-01

An experiment was designed to account for intention-behavior discrepancies by applying the theory of planned behavior to contingent valuation. College students (N = 160) voted in hypothetical and real payment referenda to contribute $8 to a scholarship fund. Overestimates of willingness to pay in the hypothetical referendum could not be attributed to moderately...

A comparison of cheap talk and alternative certainty calibration techniques in contingent valuation

Treesearch

Mihail Samnaliev; Thomas Stevens; Thomas More

2003-01-01

A field test of cheap talk and two types of certainty calibration in contingent valuation of public lands indicated that cheap talk does not reduce WTP estimates. Use of a ten point certainty calibration scale reduces WTP estimates by about half. However, adjusting for uncertainty using a 'Not Sure' option does not reduce WTP estimates but increases the...

Information bias in contingent valuation: effects of personal relevance, quality of information, and motivational orientation

Treesearch

Icek Ajzen; Thomas C. Brown; Lori H. Rosenthal

1996-01-01

A laboratory experiment examined the potential for information bias in contingent valuation (CV). Consistent with the view that information about a public or private good can function as a persuasive communication, willingness to pay (WTP) was found to increase with the quality of arguments used to describe the good, especially under conditions of high personal...

Assessing the benefits of reducing fire risk in the wildland urban interface: A contingent valuation approach

Treesearch

Jeremy Fried; Greg J. Winter; Keith J. Gilless

1999-01-01

Wildland-urban interface (WUI) residents in Michigan were interviewed using a contingent valuation protocol to assess their-willingness-to-pay (WT) for incremental reductions in the risk of losing their homes to wildfire. WTP was elicited using a probability model which segments the risk of structure loss into "public" and "private" components.

How can we value an environmental asset that very few have visited or heard of? Lessons learned from applying contingent and inferred valuation in an Australian wetlands case study.

PubMed

Gregg, Daniel; Wheeler, Sarah Ann

2018-08-15

To date, the majority of environmental assets studied in the economic valuation literature clearly have high amenity and recreational use values. However there are many cases where small, but nevertheless unique and important, ecosystems survive as islands amongst large areas of modified, productive, or urban, landscapes. Development encroaches on the landscape and as urban landscapes become more concentrated these types of conservation islands will become increasingly more important. Previous experience with economic valuation suggests that lower total values for smaller contributions to conservation are more liable to be swamped by survey and hypothetical bias measures. Hence there needs to be more understanding of approaches to economic valuation for small and isolated environmental assets, in particular regarding controlling stated preference biases. This study applied the recently developed method of Inferred Valuation (IV) to a small private wetland in South-East Australia, and compared willingness to pay values with estimates from a standard Contingent Valuation (CV) approach. We found that hypothetical bias did seem to be slightly lower with the IV method. However, other methods such as the use of log-normal transformations and median measures, significantly mitigate apparent hypothetical biases and are easier to apply and allow use of the well-tested CV method. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The economic impact of sea-level rise on nonmarket lands in Singapore.

PubMed

Ng, Wei-Shiuen; Mendelsohn, Robert

2006-09-01

Sea-level rise, as a result of climate change, will likely inflict considerable economic consequences on coastal regions, particularly low-lying island states like Singapore. Although the literature has addressed the vulnerability of developed coastal lands, this is the first economic study to address nonmarket lands, such as beaches, marshes and mangrove estuaries. This travel cost and contingent valuation study reveals that consumers in Singapore attach considerable value to beaches. The contingent valuation study also attached high values to marshes and mangroves but this result was not supported by the travel cost study. Although protecting nonmarket land uses from sea-level rise is expensive, the study shows that at least highly valued resources, such as Singapore's popular beaches, should be protected.

Estimating residential price elasticity of demand for water: A contingent valuation approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thomas, John F.; Syme, Geoffrey J.

1988-11-01

Residential households in Perth, Western Australia have access to privately extracted groundwater as well as a public mains water supply, which has been charged through a two-part block tariff. A contingent valuation approach is developed to estimate price elasticity of demand for public supply. Results are compared with those of a multivariate time series analysis. Validation tests for the contingent approach are proposed, based on a comparison of predicted behaviors following hypothesised price changes with relevant independent data. Properly conducted, the contingent approach appears to be reliable, applicable where the available data do not favor regression analysis, and a fruitful source of information about social, technical, and behavioral responses to change in the price of water.

The demand for a dengue vaccine: a contingent valuation survey in Metro Manila.

PubMed

Palanca-Tan, Rosalina

2008-02-13

Using data gathered from a contingent valuation survey, this study estimated the willingness to pay (WTP) for a single dengue fever vaccine and the household demand function for dengue vaccines. Mean WTP for the vaccine ranged from US$27 to US$32 and household demand averaged 2 per household. Our findings indicate sufficiently high WTP for dengue vaccines and hence a significant potential for selling the vaccine in private markets. For the lower income groups with lower capacity to pay, a mass vaccination campaign program in which part of the financial costs are covered by vaccine user charges is viable.

Willingness to pay function for two fuel treatments to reduce wildfire acreage burned: A scope test and comparison of White and Hispanic households

Treesearch

John B. Loomis; Le Trong Hung; Armando Gonzalez-Caban

2009-01-01

This research uses the Contingent Valuation Method to test whether willingness to pay increases for larger reductions in acres of forests burned by wildfires across the states of California. Florida and Montana. This is known as a test of scope, a measure of internal validity of the contingent valuation method (CVM). The scope test is conducted separately for White...

Individual responsibility and health-risk behaviour: a contingent valuation study from the ex ante societal perspective.

PubMed

van der Star, Sanne M; van den Berg, Bernard

2011-08-01

This study analyzes peoples' social preferences for individual responsibility to health-risk behaviour in health care using the contingent valuation method adopting a societal perspective. We measure peoples' willingness to pay for inclusion of a treatment in basic health insurance of a hypothetical lifestyle dependent (smoking) and lifestyle independent (chronic) health problem. Our hypothesis is that peoples' willingness to pay for the independent and the dependent health problems are similar. As a methodological challenge, this study also analyzes the extent to which people consider their personal situation when answering contingent valuation questions adopting a societal perspective. 513 Dutch inhabitants responded to the questionnaire. They were asked to state their maximum willingness to pay for inclusion of treatments in basic health insurance package for two health problems. We asked them to assume that one hypothetical health problem was totally independent of behaviour (for simplicity called chronic disease). Alternatively, we asked them to assume that the other hypothetical health problem was totally caused by health-risk behaviour (for simplicity called smoking disease). We applied the payment card method to guide respondents to answer the contingent valuation method questions. Mean willingness to pay was 42.39 Euros (CI=37.24-47.55) for inclusion of treatment for health problem that was unrelated to behaviour, with '5-10' and '10-20 Euros' as most frequently stated answers. In contrast, mean willingness to pay for inclusion treatment for health-risk related problem was 11.29 Euros (CI=8.83-14.55), with '0' and '0-5 Euros' as most frequently provided answers. Difference in mean willingness to pay was substantial (over 30 Euros) and statistically significant (p-value=0.000). Smokers were statistically significantly more (p-value<0.01) willing to pay for the health-risk related (smoking) problem compared with non-smokers, while people with chronic condition were not willing to pay more for the health-risk unrelated (chronic) problem than people without chronic condition. This suggests that sub groups of people might differ in terms of abstracting from their personal situation when answering valuation questions from a societal perspective. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Field testing existence values for riparian ecosystems

Treesearch

John W. Duffield; Chris J. Neher; David A. Patterson; Patricia A. Champ

2007-01-01

This paper presents preliminary findings on a cash and contingent valuation (cv) experiment. The study replicates major elements of an earlier (1990) experiment, which solicited hypothetical and actual donations to benefit instream flows for Montana fisheries. Extensions of the earlier work include: repeat contacts to increase response rate, follow-up of the contingent...

Costs Associated with Endangered Species Act Compliance

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-01

August 2013 2 on economic costs or values related to endangered species costs or values, focuses primarily on Contingent Valuation Method studies...of species preservation (Lew, Layton, and Rowe 2010; Wallmo 2006). Most studies consider public valuation of species preservation, and not costs of...2012, NMFS 2006, U.S. Army Engineer, Mississippi Valley Division 2012, Kozlowski 1993, PFMC 2002) and through development of expenditure categories

Comparing Value of Urban Green Space Using Contingent Valuation and Travel Cost Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chintantya, Dea; Maryono

2018-02-01

Green urban open space are an important element of the city. They gives multiple benefits for social life, human health, biodiversity, air quality, carbon sequestration, and water management. Travel Cost Method (TCM) and Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) are the most frequently used method in various studies that assess environmental good and services in monetary term for valuing urban green space. Both of those method are determined the value of urban green space through willingness to pay (WTP) for ecosystem benefit and collected data through direct interview and questionnaire. Findings of this study showed the weaknesses and strengths of both methods for valuing urban green space and provided factors influencing the probability of user's willingness to pay in each method.

The topic is the Relevance of wetland economic valuation in Uganda Acase study of Kiyanja-Kaku wetland in Lwengo District-Central Uganda.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Namulema, Mary Jude

2016-04-01

This study examined the relevance of economic valuation of wetlands in Uganda. A case study was done on Kiyanja-Kaku wetland in Lwengo District in Central Uganda using a semi-structured survey. Three objectives were examined i.e.: (i) To identify wetland ecosystem services in Uganda (ii) To identify the economic valuation methods appropriate for wetlands in Uganda (iii) To value clean water obtained from Kiyanja-Kaku wetland. The wetland ecosystem services were identified as provisioning, regulating, habitat, cultural and amenities services. The community had knowledge about 17 out of the 22 services as given by TEEB (2010). The economic valuation methods identified were, market price, efficiency price, travel cost, contingent valuation, hedonic pricing, and production function and benefit transfer methods. These were appropriate for valuation of wetlands in Uganda but only three methods i.e. market price, contingent valuation and productivity methods have been applied by researchers in Uganda so far. The economic value of clean water from Kiyanja-Kaku wetland to the nearby community was established by using the market price of clean water the National water and Sewerage Corporation charges for the water in Uganda to obtain the low value and the market price of water from the survey was used to obtain the high value. The estimated economic value of clean water service for a household ranges from UGX. 612174 to 4054733 (US 168.0-1095.0). The estimated economic value of clean water service from Kiyanja-Kaku wetland to the entire community ranges from UGX. 2,732,133,000.0 to 18,096,274,000.0 (US 775,228.0-4,885,994.0).

Assessing the comprehensive restoration of an urban river: an integrated application of contingent valuation in Shanghai, China.

PubMed

Zhao, Jun; Liu, Qiuxia; Lin, Liqing; Lv, Huafang; Wang, Yao

2013-08-01

Around 2000, China began to address the comprehensive restoration of its urban rivers and attempt to restore river ecosystem services. This paper reports an integrated contingent valuation of the ecosystem services of Zhangjiabang Creek in Shanghai, which is in the most developed region of China. A total of 1440 questionnaires were delivered, and 1153 were returned as usable in August 2008. The willingness to pay for the restoration of the urban river is 20.22 RMB (2.91 USD) per month per household under the payment card and 110.64 RMB (15.92 USD) under the dichotomous format. Several important methodological issues of the contingent valuation method (CVM) are observed, including the disparity between willingness to pay and willingness to accept, the difference between payment card and dichotomous choice question formats, and the comparison of different models in welfare estimation using dichotomous choice data. Several new findings are disclosed for these three issues of CVM. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Willingness to pay for publicly financed health care services in Central and Eastern Europe: evidence from six countries based on a contingent valuation method.

PubMed

Tambor, Marzena; Pavlova, Milena; Rechel, Bernd; Golinowska, Stanisława; Sowada, Christoph; Groot, Wim

2014-09-01

The increased interest in patient cost-sharing as a measure for sustainable health care financing calls for evidence to support the development of effective patient payment policies. In this paper, we present an application of a stated willingness-to-pay technique, i.e. contingent valuation method, to investigate the consumer's willingness and ability to pay for publicly financed health care services, specifically hospitalisations and consultations with specialists. Contingent valuation data were collected in nationally representative population-based surveys conducted in 2010 in six Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Ukraine) using an identical survey methodology. The results indicate that the majority of health care consumers in the six CEE countries are willing to pay an official fee for publicly financed health care services that are of good quality and quick access. The consumers' willingness to pay is limited by the lack of financial ability to pay for services, and to a lesser extent by objection to pay. Significant differences across the six countries are observed, though. The results illustrate that the contingent valuation method can provide decision-makers with a broad range of information to facilitate cost-sharing policies. Nevertheless, the intrinsic limitations of the method (i.e. its hypothetical nature) and the context of CEE countries call for caution when applying its results. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Measurement of Subjective Value and Its Relation to Contingent Valuation and Environmental Public Goods

PubMed Central

Khaw, Mel W.; Grab, Denise A.; Livermore, Michael A.; Vossler, Christian A.; Glimcher, Paul W.

2015-01-01

Environmental public goods—including national parks, clean air/water, and ecosystem services—provide substantial benefits on a global scale. These goods have unique characteristics in that they are typically “nonmarket” goods, with values from both use and passive use that accrue to a large number of individuals both in current and future generations. In this study, we test the hypothesis that neural signals in areas correlated with subjective valuations for essentially all other previously studied categories of goods (ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum) also correlate with environmental valuations. We use contingent valuation (CV) as our behavioral tool for measuring valuations of environmental public goods. CV is a standard stated preference approach that presents survey respondents with information on an issue and asks questions that help policymakers determine how much citizens are willing to pay for a public good or policy. We scanned human subjects while they viewed environmental proposals, along with three other classes of goods. The presentation of all four classes of goods yielded robust and similar patterns of temporally synchronized brain activation within attentional networks. The activations associated with the traditional classes of goods replicate previous correlations between neural activity in valuation areas and behavioral preferences. In contrast, CV-elicited values for environmental proposals did not correlate with brain activity at either the individual or population level. For a sub-population of participants, CV-elicited values were correlated with activity within the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, a region associated with cognitive control and shifting decision strategies. The results show that neural activity associated with the subjective valuation of environmental proposals differs profoundly from the neural activity associated with previously examined goods and preference measures. PMID:26221734

Dynamic learning and context-dependence in sequential, attribute-based, stated-preference valuation questions

Treesearch

Thomas P. Holmes; Kevin J. Boyle

2005-01-01

A hybrid stated-preference model is presented that combines the referendum contingent valuation response format with an experimentally designed set of attributes. A sequence of valuation questions is asked to a random sample in a mailout mail-back format. Econometric analysis shows greater discrimination between alternatives in the final choice in the sequence, and the...

Methods for Measuring Non-use Values: A Contingent Valuation Study of Groundwater Cleanup (1992-1994)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The motivating question the groundwater study was designed to address is simply: Do any non-use benefits derive from corrective actions regarding groundwater contamination and if so, how large might they be?

The Value of Satellite Early Warning Systems in Kenya and Guatemala: Results and Lessons Learned from Contingent Valuation and Loss Avoidance Approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morrison, I.; Berenter, J. S.

2017-12-01

SERVIR, the joint USAID and NASA initiative, conducted two studies to assess the value of two distinctly different Early Warning Systems (EWS) in Guatemala and Kenya. Each study applied a unique method to asses EWS value. The evaluation team conducted a Contingent Valuation (CV) choice experiment to measure the value of a near-real time VIIRS and MODIS-based hot-spot mapping tool for forest management professionals targeting seasonal forest fires in Northern Guatemala. The team also conducted a survey-based Damage and Loss Avoidance (DaLA) exercise to calculate the monetary benefits of a MODIS-derived frost forecasting system for farmers in the tea-growing highlands of Kenya. This presentation compares and contrasts the use and utility of these two valuation approaches to assess EWS value. Although interest in these methods is growing, few empirical studies have applied them to benefit and value assessment for EWS. Furthermore, the application of CV and DaLA methods is much less common outside of the developed world. Empirical findings from these two studies indicated significant value for two substantially different beneficiary groups: natural resource management specialists and smallholder tea farmers. Additionally, the valuation processes generated secondary information that can help improve the format and delivery of both types of EWS outputs for user and beneficiary communities in Kenya and Guatemala. Based on lessons learned from the two studies, this presentation will also compare and contrast the methodological and logistical advantages, challenges, and limitations in applying the CV and DaLA methods in developing countries. By reviewing these two valuation methods alongside each other, the authors will outline conditions where they can be applied - individually or jointly - to other early warning systems and delivery contexts.

Testing the convergent validity of the contingent valuation and travel cost methods in valuing the benefits of health care.

PubMed

Clarke, Philip M

2002-03-01

In this study, the convergent validity of the contingent valuation method (CVM) and travel cost method (TCM) is tested by comparing estimates of the willingness to pay (WTP) for improving access to mammographic screening in rural areas of Australia. It is based on a telephone survey of 458 women in 19 towns, in which they were asked about their recent screening behaviour and their WTP to have a mobile screening unit visit their nearest town. After eliminating missing data and other non-usable responses the contingent valuation experiment and travel cost model were based on information from 372 and 319 women, respectively. Estimates of the maximum WTP for the use of mobile screening units were derived using both methods and compared. The highest mean WTP estimated using the TCM was $83.10 (95% C.I. $99.06-$68.53), which is significantly less than the estimate of $148.09 ($131.13-$166.60) using the CVM. This could be due to the CVM estimates also reflecting non-use values such as altruism, or a range of potential biases that are known to affect both methods. Further tests of validity are required in order to gain a greater understanding of the relationship between these two methods of estimating WTP. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Economic valuation of the ecosystem services provided by a protected area in the Brazilian Cerrado: application of the contingent valuation method.

PubMed

Resende, F M; Fernandes, G W; Andrade, D C; Néder, H D

2017-11-01

Considering that the economic valuation of ecosystem services is a useful approach to support the conservation of natural areas, we aimed to estimate the monetary value of the benefits provided by a protected area in southeast Brazil, the Serra do Cipó National Park. We calculated the visitor's willingness to pay to conserve the ecosystems of the protected area using the contingent valuation method. Located in a region under intense anthropogenic pressure, the Serra do Cipó National Park is mostly composed of rupestrian grassland ecosystems, in addition to other Cerrado physiognomies. We conducted a survey consisting of 514 interviews with visitors of the region and found that the mean willingness to pay was R$ 7.16 year-1, which corresponds to a total of approximately R$ 716,000.00 year-1. We detected that per capita income, the household size, the level of interest in environmental issues and the place of origin influenced the likelihood that individuals are willing to contribute to the conservation of the park, as well as the value of the stated willingness to pay. This study conveys the importance of conserving rupestrian grassland and other Cerrado physiognomies to decision makers and society.

Measuring economic value for tourism destination using contingent valuation method: The Sangiran Sites, Central Java Province, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Subanti, S.; Zukhronah, E.; Handajani, S. S.; Irawan, BRM B.; Hakim, A. R.

2018-03-01

This purpose of study aims to estimate the economic value for quality improvement in Sangiran, Indonesia. This paper used contingent valuation method. The study was found significant factors affecting the probability of individuals to be willing to pay for quality improvement are the nominal amount bid, gender, and income. The economic value of Sangiran sites tourism was estimated between Rp 2.219 billion per year until Rp 2.756 billion per year. This value can be a guidance for management of the Sangiran as a basic reason for Sangiran’s improvement. The improvement includes to add the collection, to build supporting infrastructure in Sangiran, to increase services, to arrange training for Sangiran staff, and others. The suggestion from this paper, we must support the local government for Sangiran improvement, because it can be profitable and it can give benefits from many aspects includes economic, historical, and education.

Measuring the willingness to pay for drinking water quality improvements: results of a contingent valuation survey in Songzi, China.

PubMed

Jianjun, Jin; Wenyu, Wang; Ying, Fan; Xiaomin, Wang

2016-06-01

The aim of this study is to elicit local residents' willingness to pay (WTP), by applying the contingent valuation method as a surcharge on their water bill, for a given improvement in the drinking water quality and the supply reliability. The mean WTP for the drinking water quality improvement program was estimated to be 16.71 yuan (0.3% of total household income). The results note that more educated respondents and households with higher income and with fewer household members are, on average, willing to pay more. This study also demonstrates that respondents' concerns regarding drinking water quality and perceptions of the health risk of drinking water quality can have significant positive impacts on people's WTP. The research results can help decision-makers understand the local population's demand for improved drinking water quality and undertake an environmental cost-benefit analysis.

Willingness to Pay for a Clear Night Sky: Use of the Contingent Valuation Method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simpson, Stephanie; Winebrake, J.; Noel-Storr, J.

2006-12-01

A clear night sky is a public good, and as a public good government intervention to regulate it is feasible and necessary. Light pollution decreases the ability to view the unobstructed night sky, and can have biological, human health, energy related, and scientific consequences. In order for governments to intervene more effectively with light pollution controls (costs), the benefits of light pollution reduction also need to be determined. This project uses the contingent valuation method to place an economic value on one of the benefits of light pollution reduction aesthetics. Using a willingness to pay approach, this study monetizes the value of a clear night sky for students at RIT. Images representing various levels of light pollution were presented to this population as part of a survey. The results of this study may aid local, state, and federal policy makers in making informed decisions regarding light pollution.

Citizens' distrust of government and their protest responses in a contingent valuation study of urban heritage trees in Guangzhou, China.

PubMed

Chen, Wendy Y; Hua, Junyi

2015-05-15

Protest response is a common aspect of contingent valuation (CV) studies, which has attracted growing attention from scholars worldwide. Distrust of government, understood as one of the major reasons for protest response, has been prevalent across transitional China experiencing dramatic changes in its economy, society and natural environment. Citizen distrust of government would significantly hinder the efficiency and validity of the contingent valuation method (CVM) application focusing on the provision of public environmental and ecological goods in China, as a large proportion of protest responses might be induced. Hitherto little has been done to link residents' trust in government to their environmental behaviors in developing and transitional economies like China where CVM has been increasingly applied to generate meaningful and reliable information for integrating both ecological and socioeconomic perspectives into policy decisions. This study aims to investigate the discrepancies between protest responses induced by distrust of government and non-protest responses, using the contingent valuation of heritage trees in Guangzhou as a case. The combination of a set of debriefing questions and several attitudinal questions is employed in the questionnaire. Based on logit analysis and discriminant analysis, it has been found that protestors who distrust government and non-protestors share similar salient values associated with urban heritage trees in Guangzhou, especially their distinctive historical and cultural values, in comparison with ordinary urban trees. Residents with low familiarity with heritage trees (who rarely visit sites with heritage trees, know little about management and conservation techniques, and consider present management to be ineffective) are likely to act as protesters with the "distrust of government" belief. Only if more opportunities are provided for residents to obtain access to urban heritage tree sites, more information (about urban heritage trees and other environmental and ecological goods) is disseminated, and more effective management is implemented, can better governmental trust be developed and stronger public participation and support secured. The results of this study can shed light on understanding protest responses in CV studies and improving the reliability and efficiency of CVM in China and other developing countries where a low level of trust in government prevails. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Are children rational decision makers when they are asked to value their own health? A contingent valuation study conducted with children and their parents.

PubMed

Guerriero, Carla; Cairns, John; Bianchi, Fabrizio; Cori, Liliana

2018-02-01

Despite the importance of including children's preferences in the valuation of their own health benefits, no study has investigated the ability of children to understand willingness-to-pay (WTP) questions. Using a contingent valuation method, we elicit children's and parents' WTP to reduce children's risk of an asthma attack. Our results suggest that children are able to understand and value their own health risk reductions, and their ability to do so improves with age. Child age was found to be inversely related to parents' and children's WTP. The results also suggest that non-paternalistic altruism is predictive of children's WTP. For parents, care for their own health was found to be inversely related with their WTP for children's risk reductions. Comparison of parents' and children's WTP suggests that parents are willing to sacrifice for their child's health risk reduction an amount that is approximately twice that of their children. The analysis of matched pairs of parents and children suggest that there are within-household similarities as the child's WTP is positively related to parents' WTP. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Contingent valuation and incentives

Treesearch

Patricia A. Champ; Nicholas E. Flores; Thomas C. Brown; James Chivers

2002-01-01

We empirically investigate the effect of the payment mechanism on contingent values by asking a willingness-to-pay question with one of three different payment mechanisms: individual contribution, contribution with provision point, and referendum. We find statistical evidence of more affirmative responses in the referendum treatment relative to the individual...

Estimating the economic benefits of maintaining residential lake levels at an irrigation reservoir: A contingent valuation study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loomis, John; Smith, Adam; Huszar, Paul

2005-08-01

The contingent valuation method (CVM) was used to estimate homeowners' willingness to pay for water leasing to maintain stable lake levels at an irrigation reservoir in a residential neighborhood. A binary logit model was used to analyze households' voter referendum responses for maintaining the lake level. The median willingness to pay (WTP) was found to be $368 per year for lakefront residents and $59 per year for off-lake residents. The median WTP for lakefront residents was significantly different from off-lake residents at the 90% confidence level. Using the median WTP for lakefront and nonlakefront residents, we found that the increase in homeowner association fees would generate approximately $43,000, enough money to lease sufficient water to reach the target higher lake level in a normal water year.

Testing the construct validity of willingness to pay valuations using objective information about risk and health benefit.

PubMed

Philips, Zoë; Whynes, David K; Avis, Mark

2006-02-01

This paper describes an experiment to test the construct validity of contingent valuation, by eliciting women's valuations for the NHS cervical cancer screening programme. It is known that, owing to low levels of knowledge of cancer and screening in the general population, women both over-estimate the risk of disease and the efficacy of screening. The study is constructed as a randomised experiment, in which one group is provided with accurate information about cervical cancer screening, whilst the other is not. The first hypothesis supporting construct validity, that controls who perceive greater benefits from screening will offer higher valuations, is substantiated. Both groups are then provided with objective information on an improvement to the screening programme, and are asked to value the improvement as an increment to their original valuations. The second hypothesis supporting construct validity, that controls who perceive the benefits of the programme to be high already will offer lower incremental valuations, is also substantiated. Copyright 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Intangible costs of alcohol dependence from the perspective of patients and their relatives: A contingent valuation study.

PubMed

Mosquera Nogueira, Jacinto; Rodríguez-Míguez, Eva

2018-04-15

Alcohol dependence causes multiple problems not only for the person suffering dependence but also for others. In this study, the contingent valuation method is proposed to measure the intangible effects of alcohol dependence from the perspective of the persons directly involved: the patients and their relatives. Interviews were conducted with 145 patients and 61 relatives. Intangible effects of alcohol dependence were determined based on willingness to pay for a hypothetical treatment for dependence, with different success scenarios (100% and 50%). The mean monthly willingness to pay among the alcohol-dependent population was €129 and €168, respectively, for the treatments with 100% and 50% success. The willingness to pay of relatives was greater in both scenarios (€307 and €420, respectively), which could be explained by their greater perception of the family, labour, and health problems resulting from alcohol dependence. Regression analysis showed that patients' willingness to pay is positively related to treatment efficacy, personal income and moderate health deterioration, and negatively related to feeling discouraged and depressed. The results from this study can be applied to economic valuation studies that aim to measure the benefits of programs intended to reduce the prevalence of alcohol dependence. The intangible costs estimated can be added to the direct and indirect costs commonly used.

Estimating willingness to accept using paired comparison choice experiments: tests of robustness

Treesearch

David C. Kingsley; Thomas C. Brown

2013-01-01

Paired comparison (PC) choice experiments offer researchers and policy-makers an alternative nonmarket valuation method particularly apt when a ranking of the public's priorities across policy alternatives is paramount. Similar to contingent valuation, PC choice experiments estimate the total value associated with a specific environmental good or service. Similar...

Contingent Valuation of Forest Ecosystem Protection

Treesearch

Randall A. Kramer; Thomas P. Holmes; Michelle Haefele

2003-01-01

In recent decades, concerns have arisen about the proper valuation of the world's forests. While some of these concerns have to do with market distortions for timber products or inadequate data on non-timber forest products, an additional challenge is to uncover the economic worth of non- market services provided by forest ecosystems (Kramer et al. 1997). This has...

The application of the Contingent Valuation method towards the assessment of the impacts emerged from the March 2006 floods in the Evros River. An experts-based survey.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Markantonis, V.; Bithas, K.

2009-04-01

In March 2006 Greece was struck by a severe flooding, which caused significant damages in the Prefecture of Evros, on the Eastern border of Greece. 250 million m² of farmland was flooded causing severe damages to agriculture, transport and water supply networks. Total direct damages are estimated at € 372 million. The negative effect on economic activity caused by the floods, considered the worst over the last 50 years, took place in an area that had already been severely affected by floods in 2005. Apart from the direct damages critical were also the indirect impacts on the environmental and the social level. The need for economic analysis concerning the design and implementation of efficient flood management policies is well emphasized in the natural hazards' policies. Within this framework, the present paper is analyzing the application of stated preferences valuation techniques for the assessment of the damages caused in the Prefecture of Evros by the severe floods of March 2006. The objective of this paper is to define the role of economic valuation techniques in assisting the design of efficient and sustainable policies for flood management. More specific, the Contingent Valuation (CV) method is applied in order to valuate the impacts of the March 2006 floods, including the environmental impacts as far as concerns the soil, the biodiversity and the aesthetic environment of the flooded areas. The paper begins with a discussion of the theoretical economic framework, and particularly, the contingent valuation method framework that can be used to evaluate flood impacts. Understanding public preferences for complex environmental policy changes, such as flood impacts, is a preeminent challenge for environmental economists and other social scientists. Information issues are central to the design and application of the survey-based contingent valuation (CV) method for valuing environmental goods. While content is under the control of the analyst, how this information is accessed and used is ultimately up to the respondent. In addition, the future trends of floods in the Evros River Basin are presented, linking the socio-economic framework with the physical conditions of climate change. The forecast of the future precipitation trends in the Evros River has been realized at the Bjerkness Climate Change Center, Norway (May - July 2006). The objective of this forecast is to identify the future extreme precipitation trends in the Evros River Basin applying the global change models and identifying the differences between the present climate and the IPCC scenarios for the future climate. The scenario used for the present climate was the ‘20C3M' and the scenarios used for the future climate was the ‘SRES A2' and the ‘SRES A1B as well. The climate change models used were the following: BCM, ECHAM5_MPI, GFDL and CNRM_CM3. The analysis was based on changes concerning extreme precipitation in periods of three and seven days, which can theoritically lead to flooding events. Eventually, an application of the contingent valuation method is presented using the case study of March 2006 floods in the Evros River. In this context, the valuation scenario, the structure of the questionnaire, the elaboration of the survey and the results of the application are thoroughly illustrated. The good, or policy, being valued is the flooding impacts, focusing more at environmental aspects (soil, biodiversity, aesthetic environment). The survey includes a sample of 53 local experts in floods from various sectors such as local authorities, local public services, agricultural associations, environmental NGO's and universities. The survey is based on peer to peer interviews, which theoretically provide the most coherent results. The valuation question explores the Willingness to Pay (WTP) to Avoid future impacts of flooding formatted as an annual household fee and alternatively as a percentage of the Prefecture's GDP. In both cases the respondents are also asked which percentage of their initially stated value should specifically given for the elimination of the impacts on the soil, the biodiversity and the aesthetic environment. Moreover, the payment vehicle is the payment card method with four pre-defined sets of values. The basic survey template includes three major sections. The first part contains attitudinal, and knowledge questions. The second part, or valuation section, contains the contingent valuation scenario, the actual valuation questions and the follow-up questions. The final section contains the demographic questions. Results indicate well informed local experts who are willing to pay respectable amounts in order to avoid flooding impacts and give a strong gravity on the environmental impacts of the floods. Also, respondents are criticizing the weaknesses of the current flood management status and provide alternative policies, which can potentially affect the policy-making.

External Validity of Contingent Valuation: Comparing Hypothetical and Actual Payments.

PubMed

Ryan, Mandy; Mentzakis, Emmanouil; Jareinpituk, Suthi; Cairns, John

2017-11-01

Whilst contingent valuation is increasingly used in economics to value benefits, questions remain concerning its external validity that is do hypothetical responses match actual responses? We present results from the first within sample field test. Whilst Hypothetical No is always an Actual No, Hypothetical Yes exceed Actual Yes responses. A constant rate of response reversals across bids/prices could suggest theoretically consistent option value responses. Certainty calibrations (verbal and numerical response scales) minimise hypothetical-actual discrepancies offering a useful solution. Helping respondents resolve uncertainty may reduce the discrepancy between hypothetical and actual payments and thus lead to more accurate policy recommendations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Willingness-to-Pay for Work/Family Policies: A Study of Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drago, Robert; Costanza, David; Caplan, Robert; Brubaker, Tanya; Cloud, Darnell; Harris, Naomi; Kashian, Russell; Riggs, T. Lynn

2001-01-01

A contingent valuation study of 343 elementary teachers identified circumstances in which they would be willing to provide, through payroll deductions, certain work-family policies/programs. Even those with little or no likelihood of using the programs exhibited willingness to pay for some of them. (SK)

Mountain substitutability and peak load pricing of high alpine peaks as a management tool to reduce environmental damage: a contingent valuation study.

PubMed

Loomis, John B; Keske, Catherine M

2009-04-01

High alpine peaks throughout the world are under increasing environmental pressure from hikers, trekkers, and climbers. Colorado's "Fourteeners", peaks with summits above 14,000 feet are no exception. Most of these peaks have no entrance fees, and reach ecological and social carrying capacity on weekends. This paper illustrates how a series of dichotomous choice contingent valuation questions can be used to evaluate substitutability between different alpine peaks and quantify the price responsiveness to an entrance fee. Using this approach, we find that peak load pricing would decrease use of popular Fourteeners in Colorado by 22%. This reduction is due almost entirely to substitution, rather than income effects. There is also price inelastic demand, as 60% of the hikers find no substitution for their specific Fourteener at the varying cost increases posed in the survey. The no substitute group has a mean net benefit of $294 per hiker, per trip, considerably higher than visitor net benefits in most recreational use studies.

Implicit individual discount rate in China: A contingent valuation study.

PubMed

Wang, Hua; He, Jie

2018-03-15

Two contingent valuation (CV) surveys were conducted in Kunming, China, to estimate households' willingness to pay (WTP) for the Panlong River rehabilitation project. The two surveys were conducted using the same procedures and questionnaires except for the payment schedule arrangements, which permitted a calculation of respondents' implicit discount rate. The surveys provided two estimates of WTP, one with a mean of 23 Yuan in monthly payment over 5 years and the other with a mean of 311 Yuan in a lump-sum payment that will cover all the expenses for a period of 5 years. The results produce an estimate of monthly discount rate of 7.6%-12.6% or annual discount rate of 141-315%. The estimates are higher than that reported from those studies conducted in the U.S., but are compatible with that of some other studies. This study also shows that both mean individual WTP and implicit individual discount rates are closely related to household demographic and economic characteristics and environment-related perceptions, as reported in the studies conducted in other countries. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Contribution of Scenic Beauty Indicators in Estimating Environmental Welfare Measures: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fanariotu, Ioanna; Skuras, Dimitris

2004-01-01

Aesthetic indicators of landscapes, expressed as individual scenic beauty estimates, may be used as proxies of individuals' specific aesthetic values, and improve the properties of welfare estimates produced by contingent valuation models. This work presents results from an interdisciplinary study where forest scenic beauty indicators are utilized…

Estimating the robustness of contingenet valuation estimates of WTP to survey mode and treatment of protest responses.

Treesearch

John Loomis; Armando Gonzalez-Caban; Joseph Champ

2011-01-01

Over the past four decades teh contingent valuation method (CVM) has become a technique frequently used by economists to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) for improvements in environmental quality and prot3tion of natural resources. The CVM was originall applied to estmate recreation use values (Davis, 1963; Hammack and Brown, 1974)and air quality (Brookshire et al....

Contingent valuation of fuel hazard reduction treatments

Treesearch

John B. Loomis; Armando Gonzalez-Caban

2008-01-01

This chapter presents a stated preference technique for estimating the public benefits of reducing wildfires to residents of California, Florida, and Montana from two alternative fuel reduction programs: prescribed burning, and mechanical fuels reduction. The two fuel reduction programs under study are quite relevant to people living in California, Florida, and...

Further tests of entreaties to avoid hypothetical bias in referendum contingent valuation

Treesearch

Thomas C. Brown; Icek Ajzen; Daniel Hrubes

2003-01-01

Over-estimation of willingness to pay in contingent markets has been attributed largely to hypothetical bias. One promising approach for avoiding hypothetical bias is to tell respondents enough about such bias that they self-correct for it. A script designed for this purpose by Cummings and Taylor was used in hypothetical referenda that differed in payment amount. In...

Using contingent valuation to explore willingness to pay for renewable energy: A comparison of collective and voluntary payment vehicles

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wiser, Ryan H.

Some of the most basic questions about the organization and functioning of society involve issues raised by the existence of public goods. With respect to environmental public goods, how should funds used to support environmental improvement be collected and used? In particular, are collective, mandatory payments superior to voluntary, charitable payments due to the possibility of free riding? And to what degree should the government be involved in spending these funds: should the government directly fund environmental improvement projects or should the private sector be used to collect funds and determine funding priorities? This report explores these questions from themore » perspective of renewable energy: wind, geothermal, biomass, hydropower, and solar. In particular, this report analyzes the payment preferences of U.S. households through the implementation of a large-scale contingent valuation (CV) survey of willingness to pay (WTP) for renewable energy. Renewable energy can be supported through a mandatory ''tax'' on electric bills or through voluntary payments via green power marketing; the government may or may not be heavily involved in the collection and expenditure of such funds. The question of how households prefer to pay for renewable energy is therefore highly relevant. The primary objective of this study is to explore variations in stated WTP for renewable energy under the following four payment and provision contexts: (1) A mandatory increase in the electricity bills of all customers, the funds from which are collected and spent by the government on renewable energy projects. (2) A voluntary increase in the electricity bills of those customers who choose to pay, the funds from which are collected and spent by the government on renewable energy projects. (3) A voluntary increase in the electricity bills of those customers who choose to pay, the funds from which are collected and spent by electricity suppliers on renewable energy projects. (4) A mandatory increase in the electricity bills of all customers, the funds from which are collected and spent by electricity suppliers on renewable energy projects. These payment and provision scenarios are consistent with contemporary forms of support for renewable energy. The first scenario--mandatory payments and government provision--is consistent with a system-benefits charge policy, a policy that has been adopted in 15 U.S. states. The third scenario--voluntary payments to an electricity supplier--is consistent with competitive green power marketing. The fourth scenario--mandatory payments through electricity suppliers--is consistent with a renewables portfolio standard, a policy adopted in thirteen U.S. states as of mid 2003. The second scenario--voluntary payments and government provision--has only been used in a limited fashion in the United States. In addition to having contemporary policy relevance, these four contingent valuation scenarios allow one to distinguish differences in stated WTP based on: (1) the payment method--is WTP affected by whether payments are to be made collectively or voluntarily? and (2) the provision arrangement--does the manner in which a good is provided, in this case through the government or the private sector, affect stated WTP? A split-sample, dichotomous choice contingent valuation survey of 1,574 U.S. residents was developed and implemented to test the sensitivity of stated WTP to these variables at three different payment levels, or bid points. Three secondary objectives also influenced research design, and are discussed in this report. First, this study indirectly and tentatively evaluates the importance of ''participation expectations'' in contingent valuation surveys: specifically, are individuals who state a WTP for renewable energy more likely to think that others will also contribute? Such relationships are commonly discussed in the sociology, social psychology, and marketing literatures, and are also frequently referenced in the collective action literature, but have yet to be tested thoroughly in a contingent valuation context. Second, this report assesses the effects of socioeconomic, demographic, and attitudinal variables on willingness to pay for renewable energy through regression analysis. This analysis helps test the construct validity of the contingent valuation method, and informs our understanding of who is and is not willing to pay for renewable energy under different payment and provision contexts. Finally, through the implementation of a concurrent opinion survey with 202 respondents, this study compares the results of the CV surveys to a more direct approach of eliciting individuals' payment preferences. Responses to the opinion survey also allow a deeper exploration of other issues related to payment preferences.« less

Using a contingent valuation approach for improved solid waste management facility: Evidence from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Afroz, Rafia, E-mail: rafia_afroz@yahoo.com; Masud, Muhammad Mehedi

2011-04-15

This study employed contingent valuation method to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) of the households to improve the waste collection system in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The objective of this study is to evaluate how household WTP changes when recycling and waste separation at source is made mandatory. The methodology consisted of asking people directly about their WTP for an additional waste collection service charge to cover the costs of a new waste management project. The new waste management project consisted of two versions: version A (recycling and waste separation is mandatory) and version B (recycling and waste separation ismore » not mandatory). The households declined their WTP for version A when they were asked to separate the waste at source although all the facilities would be given to them for waste separation. The result of this study indicates that the households were not conscious about the benefits of recycling and waste separation. Concerted efforts should be taken to raise environmental consciousness of the households through education and more publicity regarding waste separation, reducing and recycling.« less

Cost-benefit analysis involving addictive goods: contingent valuation to estimate willingness-to-pay for smoking cessation.

PubMed

Weimer, David L; Vining, Aidan R; Thomas, Randall K

2009-02-01

The valuation of changes in consumption of addictive goods resulting from policy interventions presents a challenge for cost-benefit analysts. Consumer surplus losses from reduced consumption of addictive goods that are measured relative to market demand schedules overestimate the social cost of cessation interventions. This article seeks to show that consumer surplus losses measured using a non-addicted demand schedule provide a better assessment of social cost. Specifically, (1) it develops an addiction model that permits an estimate of the smoker's compensating variation for the elimination of addiction; (2) it employs a contingent valuation survey of current smokers to estimate their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a treatment that would eliminate addiction; (3) it uses the estimate of WTP from the survey to calculate the fraction of consumer surplus that should be viewed as consumer value; and (4) it provides an estimate of this fraction. The exercise suggests that, as a tentative first and rough rule-of-thumb, only about 75% of the loss of the conventionally measured consumer surplus should be counted as social cost for policies that reduce the consumption of cigarettes. Additional research to estimate this important rule-of-thumb is desirable to address the various caveats relevant to this study. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Attributing a monetary value to patients' time: A contingent valuation approach.

PubMed

van den Berg, Bernard; Gafni, Amiram; Portrait, France

2017-04-01

It is hard to ignore the importance of patient time investment in the production of health since the influential paper by Grossman (1972). Patients' time includes time to admission, travel time, waiting time, and treatment time and can be substantial. Patients' time is, however, often ignored in economic analyses. This may lead to biased results and inappropriate policy recommendations, which may eventually influence patients' health, wellbeing and welfare. How to value patient time is not straightforward. Although there is some emerging literature on the monetary valuation of patient time, an important challenge remains to develop an approach that can be used to monetarily value time of patients not participating in the labour market. We aim to contribute to the health economics literature by describing and empirically illustrating how to monetarily value the time of patients not participating in the labour market comprehensively, using the contingent valuation method. It is worth noting that our method can also be applied to people participating in the labour market. This paper describes the development of the contingent valuation survey. We apply our survey approach to a sample of 238 Dutch patients not participating in the labour market: n = 107 Radiotherapy department (data collected between November 2011 and January 2013); n = 44 Rehabilitation department (March 2012-May 2012); n = 87 Orthopaedics department (January to June 2013). Results show that those patients value waiting time the highest (€30.10 per hour) and value travel and treatment time equally with respectively €13.20 and €13.32 per hour. This paper encourages future empirical research refining and applying the developed survey methodology to create more data on how other subgroups of individuals value their patients' time. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Demand for health care in Denmark: results of a national sample survey using contingent valuation.

PubMed

Gyldmark, M; Morrison, G C

2001-10-01

In this paper we use willingness to pay (WTP) to elicit values for private insurance covering treatment for four different health problems. By way of obtaining these values, we test the viability of the contingent valuation method (CVM) and econometric techniques, respectively, as means of eliciting and analysing values from the general public. WTP responses from a Danish national sample survey, which was designed in accordance with existing guidelines, are analysed in terms of consistency and validity checks. Large numbers of zero responses are common in WTP studies, and are found here; therefore, the Heckman selectivity model and log-transformed OLS are employed. The selectivity model is rejected, but test results indicate that the lognormal model yields efficient and unbiased estimates. The results give confidence in the WTP estimates obtained and, more generally, in CVM as a means of valuing publicly provided goods and in econometrics as a tool for analysing WTP results containing many zero responses.

Explaining the discrepancy between intentions and actions: the case of hypothetical bias in contingent valuation.

PubMed

Ajzen, Icek; Brown, Thomas C; Carvajal, Franklin

2004-09-01

An experiment was designed to account for intention-behavior discrepancies by applying the theory of planned behavior to contingent valuation. College students (N = 160) voted in hypothetical and real payment referenda to contribute $8 to a scholarship fund. Overestimates of willingness to pay in the hypothetical referendum could not be attributed to moderately favorable latent dispositions. Instead, this hypothetical bias was explained by activation of more favorable beliefs and attitudes in the context of a hypothetical rather than a real referendum. A corrective entreaty was found to eliminate this bias by bringing beliefs, attitudes, and intentions in line with those in the real payment situation. As a result, the theory of planned behavior produced more accurate prediction of real payment when participants were exposed to the corrective entreaty.

The Economic Value of Career Counseling Services for College Students in South Korea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Choi, Bo Young; Lee, Ji Hee; Kim, Areum; Kim, Boram; Cho, Daeyeon; Lee, Sang Min

2013-01-01

This study investigated college students' perception of the monetary value of career counseling services by using the contingent valuation method. The results of a multivariate survival analysis based on interviews with a convenience sample of 291 undergraduate students in South Korea indicate that, on average, participants' expressed willingness…

A comparison of approaches to mitigate hypothetical bias

Treesearch

Patricia A. Champ; Rebecca Moore; Richard C. Bishop

2009-01-01

We compare two approaches to mitigating hypothetical bias. The study design includes three treatments: an actual payment treatment, a contingent valuation (CV) treatment with a followup certainty question, and a CV treatment with a cheap talk script. Our results suggest that both the follow-up certainty treatment and the cheap talk treatment produce...

Increasing the Transparency of Stated Choice Studies for Policy Analysis: Designing Experiments to Produce Raw Response Graphs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sur, Dipika; Cook, Joseph; Chatterjee, Susmita; Deen, Jacqueline; Whittington, Dale

2007-01-01

We believe a lack of transparency undermines both the credibility of, and interest in, stated choice studies among policy makers. Unlike articles reporting the results of contingent valuation studies, papers in the stated choice literature rarely present simple tabulations of raw response data (that is, a table or graph showing the percentage of…

Criterion and content validity of a novel structured haggling contingent valuation question format versus the bidding game and binary with follow-up format.

PubMed

Onwujekwe, Obinna

2004-02-01

Contingent valuation question formats that will be used to elicit willingness to pay for goods and services need to be relevant to the area they will be used in order for responses to be valid. A novel contingent valuation question format called the "structured haggling technique" (SH) that resembles the bargaining system in Nigerian markets was designed and its criterion and content validity compared with those of the bidding game (BG) and binary-with-follow-up (BWFU) technique. This was achieved by determining the willingness to pay (WTP) for insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) in Southeast Nigeria. Content validity was determined through observation of actual trading of untreated nets together with interviews with sellers and consumers. Criterion validity was determined by comparing stated and actual WTP. Stated WTP was determined using a questionnaire administered to 810 household heads and actual WTP was determined by offering the nets for sale to all respondents one month later. The phi (correlation) coefficient was used to compare criterion validity across question formats. The phi coefficients were SH (0.60: 95% C.I. 0.50-0.71), BG (0.42: 95% C.I. 0.29-0.54) and the BWFU (0.32: 95% C.I. 0.20-0.44), implying that the BG and SH had similar levels of criterion-validity while the BWFU was the least criterion-valid. However, the SH was the most content-valid. It is necessary to validate the findings in other areas where haggling is common. Future studies should establish the content validity of question formats in the contexts in which they will be used before administering questionnaires.

Revealed and stated preference valuation and transfer: A within-sample comparison of water quality improvement values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferrini, Silvia; Schaafsma, Marije; Bateman, Ian

2014-06-01

Benefit transfer (BT) methods are becoming increasingly important for environmental policy, but the empirical findings regarding transfer validity are mixed. A novel valuation survey was designed to obtain both stated preference (SP) and revealed preference (RP) data concerning river water quality values from a large sample of households. Both dichotomous choice and payment card contingent valuation (CV) and travel cost (TC) data were collected. Resulting valuations were directly compared and used for BT analyses using both unit value and function transfer approaches. WTP estimates are found to pass the convergence validity test. BT results show that the CV data produce lower transfer errors, below 20% for both unit value and function transfer, than TC data especially when using function transfer. Further, comparison of WTP estimates suggests that in all cases, differences between methods are larger than differences between study areas. Results show that when multiple studies are available, using welfare estimates from the same area but based on a different method consistently results in larger errors than transfers across space keeping the method constant.

Which response format reveals the truth about donations to a public good?

Treesearch

Thomas C. Brown; Patricia A. Champ; Richard C. Bishop; Daniel W. McCollum

1996-01-01

Seceral contingent valuation studies hace found that the open-ended format yields lower estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) than does the closed-ended, or dichotomous choice, format. In this study, WTP for a public encironmental good was estimated under four conditions: actual payment in response to open-ended and closed-ended requests, and hypothetical payment in...

Putting the environment into the NPV calculation -- Quantifying pipeline environmental costs

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dott, D.R.; Wirasinghe, S.C.; Chakma, A.

1996-12-31

Pipeline projects impact the environment through soil and habitat disturbance, noise during construction and compressor operation, river crossing disturbance and the risk of rupture. Assigning monetary value to these negative project consequences enables the environment to be represented in the project cost-benefit analysis. This paper presents the mechanics and implications of two environmental valuation techniques: (1) the contingent valuation method and (2) the stated preference method. The use of environmental value at the project economic-evaluation stage is explained. A summary of research done on relevant environmental attribute valuation is presented and discussed. Recommendations for further research in the field aremore » made.« less

Use of dichotomous choice nonmarket methods to value the whooping crane resource

Treesearch

J. Michael Bowker; John R. Stoll

1985-01-01

A dichotomous choice form of contingent valuation is applied to quantify individuals' economic surplus associated with preservation of the whooping crane resource. Specific issues and limitations of the empirical approach are discussed. The results of this case study reveal that models with similar statistical fits can lead to very disparate measures of economic...

Estimating the Economic Value of Lethal Versus Nonlethal Deer Control in Suburban Communities

Treesearch

J. Michael Bowker; David H. Newman; Robert J. Warren; David W. Henderson

2003-01-01

Negative people/wildlife interaction has raised public interest in wildlife population control. We present a contingent valuation study of alternative deer control measures considered for Hilton Head Island, SC. Lethal control usig sharpshooters and nonlethal immuno-contraception techniques are evaluated. A mail-back survey was used to collect resident willingness-to-...

Methods for assessing the impact of fire on forest recreation

Treesearch

Henry J. Vaux; Philip D. Gardner; Thomas J. Mills

1984-01-01

Methods for assessing the impact of fire on forest recreation were studied in a literature search and an experiment. Contingent market valuation appeared the most promising. This direct, economic approach uses personal interviews and sets up a hypothetical market transaction in which values are estimated. In an illustrative application of this method, respondents were...

Revealing the economic value of managed aquifer recharge: Evidence from a contingent valuation study in Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Damigos, D.; Tentes, G.; Balzarini, M.; Furlanis, F.; Vianello, A.

2017-08-01

Managed aquifer recharge [MAR) is a promising water management tool toward restoring groundwater balance and securing groundwater ecosystem services (i.e., water for drinking, industrial or irrigation use, control of land subsidence, maintenance of environmental flows to groundwater dependent ecosystems, etc.). Obviously, MAR projects can improve the quality of lives of the people by several ways. Thus, from a social perspective, the benefits of MAR cannot and should not be based only on market revenues or costs. Although the value of groundwater, from a social perspective, has been a subject of socio-economic research, literature on the value of MAR per se is very limited. This paper, focusing on Italy which is a country with extensive utilization of MAR, aims to estimate the economic value of MAR and makes a first step toward filling this gap in the literature. For this purpose, the Contingent Valuation method was implemented to provide a monetary estimate and to explore the factors influencing people's attitude and willingness to pay for MAR. The results show that society holds not only use but also significant nonuse values, which are a part of the total economic value (TEV) of groundwater according to related research efforts. To this end, MAR valuation highlights its social importance for groundwater conservation and provides a solid basis for incorporating its nonmarket benefits into groundwater management policies and assessments.

Demand assessment and price-elasticity estimation of quality-improved primary health care in Palestine: a contribution from the contingent valuation method.

PubMed

Mataria, Awad; Luchini, Stéphane; Daoud, Yousef; Moatti, Jean-Paul

2007-10-01

This paper proposes a new methodology to assess demand and price-elasticity for health care, based on patients' stated willingness to pay (WTP) values for certain aspects of health care quality improvements. A conceptual analysis of how respondents consider contingent valuation (CV) questions allowed us to specify a probability density function of stated WTP values, and consequently, to model a demand function for quality-improved health care, using a parametric survival approach. The model was empirically estimated using a CV study intended to assess patients' values for improving the quality of primary health care (PHC) services in Palestine. A random sample of 499 individuals was interviewed following medical consultation in four PHC centers. Quality was assessed using a multi-attribute approach; and respondents valued seven specific quality improvements using a decomposed valuation scenario and a payment card elicitation technique. Our results suggest an inelastic demand at low user fees levels, and when the price-increase is accompanied with substantial quality-improvements. Nevertheless, demand becomes more and more elastic if user fees continue to rise. On the other hand, patients' reactions to price-increase turn out to depend on their level of income. Our results can be used to design successful health care financing strategies that include a consideration of patients' preferences and financial capacities. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A contingent valuation study to estimate the parental willingness-to-pay for childhood diarrhoea and gender bias among rural households in India.

PubMed

Amin, Mo; Khondoker, Farhana

2004-06-24

We used contingent valuation technique to estimate the parental willingness to pay for an episode of diarrhoea among 324 children of both sexes aged between five and seven years in two rural villages of Chennai in India. The aim was to examine if there was any gender bias in the parental willingness to treat children for a diarrhoeal episode, and if so to what extent. The willingness to pay was specified as a hedonic function of the duration and severity of an episode, and of parents' socioeconomic characteristics. The findings suggest that parents were willing to pay more to protect their male child compared to the female child suffering from a diarrhoeal episode. The median willingness to pay to avoid an episode for male and female children were calculated at Rs. 33.7 (approx. US$ 0.72) and Rs. 25.2 (approx. US$ 0.54) respectively - a difference of around 34%. After adjusting for the greater duration and severity of the illness, it was found that the difference between the two medians increased to 51%.

Willingness to pay more for value-added pomegranate juice (Punica granatum L.): An open-ended contingent valuation.

PubMed

Romano, Karen Rodrigues; Dias Bartolomeu Abadio Finco, Fernanda; Rosenthal, Amauri; Vinicius Alves Finco, Marcus; Deliza, Rosires

2016-11-01

This study aimed at estimating the consumer's willingness to pay (WTP) more for value-added pomegranate juice using the contingent valuation method (CVM). The WTP was estimated applying the open-ended elicitation technique with 454 consumers in two supermarkets located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The average consumer's WTP more for pomegranate juice was estimated in R$2.04 (Brazilian currency) and the income elasticity coefficient at the midpoint was 0.19, i.e., a 10% increase in consumer income will increase, on average, 1.9% the WTP of pomegranate juice (ceteris paribus). Therefore, the income elasticity coefficient was considered inelastic, once an increase in income would have low effect on the WTP for these consumers. The results indicated that the consumers were interested in acquiring a non-traditional juice processed using a technology that preserves vitamins and antioxidants, maintains the flavor of "fresh juice" without colorants and preservatives, despite the pomegranate is not part of the Brazilian diet. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of an Otolaryngology Emergency Room Using a Contingent Valuation Approach.

PubMed

Naunheim, Matthew R; Kozin, Elliot D; Sethi, Rosh K; Ota, H Gregory; Gray, Stacey T; Shrime, Mark G

2015-10-01

Dedicated otolaryngology emergency rooms (ERs) provide a unique mechanism of health care delivery. Relative costs and willingness to pay (WTP) for these services have not been studied. This study aims to provide a cost-benefit analysis of otolaryngology-specific ER care. Cost-benefit analysis based on contingent valuation surveys. An otolaryngology-specific ER in a tertiary care academic medical center. Adult English-speaking patients presenting to an otolaryngology ER were included. WTP questions were used to assess patient valuations of specialty emergency care. Sociodemographic data, income, and self-reported levels of distress were assessed. State-level and institution-specific historical cost data were merged with WTP data within a cost-benefit analysis framework. The response rate was 75.6%, and 199 patients were included in the final analysis. Average WTP for otolaryngology ER services was $319 greater than for a general ER (95% CI: $261 to $377), with a median value of $200. The historical mean cost per visit at a general ER was $575, and mean cost at the specialty ER was $551 (95% CI: $529 to $574). Subtracting incremental cost from incremental WTP yielded a net benefit of $343. Dedicated otolaryngology ER services are valued by patients for acute otolaryngologic problems and have a net benefit of $343 per patient visit. They appear to be a cost-beneficial method for addressing acute otolaryngologic conditions. This study has implications for ER-based otolaryngologic care and direct-to-specialist services. © American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2015.

Answering Aggregation Questions in Contingency Valuation of Rural Transit Benefits

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2001-08-01

While the qualitative benefits of transit are relatively well known, quantifying the benefits of transit is still a developing methodology. Quantifying benefits offers improved operational management and planning as well as better information for pol...

Health care contingent valuation studies: a review and classification of the literature.

PubMed

Diener, A; O'Brien, B; Gafni, A

1998-06-01

The contingent valuation method (CVM) is a survey-based approach for eliciting consumer's monetary valuations for programme benefits for use in cost-benefit analysis (CBA). We used the conceptual framework of O'Brien and Gafni (1996) to classify and critically appraise health care CVM studies. Search of computerized health care and economic citation databases (e.g. MEDLINE, ECONLIT) and manual search for papers published between 1984 1996 reporting primary data valuing health programme benefits in monetary units by CVM using willingness-to-pay (WTP) or accept (WTA). We classified studies using both empirical (i.e. who was surveyed and how) and conceptual criteria (i.e. which measure of consumer utility was measured and why). 48 CVM studies were retrieved; the majority (42) undertook money valuation in the context of cost benefit analysis (CBA), with the remainder being pricing/demand studies. Among the 42 CBA studies, the consumer utility being measured (i.e. compensating (CV) vs. equivalent variation (EV) was explicitly stated in only three (7%) studies). WTP was measured in 95% of studies and WTA in 5%. By cross-tabulation, 42 (91%) studies were designed as WTP/CV, two (4%) were WTP/EV, two (4%) were WTA/CV and no studies used WTA/EV. Most studies were administered by mail (52%) with 38% being in-person interviews. Value elicitation techniques included open-ended questions (38%), payment cards (19%) discrete choice questions (26%) or bidding games (29%). Some form of construct validation tests, particularly associations between WTP and income, were done in 21 studies (50%). (i) The number of health care CVM studies is growing rapidly and the majority are done in the context of CBA; (ii) there is wide variation among health care CVM studies in terms of the types of questions being posed and the elicitation formats being used; (iii) classification and appraisal of the literature is difficult because reporting of methods and their relationship with the conceptual framework of CBA is poor; (iii) the applicability to health care of the CVM guidelines issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) panel for environmental economics is unclear.

Assessing the Impact of Regeneration Spending: Lessons from the United Kingdom and the Wider World

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Potts, David

2008-01-01

The government increased the funding for regional development agencies to 2.3 billion British Pounds in 2007/8, yet hard evidence on the effectiveness of the spending is difficult to find. Techniques for valuing benefits in difficult areas have existed for many years. They range from the hedonic methods and contingent valuation studies of…

The role of the payment vehicle in non-market valuations of a health care service: willingness-to-pay for an ambulance helicopter service.

PubMed

Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte

2016-01-01

This study analyses the role of the payment vehicle when conducting non-market valuations of health care services using stated preference methods. Based on a contingent valuation study conducted in Denmark encompassing more than 3400 respondents three important conclusions are drawn. Firstly, it is found that the valuation of a publicly financed ambulance helicopter service is higher than for an identical privately financed service. Secondly, the results suggest that the public premium is likely to be partly driven by altruistic preferences, and that some citizens value access to this type of service for all. An important driver is also perceptions of quality of services across the private and public sector. Finally, it is shown that exclusion of protest bidders is problematic and may bias welfare estimates. The take home message is that it is difficult to isolate the value of a good per se, and that analysts should take care in applying the payment vehicle that is likely to be applied in real life when valuing non-market goods. There has been little awareness of the importance of choice of payment vehicle in the literature to date.

Willingness to pay for improved public health care services in Saudi Arabia: a contingent valuation study among heads of Saudi households.

PubMed

Al-Hanawi, Mohammed K; Alsharqi, Omar; Vaidya, Kirit

2018-06-04

The bulk of health care service provision in Saudi Arabia is undertaken by the public health care sector through the Ministry of Health, which is funded annually by the total government budget, which, in turn, is derived primarily from oil revenue. Public health care services in Saudi Arabia are characterised by an overload, overuse, and shortage of medical personnel, which can result in dissatisfaction with the quality of the current public health care services. This study uses a contingent valuation method to investigate the willingness of Saudi people to pay for improvements to the quality of public health care services. This study also determines the association between the willingness to pay for quality improvements and respondents' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. A pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 1187 heads of household in Jeddah Province over a five-month period. Multi-stage sampling was employed to recruit participants. Partial Tobit regression and corresponding marginal effects analyses were used to analyse the data. These empirical analyses show that the majority of the sample was willing to pay for quality improvements in the public health care services. The results of this study might be of use to policymakers to help with both priority setting and fund allocation.

Valuing the benefits of genetic testing for retinitis pigmentosa: a pilot application of the contingent valuation method.

PubMed

Eden, Martin; Payne, Katherine; Combs, Ryan M; Hall, Georgina; McAllister, Marion; Black, Graeme C M

2013-08-01

Technological advances present an opportunity for more people with, or at risk of, developing retinitis pigmentosa (RP) to be offered genetic testing. Valuation of these tests using current evaluative frameworks is problematic since benefits may be derived from diagnostic information rather than improvements in health. This pilot study aimed to explore if contingent valuation method (CVM) can be used to value the benefits of genetic testing for RP. CVM was used to elicit willingness-to-pay (WTP) values for (1) genetic counselling and (2) genetic counselling with genetic testing. Telephone and face-to-face interviews with a purposive sample of individuals with (n=25), and without (n=27), prior experience of RP were used to explore the feasibility and validity of CVM in this context. Faced with a hypothetical scenario, the majority of participants stated that they would seek genetic counselling and testing in the context of RP. Between participant groups, respondents offered similar justifications for stated WTP values. Overall stated WTP was higher for genetic counselling plus testing (median=£524.00) compared with counselling alone (median=£224.50). Between-group differences in stated WTP were statistically significant; participants with prior knowledge of the condition were willing to pay more for genetic ophthalmology services. Participants were able to attach a monetary value to the perceived potential benefit that genetic testing offered regardless of prior experience of the condition. This exploratory work represents an important step towards evaluating these services using formal cost-benefit analysis.

Estimating the welfare loss to households from natural disasters in developing countries: a contingent valuation study of flooding in Vietnam

PubMed Central

Navrud, Ståle; Tuan, Tran Huu; Tinh, Bui Duc

2012-01-01

Background Natural disasters have severe impacts on the health and well-being of affected households. However, we find evidence that official damage cost assessments for floods and other natural disasters in Vietnam, where households have little or no insurance, clearly underestimate the total economic damage costs of these events as they do not include the welfare loss from mortality, morbidity and well-being experienced by the households affected by the floods. This should send a message to the local communities and national authorities that higher investments in flood alleviation, reduction and adaptive measures can be justified since the social benefits of these measures in terms of avoided damage costs are higher than previously thought. Methods We pioneer the use of the contingent valuation (CV) approach of willingness-to-contribute (WTC) labour to a flood prevention program, as a measure of the welfare loss experienced by household due to a flooding event. In a face-to-face household survey of 706 households in the Quang Nam province in Central Vietnam, we applied this approach together with reported direct physical damage in order to shed light of the welfare loss experienced by the households. We asked about households’ WTC labour and multiplied their WTC person-days of labour by an estimate for their opportunity cost of time in order to estimate the welfare loss to households from the 2007 floods. Results The results showed that this contingent valuation (CV) approach of asking about willingness-to-pay in-kind avoided the main problems associated with applying CV in developing countries. Conclusion Thus, the CV approach of WTC labour instead of money is promising in terms of capturing the total welfare loss of natural disasters, and promising in terms of further application in other developing countries and for other types of natural disasters. PMID:22761603

Estimating the welfare loss to households from natural disasters in developing countries: a contingent valuation study of flooding in Vietnam.

PubMed

Navrud, Ståle; Tuan, Tran Huu; Tinh, Bui Duc

2012-01-01

Natural disasters have severe impacts on the health and well-being of affected households. However, we find evidence that official damage cost assessments for floods and other natural disasters in Vietnam, where households have little or no insurance, clearly underestimate the total economic damage costs of these events as they do not include the welfare loss from mortality, morbidity and well-being experienced by the households affected by the floods. This should send a message to the local communities and national authorities that higher investments in flood alleviation, reduction and adaptive measures can be justified since the social benefits of these measures in terms of avoided damage costs are higher than previously thought. We pioneer the use of the contingent valuation (CV) approach of willingness-to-contribute (WTC) labour to a flood prevention program, as a measure of the welfare loss experienced by household due to a flooding event. In a face-to-face household survey of 706 households in the Quang Nam province in Central Vietnam, we applied this approach together with reported direct physical damage in order to shed light of the welfare loss experienced by the households. We asked about households' WTC labour and multiplied their WTC person-days of labour by an estimate for their opportunity cost of time in order to estimate the welfare loss to households from the 2007 floods. The results showed that this contingent valuation (CV) approach of asking about willingness-to-pay in-kind avoided the main problems associated with applying CV in developing countries. Thus, the CV approach of WTC labour instead of money is promising in terms of capturing the total welfare loss of natural disasters, and promising in terms of further application in other developing countries and for other types of natural disasters.

Valuing Eastern Visibility: A Field Test of the Contingent Valuation Method (1993)

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The report describes the Eastern visibility survey design in detail, presents the implementation of and data obtained from the surveys, provides summary statistics on the overall response and discusses the econometric techniques employed to value benefits.

CONTINGENT VALUATION OF SOME EXTERNALITIES FROM GOLD MINING. (R825289)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

Effects of site preparation on timber and non-timber values of loblolly pine plantations

Treesearch

Jianbang Gan; Stephen H. Kolison; James H. Miller; Tasha M. Hargrove

1998-01-01

This study evaluated the timber and non-timber values of the forest stands generated by four site preparation methods tested in the Tuskegee National Forest 15 yr earlier. The timber values of the forest stands were assessed with the timber yields predicted by the SE TWIGS model. Non-timber benefits were evaluated through the Contingent Valuation Method. Two hundred...

Nonmarket benefits of reducing environmental effects of potential wildfires in beetle-killed trees: A contingent valuation study

Treesearch

Maryam Tabatabaei; John B. Loomis; Daniel W. McCollum

2015-01-01

We estimated Colorado households’ nonmarket values for two forest management options for reducing intensity of future wildfires and associated nonmarket environmental effects wildfires. The first policy is the traditional harvesting of pine beetle-killed trees and burning of the slash piles of residual materials on-site. The second involves harvesting but moving the...

Lib-Value: Values, Outcomes, and Return on Investment of Academic Libraries, Phase III: ROI of the Syracuse University Library

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kingma, Bruce; McClure, Kathleen

2015-01-01

This study measures the return on investment (ROI) of the Syracuse University library. Faculty and students at Syracuse University were surveyed using contingent valuation methodology to measure their willingness to pay in time and money for the services of the academic library. Their travel time and use of the online library was measured to…

A note on nonlinearity bias and dichotomous choice CVM: implications for aggregate benefits estimation

Treesearch

R.A. Souter; J. Michael Bowker

1996-01-01

It is a generally known statistical fact that the mean of a nonlinear function of a set of random variables is not equivalent to the function evaluated at the means of the variables. However, in dichotomous choice contingent valuation studies, a common practice is to calculate an overall mean (or median) by integrating over offer space (numerically or analytically) an...

Valuing the Recreational Benefits from the Creation of Nature Reserves in Irish Forests

Treesearch

Riccardo Scarpa; Susan M. Chilton; W. George Hutchinson; Joseph Buongiorno

2000-01-01

Data from a large-scale contingent valuation study are used to investigate the effects of forest attribum on willingness to pay for forest recreation in Ireland. In particular, the presence of a nature reserve in the forest is found to significantly increase the visitors' willingness to pay. A random utility model is used to estimate the welfare change associated...

Timing effects in health valuations.

PubMed

Leiter, Andrea M; Pruckner, Gerald J

2014-06-01

This paper analyzes the impact of external sources of information, conveyed by the frequency of risky events that vary across time, on the individual willingness to pay (WTP) for a reduction of mortality risk. We collected data from a contingent valuation (CV) exercise conducted in two waves (fall and winter) to examine whether individual WTP varied across periods that differed in the predominance of fatal accidents. Risk valuations were based on fatal snow avalanche accidents, that is, a type of risk with seasonal differences in occurrence. We found slightly lower but statistically significant mean WTP figures in the winter than in the fall sample because of time-varying individual risk attitudes and, therefore, recommend controlling for these factors in risk assessment CV surveys. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Economic value of safe water for the infrastructurally disadvantaged urban household: A case study in Delhi, India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dasgupta, Purnamita; Dasgupta, Rajib

2004-11-01

Delhi has witnessed rapid urbanization during the past 50 years, with ever increasing growth in population and economic activity leading to water stress in several parts of the city. This paper looks at the valuation of water as an economic resource in the context of a low-income, infrastructurally disadvantaged urban household, through the results of a primary survey. In doing so, it examines several issues, often interlinked, concerning the quality and quantity of water being "accessed" by households. While there is no one perfect way of estimating household demand for improved water services, the study uses the contingent valuation approach and evaluates the findings in terms of the health benefits from safe water and the costs of provision of safe supplies.

Economic Value of Instream Flow for Non-Commercial Whitewater Boating Using Recreation Demand and Contingent Valuation Methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loomis, John; McTernan, James

2014-03-01

Whitewater river kayaking and river rafting require adequate instream flows that are often adversely affected by upstream water diversions. However, there are very few studies in the USA of the economic value of instream flow to inform environmental managers. This study estimates the economic value of instream flow to non-commercial kayakers derived using a Travel Cost Method recreation demand model and Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), a type of Contingent Behavior Method (CBM). Data were obtained from a visitor survey administered along the Poudre River in Colorado. In the dichotomous choice CVM willingness to pay (WTP) question, visitors were asked if they would still visit the river if the cost of their trip was Y higher, and the level of Y was varied across the sample. The CVM yielded an estimate of WTP that was sensitive to flows ranging from 55 per person per day at 300 Cubic Feet per Second (CFS) to a maximum 97 per person per day at flows of 1900 CFS. The recreation demand model estimated a boater's number of trips per season. We found the number of trips taken was also sensitive to flow, ranging from as little as 1.63 trips at 300 CFS to a maximum number of 14 trips over the season at 1900 CFS. Thus, there is consistency between peak benefits per trip and number of trips, respectively. With an average of about 100 non-commercial boaters per day, the maximum marginal values per acre foot averages about 220. This value exceeds irrigation water values in this area of Colorado.

Neuroscience and approach/avoidance personality traits: a two stage (valuation-motivation) approach.

PubMed

Corr, Philip J; McNaughton, Neil

2012-11-01

Many personality theories link specific traits to the sensitivities of the neural systems that control approach and avoidance. But there is no consensus on the nature of these systems. Here we combine recent advances in economics and neuroscience to provide a more solid foundation for a neuroscience of approach/avoidance personality. We propose a two-stage integration of valuation (loss/gain) sensitivities with motivational (approach/avoidance/conflict) sensitivities. Our key conclusions are: (1) that valuation of appetitive and aversive events (e.g. gain and loss as studied by behavioural economists) is an independent perceptual input stage--with the economic phenomenon of loss aversion resulting from greater negative valuation sensitivity compared to positive valuation sensitivity; (2) that valuation of an appetitive stimulus then interacts with a contingency of presentation or omission to generate a motivational 'attractor' or 'repulsor', respectively (vice versa for an aversive stimulus); (3) the resultant behavioural tendencies to approach or avoid have distinct sensitivities to those of the valuation systems; (4) while attractors and repulsors can reinforce new responses they also, more usually, elicit innate or previously conditioned responses and so the perception/valuation-motivation/action complex is best characterised as acting as a 'reinforcer' not a 'reinforcement'; and (5) approach-avoidance conflict must be viewed as activating a third motivation system that is distinct from the basic approach and avoidance systems. We provide examples of methods of assessing each of the constructs within approach-avoidance theories and of linking these constructs to personality measures. We sketch a preliminary five-element reinforcer sensitivity theory (RST-5) as a first step in the integration of existing specific approach-avoidance theories into a coherent neuroscience of personality. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Economic value of ecosystem conservation in Japan: Reduction of starting point bias by bid effect function

Treesearch

Mitsuyasu Yabe

2007-01-01

Over 18 million people visit and enjoy the view of the world’s largest class caldera topography, which forms the important landscape element of National Park Aso. Aso grassland spreads and rare plants exist in the harmony of nature and human activities. This study was a Contingent Valuation (CV) survey to estimate the conservation value of Aso grassland. We...

Which Factors Influence the Willingness to Pay for Electronic Library Services? A Study of the Portuguese Electronic Scientific Information Consortium B-On1

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melo, Luiza Baptista; Pires, Cesaltina

2012-01-01

This paper investigates the factors that influence the value for the users of the Portuguese electronic scientific information consortium b-on (Biblioteca do Conhecimento Online). We used the contingent valuation method based on a willingness to pay scenario to estimate the value that each user is willing to pay. Data were collected through an…

Are all-terrain vehicle riders willing to pay trail user fees to ride on public lands in the USA?

Treesearch

Stephanie A. Snyder; Robert A. Smail

2009-01-01

Some public lands in the USA offer opportunities for all-terrain vehicle (ATV) riding, but few charge trail use fees. In a case study in the US state of Wisconsin, the contingent valuation method was used to examine riders' willingness to pay (WTP) to ride on public lands. Information on riders' habits, preferences and responses to a dichotomous choice WTP...

Willingness to Pay for Hospice Care Using the Contingent Valuation Method

PubMed Central

Kim, Mee-Ok; Kim, Jung-Hoe; Joo, Ji-Soo

2011-01-01

Purpose It is necessary to develop a proper payment system for more health care facilities to provide hospice and palliative cares. In deciding the proper level of payment for hospice per diem fee, willingness to pay (WTP) may provide one of the critical information. This study was conducted to determine WTP for hospice care and to analyze those factors affecting WTP. Materials and Methods A contingent valuation method with a double-bounded dichotomous-choice model was used. Interview survey was organized and conducted by a survey company from April 4 to 18, 2008. The mean WTP was calculated through an infinite integration of survival functions. Results The average willingness to pay was found to be 42,240 Korean won (KRW) (USD 35), with the amount becoming higher as hospice services were deemed more necessary or where average monthly household income was higher. The amount was also higher among male respondents than females. Conclusion To compare this WTP with actual cost (32,500 KRW) (USD 27) for hospice care. To facilitate hospice service, hospice specific payment system should be developed. This study provides information regarding the general public's preference of hospice service and their WTP for hospice care, and it may be useful in the decision-making process. PMID:21488196

Singapore’s willingness to pay for mitigation of transboundary forest-fire haze from Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lin, Yuan; Wijedasa, Lahiru S.; Chisholm, Ryan A.

2017-02-01

Haze pollution over the past four decades in Southeast Asia is mainly a result of forest and peatland fires in Indonesia. The economic impacts of haze include adverse health effects and disruption to transport and tourism. Previous studies have used a variety of approaches to assess the economic impacts of haze and the forest fires more generally. But no study has used contingent valuation to assess non-market impacts of haze on individuals. Here we apply contingent valuation to estimate impacts of haze on Singapore, one of most severely affected countries. We used a double-bounded dichotomous-choice survey design and the Kaplan-Meier-Turnbull method to infer the distribution of Singaporeans’ willingness to pay (WTP) for haze mitigation. Our estimate of mean individual WTP was 0.97% of annual income (n = 390). To calculate total national WTP, we stratified by income, the demographic variable most strongly related to individual WTP. The total WTP estimate was 643.5 million per year (95% CI [527.7 million, 765.0 million]). This estimate is comparable in magnitude to previously estimated impacts of Indonesia’s fires and also to the estimated costs of peatland protection and restoration. We recommend that our results be incorporated into future cost-benefit analyses of the fires and mitigation strategies.

What is a hospital bed day worth? A contingent valuation study of hospital Chief Executive Officers.

PubMed

Page, Katie; Barnett, Adrain G; Graves, Nicholas

2017-02-14

Decreasing hospital length of stay, and so freeing up hospital beds, represents an important cost saving which is often used in economic evaluations. The savings need to be accurately quantified in order to make optimal health care resource allocation decisions. Traditionally the accounting cost of a bed is used. We argue instead that the economic cost of a bed day is the better value for making resource decisions, and we describe our valuation method and estimations for costing this important resource. We performed a contingent valuation using 37 Australian Chief Executive Officers' (CEOs) willingness to pay (WTP) to release bed days in their hospitals, both generally and using specific cases. We provide a succinct thematic analysis from qualitative interviews post survey completion, which provide insight into the decision making process. On average CEOs are willing to pay a marginal rate of $216 for a ward bed day and $436 for an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed day, with estimates of uncertainty being greater for ICU beds. These estimates are significantly lower (four times for ward beds and seven times for ICU beds) than the traditional accounting costs often used. Key themes to emerge from the interviews include the importance of national funding and targets, and their associated incentive structures, as well as the aversion to discuss bed days as an economic resource. This study highlights the importance for valuing bed days as an economic resource to inform cost effectiveness models and thus improve hospital decision making and resource allocation. Significantly under or over valuing the resource is very likely to result in sub-optimal decision making. We discuss the importance of recognising the opportunity costs of this resource and highlight areas for future research.

Willingness-to-pay for schistosomiasis-related health outcomes in Kenya.

PubMed

Kirigia, J M; Sambo, L G; Kainyu, L H

2000-01-01

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) provides a framework for identifying, quantifying, and valuing in monetary terms all the important costs and consequences to society of competing disease interventions. Thus, CBA requires that impacts of schistosomiasis interventions on beneficiaries'health be valued in monetary terms Economic theory requires the use of the willingness to pay (WTP) approach in valuation of changes in health as a result of intervention. It is the only approach which is consistent with the potential Pareto improvement principle, and hence, consistent with CBA. The present study developed a health outcome measure and tested its operational feasibility. Contingent valuation for certain return to normal health from various health states, and for remaining in one's current health state were elicited through direct interview of randomly selected rice farmers, teachers, and health personnel in Kenya. The WTP to avoid risk of advancing to the next more severe state, seemed to be higher than WTP for a return to normal health. Generally, there was a significant difference between the average WTP values of farmers, teachers and health personnel populations. The gender and occupation variable coefficients were positive and highly significant in all regressions. The coefficients of the other explanatory variables were generally not statistically significant, indicating that medical expenses, anxiety cost, loss of earnings, and loss of work time, implied in various health states descriptions did not have significant effect on respondents expressed WTP values. The latter finding shows that there is need for more research to identify the other (besides gender and occupation) determinants of expressed WTP values in Africa. This study has demonstrated that it is possible to elicit coherent WTP values from economically under-developed countries. Further empirical work is clearly needed to at least address the validity and reliability of the contingent valuation approach and its measurements in Africa.

VALUING MORTALITY-RISK REDUCTION: USING VISUAL AIDS TO IMPROVE THE VALIDITY OF CONTINGENT VALUATION. (R825312)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

Valuing ecosystem services using benefit transfer: separating credible and incredible approaches: chapter 3

USGS Publications Warehouse

Loomis, John H.; Richardson, Leslie; Kroeger, Timm; Casey, Frank

2014-01-01

Ecosystem goods and services are now widely recognized as the benefits that humans derive from the natural environment around them including abiotic (e.g. atmosphere) and biotic components. The work by Costanza et al. (1997) to value the world’s ecosystem services brought the concept of ecosystem service valuation to the attention of the world press and environmental economists working in the area of non-market valuation. The article’s US$33 trillion estimate of these services, despite world GDP being only US$18 trillion, was definitely headline grabbing. This ambitious effort was undertaken with reliance on transferring existing values per unit from other (often site specific) valuation studies. Benefit transfer (see Boyle and Bergstrom, 1992; Rosenberger and Loomis, 2000, 2001) involves transfers of values per unit from an area that has been valued using primary valuation methods such as contingent valuation, travel cost or hedonic property methods (Champ et al., 2003) to areas for which values are needed. Benefit transfer often provides a reasonable approximation of the benefit of unstudied ecosystem services based on transfer of benefits estimates per unit (per visitor day, per acre) from existing studies. An appropriate benefit transfer should be performed on the same spatial scale of analysis (e.g. reservoir to reservoir, city to city) as the original study. However, the reasonableness of benefit transfer may be strained when applying locally derived per acre values from studies of several thousand acres of a resource such as wetlands to hundreds of millions of acres of wetlands.

Willingness to pay for public health services in rural Central Java, Indonesia: methodological considerations when using the contingent valuation method.

PubMed

Shono, Aiko; Kondo, Masahide; Ohmae, Hiroshi; Okubo, Ichiro

2014-06-01

In the health sectors of low- and middle-income countries, contingent valuation method (CVM) studies on willingness to pay (WTP) have been used to gather information on demand variation or financial perspectives alongside price setting, such as the introduction of user fees and valuation of quality improvements. However, WTP found in most CVM studies have only explored the preferences that consumers express through their WTP without exploring whether they are actually able to pay for it. Therefore, this study examines the issues pertaining to WTP estimation for health services using the conventional CVM. We conducted 202 household interviews in 2008, in which we asked respondents about three types of public health services in Indonesia and assessed WTP estimated by the conventional CVM as well as in the scenario of "resorting to debt" to recognize their budget constraints. We find that all the demand curves for both WTP scenarios show gaps. Furthermore, the gap for midwife services is negatively affected by household income and is larger for the poor. These results prove that CVM studies on WTP do not always reveal WTP in the latter scenario. Those findings suggest that WTP elicited by the conventional CVM is different to that from the maximum price that prevents respondents from resorting to debt as their WTP. In order to bridge this gap in the body of knowledge on this topic, studies should improve the scenarios that CVM analyses use to explore WTP. Furthermore, because valuing or pricing health services based on the results of CVM studies on WTP alone can exacerbate the inequity of access to these services, information provided by such studies requires careful interpretation when used for this purpose, especially for the poor and vulnerable sections of society. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Willingness To Pay for Information: An Analyst's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee, Kyung Hee; Hatcher, Charles B.

2001-01-01

Compares methods for estimating consumer willingness to pay for information: contingent valuation, experimental auction, conjoint analysis, and hedonic price equations. Shows how, in the case of food dating, measurement of willingness is complicated by the question of whether the information adds to the product's value. (Contains 31 references.)…

Valuing Tropical Rainforest Protection Using the Contingent Valuation Method

Treesearch

Randall A. Kramer; D. Evan Mercer; Narendra Sharma

1996-01-01

In the last several decades, the intensity and scale of forest exploitation have increased significantly. A large number of developing countries experiencing increasing deforestation trends are also facing acute shortages of fuelwood, fodder, industrial timber, and other forest products for domestic USC. Besides potential environmental degradation, depletion of...

AGE, HEALTH AND THE WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR MORTALITY RISK REDUCTIONS: A CONTINGENT VALUATION SURVEY OF ONTARIO RESIDENTS. (R826608)

EPA Science Inventory

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Concl...

Economic valuation of health care services in public health systems: a study about Willingness to Pay (WTP) for nursing consultations.

PubMed

Martín-Fernández, Jesús; del Cura-González, Ma Isabel; Rodríguez-Martínez, Gemma; Ariza-Cardiel, Gloria; Zamora, Javier; Gómez-Gascón, Tomás; Polentinos-Castro, Elena; Pérez-Rivas, Francisco Javier; Domínguez-Bidagor, Julia; Beamud-Lagos, Milagros; Tello-Bernabé, Ma Eugenia; Conde-López, Juan Francisco; Aguado-Arroyo, Óscar; Sanz-Bayona, Ma Teresa; Gil-Lacruz, Ana Isabel

2013-01-01

Identifying the economic value assigned by users to a particular health service is of principal interest in planning the service. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception of economic value of nursing consultation in primary care (PC) by its users. Economic study using contingent valuation methodology. A total of 662 users of nursing consultation from 23 health centers were included. Data on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, health needs, pattern of usage, and satisfaction with provided service were compiled. The validity of the response was evaluated by an explanatory mixed-effects multilevel model in order to assess the factors associated with the response according to the welfare theory. Response reliability was also evaluated. Subjects included in the study indicated an average Willingness to Pay (WTP) of €14.4 (CI 95%: €13.2-15.5; median €10) and an average Willingness to Accept [Compensation] (WTA) of €20.9 (CI 95%: €19.6-22.2; median €20). Average area income, personal income, consultation duration, home visit, and education level correlated with greater WTP. Women and older subjects showed lower WTP. Fixed parameters explained 8.41% of the residual variability, and response clustering in different health centers explained 4-6% of the total variability. The influence of income on WTP was different in each center. The responses for WTP and WTA in a subgroup of subjects were consistent when reassessed after 2 weeks (intraclass correlation coefficients 0.952 and 0.893, respectively). The economic value of nursing services provided within PC in a public health system is clearly perceived by its user. The perception of this value is influenced by socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the subjects and their environment, and by the unique characteristics of the evaluated service. The method of contingent valuation is useful for making explicit this perception of value of health services.

Economic Valuation of Health Care Services in Public Health Systems: A Study about Willingness to Pay (WTP) for Nursing Consultations

PubMed Central

Martín-Fernández, Jesús; del Cura-González, Mª Isabel; Rodríguez-Martínez, Gemma; Ariza-Cardiel, Gloria; Zamora, Javier; Gómez-Gascón, Tomás; Polentinos-Castro, Elena; Pérez-Rivas, Francisco Javier; Domínguez-Bidagor, Julia; Beamud-Lagos, Milagros; Tello-Bernabé, Mª Eugenia; Conde-López, Juan Francisco; Aguado-Arroyo, Óscar; Bayona, Mª Teresa Sanz-; Gil-Lacruz, Ana Isabel

2013-01-01

Background Identifying the economic value assigned by users to a particular health service is of principal interest in planning the service. The aim of this study was to evaluate the perception of economic value of nursing consultation in primary care (PC) by its users. Methods and Results Economic study using contingent valuation methodology. A total of 662 users of nursing consultation from 23 health centers were included. Data on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, health needs, pattern of usage, and satisfaction with provided service were compiled. The validity of the response was evaluated by an explanatory mixed-effects multilevel model in order to assess the factors associated with the response according to the welfare theory. Response reliability was also evaluated. Subjects included in the study indicated an average Willingness to Pay (WTP) of €14.4 (CI 95%: €13.2–15.5; median €10) and an average Willingness to Accept [Compensation] (WTA) of €20.9 (CI 95%: €19.6–22.2; median €20). Average area income, personal income, consultation duration, home visit, and education level correlated with greater WTP. Women and older subjects showed lower WTP. Fixed parameters explained 8.41% of the residual variability, and response clustering in different health centers explained 4–6% of the total variability. The influence of income on WTP was different in each center. The responses for WTP and WTA in a subgroup of subjects were consistent when reassessed after 2 weeks (intraclass correlation coefficients 0.952 and 0.893, respectively). Conclusions The economic value of nursing services provided within PC in a public health system is clearly perceived by its user. The perception of this value is influenced by socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the subjects and their environment, and by the unique characteristics of the evaluated service. The method of contingent valuation is useful for making explicit this perception of value of health services. PMID:23626858

Exploring factors influencing farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for a planned adaptation programme to address climatic issues in agricultural sectors.

PubMed

Ahmed, Adeel; Masud, Muhammad Mehedi; Al-Amin, Abul Quasem; Yahaya, Siti Rohani Binti; Rahman, Mahfuzur; Akhtar, Rulia

2015-06-01

This study empirically estimates farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for a planned adaptation programme for addressing climate issues in Pakistan's agricultural sectors. The contingent valuation method (CVM) was employed to determine a monetary valuation of farmers' preferences for a planned adaptation programme by ascertaining the value attached to address climatic issues. The survey was conducted by distributing structured questionnaires among Pakistani farmers. The study found that 67 % of respondents were willing to pay for a planned adaptation programme. However, several socioeconomic and motivational factors exert greater influence on their willingness to pay (WTP). This paper specifies the steps needed for all institutional bodies to better address issues in climate change. The outcomes of this paper will support attempts by policy makers to design an efficient adaptation framework for mitigating and adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change.

Estimating residents' willingness to pay for groundwater protection in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vo, Danh Thanh; Huynh, Khai Viet

2017-03-01

Groundwater in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta is facing the pollution and it needs to be protected. Searching literature reviews on economic valuation techniques, the contingent valuation method (CVM) has been popularly applied to estimate the economic value of water protection. This approach is based on a hypothetical scenario in which respondents are requested through questionnaires to reveal their maximum willingness to pay (WTP) for the water protection project. The study used the approach of CVM to analyze the households' motivations and their WTP for the program of groundwater protection in the Mekong Delta. The study performed that the residents in the delta were willing to pay approximately 141,730 VND (US6.74) per household a year. Groundwater could be an inferior good with the negative income effect found in the demanding for clean groundwater. Respondent's gender and groundwater-related health risk consideration were factors sensitively affecting the probability of demanding for groundwater protection.

National Economic Development Procedures Manual. Recreation. Volume 3. A Case Study Application of the Contingent Valuation Method for Estimating Urban Recreation Use and Benefits

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-11-01

rivers or lakes? YES NO YES NO Went fishing? YES NO YES NO Went skateboarding ? YES NO YES NO Visited outdoor scenic places? YES NO YES NO Used undeveloped...VN SN N SU VU Playground equipment VN SN N SU VU Concessions VN SN N SU VU Bicycle trails VN SN N SU VU Skateboard paths VN SN N SU VU Exercise/fitness

Analysis of the Military Medical Retirement System

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

Willingness-to-pay ( WTP ) studies examine how much an individual is willing to pay in order to decrease their risk of death. Contingent valuation...lacks a budgetary constraint, while the WTP approach is bound by the limits of one’s budget (EPA 1990: I-1). WTP is further distinguished into two...that reduction in the risk of death” (Lanoie et al 1995: 236). The summation of each person’s WTP is the overall value of statistical life. The

The value of urban open space: meta-analyses of contingent valuation and hedonic pricing results.

PubMed

Brander, Luke M; Koetse, Mark J

2011-10-01

Urban open space provides a number of valuable services to urban populations, including recreational opportunities, aesthetic enjoyment, environmental functions, and may also be associated with existence values. In separate meta-analyses of the contingent valuation (CV) and hedonic pricing (HP) literature we examine which physical, socio-economic, and study characteristics determine the value of open space. The dependent variable in the CV meta-regression is defined as the value of open space per hectare per year in 2003 US$, and in the HP model as the percentage change in house price for a 10 m decrease in distance to open space. Using a multi-level modelling approach we find in both the CV and HP analyses that there is a positive and significant relationship between the value of urban open space and population density, indicating that scarcity and crowdedness matter, and that the value of open space does not vary significantly with income. Further, urban parks are more highly valued than other types of urban open space (forests, agricultural and undeveloped land) and methodological differences in study design have a large influence on estimated values from both CV and HP. We also find important regional differences in preferences for urban open space, which suggests that the potential for transferring estimated values between regions is likely to be limited. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Accounting protesting and warm glow bidding in Contingent Valuation surveys considering the management of environmental goods--an empirical case study assessing the value of protecting a Natura 2000 wetland area in Greece.

PubMed

Grammatikopoulou, Ioanna; Olsen, Søren Bøye

2013-11-30

Based on a Contingent Valuation survey aiming to reveal the willingness to pay (WTP) for conservation of a wetland area in Greece, we show how protest and warm glow motives can be taken into account when modeling WTP. In a sample of more than 300 respondents, we find that 54% of the positive bids are rooted to some extent in warm glow reasoning while 29% of the zero bids can be classified as expressions of protest rather than preferences. In previous studies, warm glow bidders are only rarely identified while protesters are typically identified and excluded from further analysis. We test for selection bias associated with simple removal of both protesters and warm glow bidders in our data. Our findings show that removal of warm glow bidders does not significantly distort WTP whereas we find strong evidence of selection bias associated with removal of protesters. We show how to correct for such selection bias by using a sample selection model. In our empirical sample, using the typical approach of removing protesters from the analysis, the value of protecting the wetland is significantly underestimated by as much as 46% unless correcting for selection bias. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Does Question Format Matter? Valuing an Endangered Species

Treesearch

Dixie Watts Reaves; Randall A. Kramer; Thomas P. Holmes

1999-01-01

A three-way treatment design is used to compare contingent valuation response formats. Respondents are asked to value an endangered species (the red-cockaded woodpecker) and the restoration of its habitat following a natural disaster. For three question formats (open-ended, payment card, and double-bounded dichotomous choice), differences in survey response rates,...

Willingness-to-pay for an area-wide integrated Pest Managment Program to control the Asian Tiger Mosquito in New Jersey.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Using contingent valuation, the perceived value of an area-wide, integrated pest management program for the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, implemented in Monmouth and Mercer Counties, New Jersey, was estimated. The residents’ maximum willingness-to-pay (WTP) and payment modality was estimat...

Valuing the Implementation of Financial Literacy Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Kimberlee; Durband, Dorothy Bagwell

2008-01-01

Placing a monetary value on education is a complex task. A more difficult task is to determine at what monetary level individuals will support educational improvements. The contingent valuation method was used to estimate the value of the implementation of financial literacy education in Texas public schools. A Web-based survey was administered to…

The Value of clean water: The public's willingness to pay for boatable, fishable, and swimmable quality water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carson, Richard T.; Mitchell, Robert Cameron

1993-07-01

This paper presents the findings of a study designed to determine the national benefits of freshwater pollution control. By using data from a national contingent valuation survey, we estimate the aggregate benefits of meeting the goals of the Clean Water Act. A valuation function is estimated which depicts willingness to pay as a function of water quality, income, and other variables. Several validation checks and tests for specific biases are performed, and the benefit estimates are corrected for missing and invalid responses. The two major policy implications from our work are that the benefits and costs of water pollution control efforts are roughly equal and that many of the new policy actions necessary to ensure that all water bodies reach at least a swimmable quality level will not have positive net benefits.

Valuation of crop genetic resources in Kaski, Nepal: farmers' willingness to pay for rice landraces conservation.

PubMed

Poudel, Diwakar; Johnsen, Fred H

2009-01-01

Crop genetic resources constitute an important aspect of biodiversity conservation, both because of their direct value to the farmers and due to their indirect global value. This study uses the contingent valuation method to document the economic value of crop genetic resources based on the farmers' willingness to pay for conservation. A total of 107 households in Kaski, Nepal were surveyed in November 2003. Their mean willingness to pay was USD 4.18 for in situ and USD 2.20 for ex situ conservation per annum. Landholding size, household size, education level, socio-economic status, sex of respondent, number of crop landraces grown, and knowledge on biodiversity influenced the willingness to pay for in situ conservation, whereas only landholding size and household size influenced the willingness to pay for ex situ conservation. The respondents were willing to contribute more for in situ than ex situ conservation because of the additional effect of direct use and direct involvement of the farmers in in situ conservation. This study supports the view that economic valuation of crop genetic resources can assist the policy makers in setting conservation priorities.

Willingness to Pay for Conservation of Transborder Migratory Species: A Case Study of the Mexican Free-Tailed Bat in the United States and Mexico.

PubMed

Haefele, Michelle A; Loomis, John B; Merideth, Robert; Lien, Aaron; Semmens, Darius J; Dubovsky, James; Wiederholt, Ruscena; Thogmartin, Wayne E; Huang, Ta-Ken; McCracken, Gary; Medellin, Rodrigo A; Diffendorfer, James E; López-Hoffman, Laura

2018-05-06

We estimated U.S. and Mexican citizens' willingness to pay (WTP) for protecting habitat for a transborder migratory species, the Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana), using the contingent valuation method. Few contingent valuation surveys have evaluated whether households in one country would pay to protect habitat in another country. This study addresses that gap. In our study, Mexican respondents were asked about their WTP for conservation of Mexican free-tailed bat habitat in Mexico and in the United States. Similarly, U.S. respondents were asked about their WTP for conservation in the United States and in Mexico. U.S. households would pay $30 annually to protect habitat in the United States and $24 annually to protect habitat in Mexico. Mexican households would pay $8 annually to protect habitat in Mexico and $5 annually to protect habitat in the United States. In both countries, these WTP amounts rose significantly for increasing the size of the bat population rather than simply stabilizing the current bat population. The ratio of Mexican household WTP relative to U.S. household WTP is nearly identical to that of Mexican household income relative to U.S. household income. This suggests that the perceived economic benefits received from the bats is similar in Mexico and the United States, and that scaling WTP by relative income in international benefit transfer may be plausible.

Changes in recreation values after fire in the northern Rocky Mountains

Treesearch

Flowers. Patrick J.; Henry J. Vaux; Philip D. Gardner; Thomas J. Mills

1985-01-01

Changes in recreation values after wildfire in the northern Rocky Mountains were determined by estimating the difference in the present net value of recreation activity with and without fire. To estimate the value of recreation activity at burned and unburned sites, a contingent market valuation approach was used. Hypothetical market transactions were created by...

An attribute-based approach to contingent valuation of forest protection programs

Treesearch

Christopher C. Moore; Thomas P. Holmes; Kathleen P. Bell

2011-01-01

The hemlock woolly adelgid is an invasive insect that is damaging hemlock forests in the eastern United States. Several control methods are available but forest managers are constrained by cost, availability, and environmental concerns. As a result forest managers must decide how to allocate limited conservation resources over heterogeneous landscapes. We develop an...

Protecting Oregon old-growth forests from fires: how much is it worth?

Treesearch

Armando González-Cabán; John Loomis; Robin Gregory

1995-01-01

Current fire management policies in the USDA Forest Service includes traditional multiple uses, but these policies do not adequately incorporate non-traditional uses such as preservation of biodiversity and related nongame and endangered animals. A contingent valuation methodology was used for valuing the general public's desire to know that rare and unique...

Policy Implications for Using ICTs for Empowerment of Rural Women in Ghana

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kwapong, Olivia Adwoa Tiwaah Frimpong

2008-01-01

Using rural household survey data collected from 1000 female household heads selected from all the ten administrative regions in Ghana, this paper explored the policy implications for using ICTs for empowerment of rural women. A contingent valuation (CV) method was used to quantitatively estimate the influence of selected socio-economic factors on…

Paired comparison estimates of willingness to accept versus contingent valuation estimates of willingness to pay

Treesearch

John B. Loomis; George Peterson; Patricia A. Champ; Thomas C. Brown; Beatrice Lucero

1998-01-01

Estimating empirical measures of an individual's willingness to accept that are consistent with conventional economic theory, has proven difficult. The method of paired comparison offers a promising approach to estimate willingness to accept. This method involves having individuals make binary choices between receiving a particular good or a sum of money....

Willingness to pay for municipality hospital services in rural Japan: a contingent valuation study

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background The Japanese healthcare system has undergone reforms to address the struggles that municipality hospitals face. Reform guidelines clearly define criteria for administrative improvement. However, criteria to evaluate the demand for healthcare provisions in rural Japan, including the needs of rural residents for municipality hospitals in particular have not been specified. The purpose of this paper is to measure residents' willingness to pay (WTP) for municipality hospital services using the contingent valuation method, and to evaluate municipality hospital valuation on the basis of WTP. K town, located in the Hokkaido prefecture of Japan, was selected as the location for this study. Participants were recruited by a town hall healthcare administrator, hospital and clinic staff, and a local dentist. Participants were asked what amount they would be willing to pay as taxes to continue accessing the services of the municipality hospital for one year by using open-ended questions in face-to-face interviews. Findings Forty-eight residents were initially recruited, and 40 participants were selected for the study (response rate 83%). As compared to K town's population, this data slanted toward the elderly, although there was no significant difference in frequency among the characteristics. The median WTP was estimated at 39,484 yen ($438.71), with a 95% confidence interval 27,806-55,437 yen ($308.95-615.96). Logistic regression revealed no significant factors affecting WTP. Conclusions If the total amount of residents' WTP for the municipality hospital were to be estimated by this result, it would calculate with 129,586,000 yen ($1,439,844). This is approximately equal to the amount of money to be transferred from the general account of the government of K town, more than one-half of the town tax of K town, and about two-fold in comparison to Japan as a whole. This showed that K town's residents placed a high valuation on the municipality hospital, which nearly equalled the amount that the K town government provided to the municipality hospital to cover its annual deficit. K town residents had come to expect not only general clinical practice, but also emergency medical services and night practice provided by their own town's municipality hospital. WTP can be used as a measure of hospital evaluation because it reflects the importance of the hospital to the residents in its region. PMID:21645419

Estimating farmers' willingness to pay for climate change adaptation: the case of the Malaysian agricultural sector.

PubMed

Masud, Muhammad Mehedi; Junsheng, Ha; Akhtar, Rulia; Al-Amin, Abul Quasem; Kari, Fatimah Binti

2015-02-01

This paper estimates Malaysian farmers' willingness to pay (WTP) for a planned adaptation programme for addressing climate issues in the Malaysian agricultural sector. We used the contingent valuation method (CVM) for a monetary valuation of farmers' preferences for a planned adaptation programme by ascertaining the value attached to address climatic issues in the Malaysian agricultural sector. Structured questionnaires were distributed among the sampled farmers. The study found that 74 % of respondents were willing to pay for a planned adaptation programme and that several socioeconomic and motivation factors have greater influence on their WTP. This paper clearly specifies the steps needed for all institutional bodies to better address issues in climate change. The outcomes of this paper will support policy makers to better design an efficient adaptation framework for adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change.

Levers supporting tariff growth for water services: evidence from a contingent valuation analysis.

PubMed

Guerrini, Andrea; Vigolo, Vania; Romano, Giulia; Testa, Federico

2018-02-01

The backwardness of the water utilities sector necessitates urgent investment in infrastructure to improve water quality and efficiency in water supply networks. A policy of tariff growth represents the main source to sustain such investments. Therefore, customer engagement in the form of willingness to pay (WTP) is highly desirable by water utilities to obtain social legitimization and support. This study examines the determinants of consumers' WTP for improvement programs for three drinking water issues: quality of water sources, renewal of water mains, and building of new wastewater treatment plants. The study is based on a survey conducted among a sample of 587 customers of a water utility located in the province of Verona in the north of Italy. The contingence valuation method is used to measure WTP. Specifically, an ordinal logistic regression model yields the following significant determinants of WTP: quality of water and services provided, preference for privatization of the water utility, sustainable consumption of water, and some socio-demographic variables. The findings provide interesting insights into the drivers of WTP as well as managerial recommendations for water utilities. In particular, the findings show that water utilities need to improve service and water quality to increase customers' acceptance of tariff growth. In addition, utilities should invest in customer education and communication activities focusing on specific age groups (e.g., older customers) to enhance their WTP. Finally, communication strategies should reinforce the possible role of liberalization and privatization in supporting infrastructure investments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Willingness to pay to sustain and expand National Health Insurance services in Taiwan.

PubMed

Lang, Hui-Chu; Lai, Mei-Shu

2008-12-17

The purpose of the present study was to investigate people's willingness to pay to sustain the current National Health Insurance (NHI) program in Taiwan and to extend that program to cover long-term care services. A survey was administered to 1800 inpatients and 1800 outpatients, selected from health care facilities across all accreditation levels that were operating under the supervision of six different regional branches of Taiwan's Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI). We used a contingent valuation method with closed-ended questions to elicit participants' willingness to pay for continued national heath insurance and additional institutional long-term care services. We divided participants into six subgroups and asked individuals in these groups referendum-like yes-no questions about whether they were willing to pay one of six price bids: New Taiwan Dollar (NT$) 50, NT$100, NT$200, NT$300, NT$400, or NT$500. Logistic regression was used to analyze willingness to pay. We found maximum willingness to pay for continued coverage by the NHI program and additional institutional long-term care services to be NT$66 and NT$137 dollars per month, respectively. We found that people were willing to pay more for their insurance coverage. With regard to methodology, we also found that using a contingent valuation method to elicit peoples' willingness to pay for health policy issues is valid. The results of the present referendum-like study can serve as a reference for future policy decision making.

Willingness to pay to sustain and expand National Health Insurance services in Taiwan

PubMed Central

Lang, Hui-Chu; Lai, Mei-Shu

2008-01-01

Background The purpose of the present study was to investigate people's willingness to pay to sustain the current National Health Insurance (NHI) program in Taiwan and to extend that program to cover long-term care services. Methods A survey was administered to 1800 inpatients and 1800 outpatients, selected from health care facilities across all accreditation levels that were operating under the supervision of six different regional branches of Taiwan's Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI). We used a contingent valuation method with closed-ended questions to elicit participants' willingness to pay for continued national heath insurance and additional institutional long-term care services. We divided participants into six subgroups and asked individuals in these groups referendum-like yes-no questions about whether they were willing to pay one of six price bids: New Taiwan Dollar (NT$) 50, NT$100, NT$200, NT$300, NT$400, or NT$500. Logistic regression was used to analyze willingness to pay. Results We found maximum willingness to pay for continued coverage by the NHI program and additional institutional long-term care services to be NT$66 and NT$137 dollars per month, respectively. Conclusion We found that people were willing to pay more for their insurance coverage. With regard to methodology, we also found that using a contingent valuation method to elicit peoples' willingness to pay for health policy issues is valid. The results of the present referendum-like study can serve as a reference for future policy decision making. PMID:19091093

The economic value of an improved malaria treatment programme in Zambia: results from a contingent valuation survey.

PubMed

Masiye, Felix; Rehnberg, Clas

2005-12-15

Zambia is facing a double crisis of increasing malaria burden and dwindling capacity to deal with the endemic malaria burden. The pursuit of sustainable but equity mechanisms for financing malaria programmes is a subject of crucial policy discussion. This requires that comprehensive accounting of the economic impact of the various malaria programmes. Information on the economic value of programmes is essential in soliciting appropriate funding allocations for malaria control. This paper specifically seeks to elicit a measure of the economic benefits of an improved malaria treatment programme in Zambia. The paper also studies the equity implications in malaria treatment given that demand or malaria treatment is determined by household socio-economic status. A contingent valuation survey of about 300 Zambian households was conducted in four districts. Willingness-to-pay (WTP) was elicited for an improved treatment programme for malaria in order to generate a measure of the economic benefits of the programme. The payment card method was used in eliciting WTP bids. The study reports that malaria treatment has significant economic benefits to society. The total economic benefits of an improved treatment programme were estimated at an equivalent of USD 77 million per annum, representing about 1.8% of Zambia's GDP. The study also reports the theoretically anticipated association between WTP and several socio-economic factors. Our income elasticity of demand is positive and similar in magnitude to estimates reported in similar studies. Finally, from an equity standpoint, the constraints imposed by income and socio-economic status are discussed.

The economic value of an improved malaria treatment programme in Zambia: results from a contingent valuation survey

PubMed Central

Masiye, Felix; Rehnberg, Clas

2005-01-01

Background Zambia is facing a double crisis of increasing malaria burden and dwindling capacity to deal with the endemic malaria burden. The pursuit of sustainable but equity mechanisms for financing malaria programmes is a subject of crucial policy discussion. This requires that comprehensive accounting of the economic impact of the various malaria programmes. Information on the economic value of programmes is essential in soliciting appropriate funding allocations for malaria control. Aims and objectives This paper specifically seeks to elicit a measure of the economic benefits of an improved malaria treatment programme in Zambia. The paper also studies the equity implications in malaria treatment given that demand or malaria treatment is determined by household socio-economic status. Methods A contingent valuation survey of about 300 Zambian households was conducted in four districts. Willingness-to-pay (WTP) was elicited for an improved treatment programme for malaria in order to generate a measure of the economic benefits of the programme. The payment card method was used in eliciting WTP bids. Findings The study reports that malaria treatment has significant economic benefits to society. The total economic benefits of an improved treatment programme were estimated at an equivalent of US$ 77 million per annum, representing about 1.8% of Zambia's GDP. The study also reports the theoretically anticipated association between WTP and several socio-economic factors. Our income elasticity of demand is positive and similar in magnitude to estimates reported in similar studies. Finally, from an equity standpoint, the constraints imposed by income and socio-economic status are discussed. PMID:16356176

Estimating consumer willingness to pay a price premium for Alaska secondary wood products.

Treesearch

Geoffrey H. Donovan; David L. Nicholls

2003-01-01

Dichotomous choice contingent valuation survey techniques were used to estimate mean willingness to pay (WTP) a price premium for made-in-Alaska secondary wood products. Respondents were asked to compare two superficially identical end tables, one made in China and one made in Alaska. The surveys were administered at home shows in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Sitka in...

Rain Forest Tourism - Estimating the Benefits of Tourism Development in a New National Park in Madagascar

Treesearch

D. Evan Mercer; R. Kramer; N. Sharma

1995-01-01

Travel cost and contingent valuation methods are applied to the problem of estimating the potential consumer surplus available to international nature tourists from a rain forest conservation project in Madagascar. Data are derived from surveys of nature tourists in Madagascar and international, nature tourism professionals in the U.S. and Europe. Typical trip travel...

Efficiency versus bias: the role of distributional parameters in count contingent behaviour models

Treesearch

Joseph Englin; Arwin Pang; Thomas Holmes

2011-01-01

One of the challenges facing many applications of non-market valuations is to find data with enough variation in the variable(s) of interest to estimate econometrically their effects on the quantity demanded. A solution to this problem was the introduction of stated preference surveys. These surveys can introduce variation into variables where there is no natural...

Valuing snorkeling visits to the Florida Keys with stated and revealed preference models

Treesearch

Timothy Park; J. Michael Bowker; Vernon R. Leeworthy

2002-01-01

Coastal coral reefs, especially in the Florida Keys, are declining at a disturbing rate. Marine ecologists and reef scientists have emphasized the importance of establishing nonmarket values of coral reefs to assess the cost effectiveness of coral reef management and remediation programs. The purpose of this paper is to develop a travel cost--contingent valuation model...

Estimating irrigation water demand in the Moroccan Drâa Valley using contingent valuation.

PubMed

Storm, Hugo; Heckelei, Thomas; Heidecke, Claudia

2011-10-01

Irrigation water management is crucial for agricultural production and livelihood security in Morocco as in many other parts of the world. For the implementation of an effective water management, knowledge about farmers' demand for irrigation water is crucial to assess reactions to water pricing policy, to establish a cost-benefit analysis of water supply investments or to determine the optimal water allocation between different users. Previously used econometric methods providing this information often have prohibitive data requirements. In this paper, the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is adjusted to derive a demand function for irrigation water along farmers' willingness to pay for one additional unit of surface water or groundwater. An application in the Middle Drâa Valley in Morocco shows that the method provides reasonable results in an environment with limited data availability. For analysing the censored survey data, the Least Absolute Deviation estimator was found to be a more suitable alternative to the Tobit model as errors are heteroscedastic and non-normally distributed. The adjusted CVM to derive demand functions is especially attractive for water scarce countries under limited data availability. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patient preference to use a questionnaire varies according to attributes.

PubMed

Kim, Na Yae; Richardson, Lyndsay; He, Weilin; Jones, Glenn

2011-08-01

Health care professionals may assume questionnaires are burdensome to patients, and this limits their use in clinical settings and promotes simplification. However, patient adherence may improve by optimizing questionnaire attributes and contexts. This cross-sectional survey used Contingent Valuation methods to directly elicit patient preference for conventional monitoring of symptoms, versus adding a tool to monitoring. Under explicit consideration was the 10-question Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS). In the questionnaire, attributes of ESAS were sequentially altered to try and force preference reversal. A separate group of participants completed both questionnaire and interviews to explore questionnaire reliability, and extend validity. Overall, 24 of 43 participants preferred using ESAS. Most important attributes to preference were frequency, specificity, and complexity. Where preference is initially against ESAS, it may reverse by simplifying the tool and its administrative processes. Interviews in 10 additional participants supported reproducibility and validity of the questionnaire method. Preference for using tools increases when tools are made relevant and used more appropriately. Questionnaires completed by patients as screening tools or aids to communication may be under-utilized. Optimization of ESAS and similar tools may be guided by empirical findings, including those obtained from Contingent Valuation methodologies. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Willingness to pay for diagnostic technologies: a review of the contingent valuation literature.

PubMed

Lin, Pei-Jung; Cangelosi, Michael J; Lee, David W; Neumann, Peter J

2013-01-01

To understand how people value information from diagnostic technologies, we reviewed and analyzed published willingness-to-pay (WTP) studies on the topic. We searched PubMed for English-language articles related to WTP for diagnostic laboratory tests published from 1985 through 2011. We characterized methodological differences across studies, examined individual- and technology-level factors associated with WTP, and summarized median WTP values across different diagnostic tests. We identified 66 relevant WTP studies. Half focused on oncology, while others analyzed infectious diseases (n = 11, 16.1%) and obstetric or gynecological conditions (n = 8, 11.7%), among others. Most laboratory tests included in studies were biological samples/genetic testing (n = 44, 61.1%) or imaging tests (n = 23, 31.9%). Approximately one third of the analyses (n = 20, 30.3%) used discrete-choice questions to elicit WTP values. Higher income, education, disease severity, perceived disease risk, family history, and more accurate tests were in general associated with higher WTP values for diagnostic information. Of the 44 studies with median WTP values available, most reported a median WTP value below $100. The median WTP value for colon or colorectal cancer screening ranged from below $100 to over $1000. The contingent valuation literature in diagnostics has grown rapidly, and suggests that many respondents place considerable value on diagnostic information. There exists, however, great variation in studies with respect to the type of technologies and diseases assessed, respondent characteristics, and study methodology. The perceived value of diagnostic technologies is also influenced by the study design and elicitation methods. Copyright © 2013 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Willingness to pay for a pharmacist’s dispensing service: a cross-sectional pilot study in the state of Penang, Malaysia

PubMed Central

Shafie, Asrul A.; Hassali, Mohamed A.

2009-01-01

Objective The aim of this pilot study was to assess the value of the dispensing service of pharmacists from the general public’s perspective using the contingent valuation technique in the State of Penang, Malaysia. Methods Participants were conveniently sampled from malls and were given a self-completed questionnaire that collected the patient’s demographic information and their knowledge about the pharmacist’s dispensing service. They were then presented with a description of the pharmacist’s dispensing service, the risk of medication errors in prescriptions and their consequences, and the risk reduction of medication errors associated with pharmacist intervention. The willingness to pay (WTP) of the participants was later assessed using a contingent valuation interview that asked the likelihood and maximum amount they were willing to pay. Results In the study, 100 people participated, and 57% were aged between 18 and 35 years. Of these participants, 51% were women, and 46% of them earned more than 1000 MYR (285.71USD) per month. In addition, 8% of the participants had never visited a community pharmacy. Finally, 67% of the participants were willing to pay for the pharmacists’ dispensing service, and the median amount that the participants were willing to pay was 10 MYR (2.86USD). The WTP amount was moderately correlated with their knowledge of the community pharmacist’s dispensing services (r=0.377, p=0.02). Conclusion Generally, the public valued the pharmacist’s dispensing service. Their acceptance can be further improved by educating the public on the role of the pharmacist. PMID:25132879

Willingness to pay for a reduction in mortality risk after a myocardial infarction: an application of the contingent valuation method to the case of eplerenone.

PubMed

Pinto-Prades, Jose-Luis; Farreras, Veronica; de Bobadilla, Jaime Fernandez

2008-02-01

In order to allocate health care resources more efficiently, it is necessary to relate health improvements provided by new medicines to their cost. It is necessary to ascertain when the additional cost of introducing a new health technology is justified by the additional health gain produced. Eplerenone is a new medicine that reduces the risk of death after myocardial infarction (MI) but produces additional cost to the health system. The contingent valuation approach can be used to measure the monetary value of this risk reduction and to estimate society's willingness to pay (WTP) for a new medicine that reduces the risk of death after MI by 2% points. We used a contingent valuation approach to evaluate WTP amongst members of the general population. We used the ex-ante and the ex-post approach. In the ex-ante approach, subjects are asked if they would accept an increase in their taxes in order to have access to eplerenone should they need it in the future. In the ex-post approach, subjects are asked if they would pay a certain amount of money as co-payment per month during 5 years if they suffered an MI. We used the dichotomous choice method, using five bids in each approach. The WTP was estimated using both single-bound and double-bound dichotomous choice (SBDC, DBDC). Extensive piloting (n = 187) preceded the final survey (n = 350). The WTP in the ex-ante case was euro 58 per year under both SBDC and DBDC. In the ex-post case, monthly WTP was euro 141 for the SBDC and euro 85 for the DBDC. Subjects with higher income and subjects with a higher perception of risk showed a higher WTP (P 0.05). Society is willing to pay an additional amount of money in order to give eplerenone to present and future patients. We estimate that euro 85 per month is a conservative estimate of the monetary value of a 2% risk reduction in mortality after MI and to spend this additional amount of money in Eplerenone can be considered an efficient policy.

Economic benefits of meteorological services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freebairn, John W.; Zillman, John W.

2002-03-01

There is an increasing need for more rigorous and more broadly based determination of the economic value of meteorological services as an aid to decision-making on the appropriate level of funding to be committed to their provision at the national level. This paper develops an overall framework for assessment of the economic value of meteorological services based on the recognition that most national meteorological infrastructure and services possess the non rival properties of public goods. Given this overall framework for determination of both total and marginal benefits, four main methodologies appropriate for use in valuation studies - market prices, normative or prescriptive decision-making models, descriptive behavioural response studies and contingent valuation studies - are outlined and their strengths and limitations described. Notwithstanding the methodological limitations and the need for a much more comprehensive set of studies for the various application sectors, it is clear that the actual and potential benefits to individuals, firms, industry sectors and national economies from state-of-the-art meteorological and related services are substantial and that, at this stage, they are inadequately recognised and insufficiently exploited in many countries.

Willingness to pay and the sensitivity of willingness to pay for interdisciplinary musculoskeletal clinics: a contingent valuation study in Quebec, Canada.

PubMed

Poder, Thomas G; He, Jie

2016-12-01

Orthopedics is a discipline that requires a continuum of care in close collaboration with physicians, nurses, and healthcare professionals to ensure effective rehabilitation. In some cases, the wait time for a consultation may be very long, which can jeopardize the patient's rehabilitation and sometimes even cause complications that lead to a loss of autonomy. In Quebec, there is a severe shortage of healthcare professionals-and of orthopedic surgeons, in particular-specializing in musculoskeletal problems. To address this problem, public managers have decided to establish interdisciplinary musculoskeletal clinics in regions outside the two major cities of Montréal and Québec. The major benefits of these clinics are that they reduce the wait time for consultation and treatment while maintaining service quality. Although their benefits are certain, these clinics remain threatened by relatively high initial costs. This study's objective is to evaluate whether the population of Quebec has a quantifiable willingness to pay (WTP) to establish these clinics. To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind either in the province of Quebec or elsewhere. We selected 3822 subjects randomly within the target population using Internet surveys, telephone surveys and self-administered paper surveys as our methods of recruitment. Three payment vehicles were used and each participant was randomly allocated among these: tax, donation or lump-sum fee. A contingent valuation question using a referendum format with the option "don't know" was used. Econometric estimates were performed using probit and Wang's models. Our results indicate that the population of Quebec may potentially have a mean WTP of 42.3 Canadian dollars per person for such clinics, which would enable a mean reduction from 12 to 4 months of wait time. However, the WTP is found to be very sensitive to the survey mode and the payment vehicle used: about 1.2-2 times more important in the tax and the lump-sum fee scenarios than in the donation scenario, and about 3-4 times less important in the Internet survey than in the telephone or self-administered paper surveys. In addition, this amount was strongly affected by the introduction of a new governmental health-related policy that arose during the survey and led to a minimal drop in WTP of about 30-50 %. This strong sensitivity led us to the three following recommendations for future contingent valuation studies: (1) favour Internet surveys, (2) use a payment vehicle that limit uncertainty in the WTP answer and allow to socialize benefits, as the tax scenario in our study, and (3) strictly apply the "divide by 2" rule of the NOAA panel.

Contingent valuation of health and mood impacts of PM2.5 in Beijing, China.

PubMed

Yin, Hao; Pizzol, Massimo; Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl; Xu, Linyu

2018-07-15

Air pollution from PM 2 . 5 affects many cities worldwide, causing both health impacts and mood depression. One of the obstacles to implementing environmental regulations for PM 2 . 5 reduction is that there are limited studies of PM 2 . 5 welfare loss and few investigations of mood depression caused by PM 2 . 5 . This article describes a survey study conducted in Beijing, China to estimate the welfare loss due to PM 2 . 5 . In total, 1709 participants completed either a face-to-face or online survey. A contingent valuation method was applied to elicit people's willingness to pay to avoid PM 2 . 5 pollution and willingness to accept a compensation for such pollution. The payment/compensation was evaluated for two outcome variables: perceived health impacts and mood depression caused by PM 2 . 5 pollution. This is one of few papers that explicitly studies the effects of PM 2 . 5 on subjective well-being, and to the authors' knowledge, the first to estimate welfare loss from PM 2 . 5 using a random forest model. Compared to the standard Turnbull, probit, and two-part models, the random forest model gave the best fit to the data, suggesting that this may be a useful tool for future studies too. The welfare loss due to health impacts and mood depression is CNY 1388.4/person/year and CNY 897.7/person/year respectively, indicating that the public attaches great importance to mood, feelings and happiness. The study provides scientific support to the development of economic policy instruments for PM 2 . 5 control in China. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Resident Motivations and Willingness-to-Pay for Urban Biodiversity Conservation in Guangzhou (China)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Wendy Y.; Jim, C. Y.

2010-05-01

The monetary assessment of biodiversity measures the welfare damages brought by biodiversity losses and the cost-benefit analysis of conservation projects in a socio-economic context. The contingent valuation method could include motivational factors to strengthen economic analysis of nature conservation. This study analyzed Guangzhou residents’ motivations and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for an urban biodiversity conservation program in the National Baiyun Mountain Scenic Area (BMSA). The peri-urban natural site, offering refuge to some endemic species, is under increasing development pressures for recreational and residential use. A questionnaire survey was conducted in the Guangzhou metropolitan area during June to October 2007. We interviewed face-to-face 720 stratified sampled households to probe residents’ attitudes towards the city’s environmental issues, motivations for urban nature conservation, and WTP for biodiversity conservation. Principal component analysis identified five motivational factors, including environmental benefit, ecological diversity, nature-culture interaction, landscape-recreation function, and intergenerational sustainability, which illustrated the general economic values of urban nature. Logistic regression was applied to predict the probability of people being willing to pay for the urban biodiversity conservation in BMSA. The significant predictors of WTP included household income and the factor nature-culture interaction. The median WTP estimated RMB149/household (about US19.5/household) per year and an aggregate of RMB291 million (approximately US38.2 million) annually to support the urban conservation project. Including public motivations into contingent valuation presents a promising approach to conduct cost-benefit analysis of public projects in China.

Use of the Contingent Valuation Method in the assessment of a landfill mining project.

PubMed

Marella, Giuliano; Raga, Roberto

2014-07-01

A comprehensive approach for the evaluation of the economic feasibility of landfill mining (LFM) should take into account not only the direct costs and revenues for the private investor, but also the social benefits or costs (generally called externalities), in such a way that projects generating major social benefits (and no significant private revenues) are not overlooked. With a view to contributing to the development of a common framework for the evaluation of LFM projects, this paper presents the results of a case study where the issue of the assessment of social benefits from a LFM project is addressed. In particular, the Contingent Valuation Method is applied for the monetary assessment of the community-perceived benefits from the remediation of an old uncontrolled waste deposit by means of LFM and the conversion of the area into a park. Based on the results of a survey carried out on a random sample of people living near the old landfill, the economic values of the individual willingness to pay (WTP) for LFM and the subsequent creation of a public park were calculated and the correlations with the relevant variables (distance from the landfill site, age, income, sex, education level) assessed. The results were then suitably extended and the monetary value of the welfare increase of the whole population resident in the area and potentially affected both by LFM and the creation of the park was calculated. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of perceived importance of ecosystem services and stated financial constraints on willingness to pay for riparian meadow restoration in Flanders (Belgium).

PubMed

Chen, Wendy Y; Aertsens, Joris; Liekens, Inge; Broekx, Steven; De Nocker, Leo

2014-08-01

The strategic importance of ecosystem service valuation as an operational basis for policy decisions on natural restoration has been increasingly recognized in order to align the provision of ecosystem services with the expectation of human society. The contingent valuation method (CVM) is widely used to quantify various ecosystem services. However, two areas of concern arise: (1) whether people value specific functional ecosystem services and overlook some intrinsic aspects of natural restoration, and (2) whether people understand the temporal dimension of ecosystem services and payment schedules given in the contingent scenarios. Using a peri-urban riparian meadow restoration project in Flanders, Belgium as a case, we explored the impacts of residents' perceived importance of various ecosystem services and stated financial constraints on their willingness-to-pay for the proposed restoration project employing the CVM. The results indicated that people tended to value all the benefits of riparian ecosystem restoration concurrently, although they accorded different importances to each individual category of ecosystem services. A longer payment scheme can help the respondents to think more about the flow of ecosystem services into future generations. A weak temporal embedding effect can be detected, which might be attributed to respondents' concern about current financial constraints, rather than financial bindings associated with their income and perceived future financial constraints. This demonstrates the multidimensionality of respondents' financial concerns in CV. This study sheds light on refining future CV studies, especially with regard to public expectation of ecosystem services and the temporal dimension of ecosystem services and payment schedules.

Impact of Perceived Importance of Ecosystem Services and Stated Financial Constraints on Willingness to Pay for Riparian Meadow Restoration in Flanders (Belgium)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Wendy Y.; Aertsens, Joris; Liekens, Inge; Broekx, Steven; De Nocker, Leo

2014-08-01

The strategic importance of ecosystem service valuation as an operational basis for policy decisions on natural restoration has been increasingly recognized in order to align the provision of ecosystem services with the expectation of human society. The contingent valuation method (CVM) is widely used to quantify various ecosystem services. However, two areas of concern arise: (1) whether people value specific functional ecosystem services and overlook some intrinsic aspects of natural restoration, and (2) whether people understand the temporal dimension of ecosystem services and payment schedules given in the contingent scenarios. Using a peri-urban riparian meadow restoration project in Flanders, Belgium as a case, we explored the impacts of residents' perceived importance of various ecosystem services and stated financial constraints on their willingness-to-pay for the proposed restoration project employing the CVM. The results indicated that people tended to value all the benefits of riparian ecosystem restoration concurrently, although they accorded different importances to each individual category of ecosystem services. A longer payment scheme can help the respondents to think more about the flow of ecosystem services into future generations. A weak temporal embedding effect can be detected, which might be attributed to respondents' concern about current financial constraints, rather than financial bindings associated with their income and perceived future financial constraints. This demonstrates the multidimensionality of respondents' financial concerns in CV. This study sheds light on refining future CV studies, especially with regard to public expectation of ecosystem services and the temporal dimension of ecosystem services and payment schedules.

Contingent Valuation of Residents' Attitudes and Willingness-to-Pay for Non-point Source Pollution Control: A Case Study in AL-Prespa, Southeastern Albania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grazhdani, Dorina

2015-07-01

Recently, local governments in Albania have begun paying attention to management of small watershed, because there are specific boundaries and people living within a watershed basin tend to be more concerned about the basin's environmental, economic, and social development. But this natural resource management and non-point source (NPS) pollution control is still facing challenges. Albanian part of Prespa Park (AL-Prespa) is a good case study, as it is a protected wetland area of high biodiversity and long human history. In this framework, this study was undertaken, the main objectives of which were to explore: (1) the attitudes of the residents toward NPS pollution control, (2) their willingness-to-pay for improving water quality, and (3) factors affecting the residents' willingness-to-pay. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance), Chi-square analysis, and multivariate data analysis techniques were used. Findings strongly suggested that the residents' attitudes toward NPS pollution control in this area were positive. With the combination of two major contingent valuation methods—dichotomous choice and open-ended formats, the survey results indicated that the average yearly respondents' WTP was €6.4. The survey revealed that residents' yearly income and education level were the main factors affecting residents' willingness-to-pay for NPS pollution control in this area, and there was no significant correlation between residents' yearly income and their education level. The current study would lay a solid foundation on decision-making in further NPS pollution control and public participation through community-based watershed management policies in AL-Prespa watershed and similar areas.

Contingent Valuation of Residents' Attitudes and Willingness-to-Pay for Non-point Source Pollution Control: A Case Study in AL-Prespa, Southeastern Albania.

PubMed

Grazhdani, Dorina

2015-07-01

Recently, local governments in Albania have begun paying attention to management of small watershed, because there are specific boundaries and people living within a watershed basin tend to be more concerned about the basin's environmental, economic, and social development. But this natural resource management and non-point source (NPS) pollution control is still facing challenges. Albanian part of Prespa Park (AL-Prespa) is a good case study, as it is a protected wetland area of high biodiversity and long human history. In this framework, this study was undertaken, the main objectives of which were to explore: (1) the attitudes of the residents toward NPS pollution control, (2) their willingness-to-pay for improving water quality, and (3) factors affecting the residents' willingness-to-pay. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA (analysis of variance), Chi-square analysis, and multivariate data analysis techniques were used. Findings strongly suggested that the residents' attitudes toward NPS pollution control in this area were positive. With the combination of two major contingent valuation methods--dichotomous choice and open-ended formats, the survey results indicated that the average yearly respondents' WTP was 6.4. The survey revealed that residents' yearly income and education level were the main factors affecting residents' willingness-to-pay for NPS pollution control in this area, and there was no significant correlation between residents' yearly income and their education level. The current study would lay a solid foundation on decision-making in further NPS pollution control and public participation through community-based watershed management policies in AL-Prespa watershed and similar areas.

Differences between willingness to pay and willingness to accept for visits by a family physician: A contingent valuation study

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background The economic value attributed by users of health services in public health systems can be useful in planning and evaluation. This value can differ from the perspectives of Willingness to Pay (WTP) and Willingness to Accept [Compensation] (WTA). Our objective was to study the perceptions of the patient about the service provided by the family physician by means of the WTA/WTP ratio. Methods An economic evaluation study by the Contingent Valuation Method was designed. Interviews were conducted with 451 subjects at six health centres (four urban and two rural) in areas with different socioeconomic characteristics. A payment card was used to measure the WTP and WTA. Other characteristics of the subject or service that could influence these responses were collected. An explicative model was constructed to study the WTA/WTP relationship. Results Four hundred and four subjects (89.6%) expressed a WTP and WTA different from zero. The WTA/WTP quotient showed a median of 1.55 (interquartile range 1-3.08) and a mean of 3.30 (IC 95%: 2.84-3.75). The WTA/WTP ratio increases with age and in low-income areas. It decreases in professional groups with more specialized activities, with growing family income, and in the chronically ill. Other characteristics related to the perception of state of health, accessibility to the service, satisfaction, or perception of risk were not explicative. Conclusions Subjects who were older and had a less favourable socioeconomic situation expressed a higher WTA/WTP ratio when valuing the visit to the family physician. These characteristics could identify a profile of "aversion to loss" with respect to this service. PMID:20459714

Formulaic expert method to integrate evaluation and valuation of heritage trees in compact city.

PubMed

Jim, C Y

2006-05-01

Urban trees serve important environmental, social and economic functions, but similar to other natural endowments they are not customarily depicted in monetary terms. The needs to augment protection, funding and community support for urban greening call for proper valuation. Heritage trees (HTs), the cream of urban-tree stock, deserve special attention. Existing assessment methods do not give justice to outstanding trees in compact cities deficient in high-caliber greenery, and to their social-cultural-historical importance. They artificially separate evaluation from valuation, which should be a natural progression from the former. Review of tree valuation methods suggested the formula approach to be more suitable than contingent valuation and hedonic pricing, and provided hints on their strengths and weaknesses. This study develops an alternative formulaic expert method (FEM) that integrates evaluation and valuation, maximizes objectivity, broadly encompasses the key tree, tree-environment and tree-human traits, and accords realistic monetary value to HTs. Six primary criteria (dimension, species, tree, condition, location, and outstanding consideration) branched into 45 secondary criteria, each allocated numerical marks. Each primary criterion was standardized to carry equal weight, and a tree's maximum aggregate score is capped at 100. A Monetary Assignment Factor (MAF) to consign dollar value to each score unit was derived from three-year average per m(2) sale price of medium-sized residential flats. The applicability of FEM was tested on selected HTs in compact Hong Kong. The aggregate score of a tree multiplied by MAF yielded monetary value, which was on average 66 times higher than the result from the commonly-adopted Council of Tree and Landscape Appraisers method. The computed tree values could be publicized together with multiple tree benefits to raise understanding and awareness and rally support to protect HTs. The property-linked FEM could be flexibly applied to other cities, especially to assess HTs in compact developing cities.

Two essays on environmental and food security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeanty, Pierre Wilner

The first essay of this dissertation, "estimating non-market economic benefits of using biodiesel fuel: a stochastic double bounded approach", is an attempt to incorporate uncertainty into double bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation. The double bounded approach, which entails asking respondents a follow-up question after they have answered a first question, has emerged as a means to increase efficiency in willingness to pay (WTP) estimates. However, several studies have found inconsistency between WTP estimates generated by the first and second questions. In this study, it is posited that this inconsistency is due to uncertainty facing the respondents when the second question is introduced. The author seeks to understand whether using a follow-up question in a stochastic format, which allows respondents to express uncertainty, would alleviate the inconsistency problem. In a contingent valuation survey to estimate non-market economic benefits of using more biodiesel vs. petroleum diesel fuel in an airshed encompassing South Eastern and Central Ohio, it is found that the gap between WTP estimates produced by the first and the second questions reduces when respondents are allowed to express uncertainty. The proposed stochastic follow-up approach yields more efficient WTP estimates than the conventional follow-up approach while maintaining efficiency gain over the single bounded model. From a methodological standpoint, this study distinguishes from previous research by being the first to implement a double bounded contingent valuation survey with a stochastic follow-up question. In the second essay, "analyzing the effects of civil wars and violent conflicts on food security in developing countries: an instrumental variable panel data approach", instrumental variable panel data techniques are applied to estimate the effects of civil wars and violent conflicts on food security in a sample of 73 developing countries from 1970 to 2002. The number of hungry in the developing countries has been rampant in the past several years. Civil wars and violent conflicts have been associated with food insecurity. The study aims to provide empirical evidence as to whether the manifest increase in the number of hungry can be ascribed to civil unrest. From a statistical standpoint, the results convincingly pinpoint the danger of using conventional panel data estimators when endogeneity is of the conventional simultaneous equation type, i.e. with respect to the idiosyncratic error term. From a policy viewpoint, it is found that, in general, civil wars and conflicts are detrimental to food security. However, more vulnerable are countries unable to make available for their citizens the minimum dietary energy requirements under which a country is qualified for food aid. Policies aiming at curbing food insecurity in developing countries need to take into account this difference.

26 CFR 20.2031-7A - Valuation of annuities, interests for life or term of years, and remainder or reversionary...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

..., and life contingencies are determined as to each male and female life involved, from values that are set forth in Table LN. Table LN contains values that are taken from the life table for total males and... is the right of a person for his or her life, or for the life of another person, to receive the...

National valuation of monarch butterflies indicates an untapped potential for incentive-based conservation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Diffendorfer, Jay E.; Loomis, John B.; Ries, Leslie; Oberhauser, Karen; Semmens, Darius; Semmens, Brice; Butterfield, Bruce; Bagstad, Ken; Goldstein, Josh; Wiederholt, Ruscena; Mattsson, Brady; Thogmartin, Wayne E.

2013-01-01

The annual migration of monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) has high cultural value and recent surveys indicate monarch populations are declining. Protecting migratory species is complex because they cross international borders and depend on multiple regions. Understanding how much, and where, humans place value on migratory species can facilitate market-based conservation approaches. We performed a contingent valuation study of monarchs to understand the potential for such approaches to fund monarch conservation. The survey asked U.S. respondents about the money they would spend, or have spent, growing monarch-friendly plants, and the amount they would donate to monarch conservation organizations. Combining planting payments and donations, the survey indicated U.S. households valued monarchs as a total one-time payment of $4.78–$6.64 billion, levels similar to many endangered vertebrate species. The financial contribution of even a small percentage of households through purchases or donations could generate new funding for monarch conservation through market-based approaches.

Using incentives to attract nurses to remote areas of Tanzania: a contingent valuation study.

PubMed

Munga, Michael A; Torsvik, Gaute; Mæstad, Ottar

2014-03-01

This article analyses (1) how financial incentives (salary top-ups) and non-financial incentives (housing and education) affect nurses' willingness to work in remote areas of Tanzania and (2) how the magnitude of the incentives needed to attract health workers varies with the nurses' geographic origin and their intrinsic motivation. A contingent valuation method was used to elicit the location preferences of 362 nursing students. Without any interventions, 19% of the nurses were willing to work in remote places. With the provision of free housing, this share increased by 15 percentage points. Better education opportunities increased the share by 28 percentage points from the baseline. For a salary top-up to have the same effect as provision of free housing, the top-up needs to be between 80 and 100% of the base salary. Similarly, for salary top-ups to have the same effect as provision of better education opportunities, the top-up should be between 120 and 140%. Our study confirms results from previous research, that those with a strong intrinsic motivation to provide health care are more motivated to work in a remote location. A more surprising finding is that students of older age are more prepared to take a job in remote areas. Several studies have found that individuals who grew up in a remote area are more willing to work in such locations. A novel finding of our analysis is that only nursing students with a 'very' remote origin (i.e. those who grew up farther from a district centre than the suggested remote working place) express a higher willingness to take the remote job. Although we do control for nursing school effects, our results could be biased due to omitted variables capturing individual characteristics.

Willingness to pay for physician services at a primary contact in Ukraine: results of a contingent valuation study.

PubMed

Danyliv, Andriy; Pavlova, Milena; Gryga, Irena; Groot, Wim

2013-06-08

The existence of quasi-formal and informal payments in the Ukrainian health care system jeopardizes equity and creates barriers to access to proper care. Patient payment policies that better match patient preferences are necessary. We analyze the potential and feasibility of official patient charges for public health care services in Ukraine by studying the patterns of fee acceptability, ability and willingness to pay (WTP) for public health care among population groups. We use contingent valuation data collected from 303 respondents representative of the adult Ukrainian population. Three decision points were separated: objection to pay, inability to pay, and level of positive non-zero WTP. These decisions were studied for relations with quality profiles of the services, and socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and their households. The likelihood to object to pay is mostly determined by the quality characteristics of the services. Objection to pay is not related to corresponding behavior in real life. The likelihood of being unable to pay is associated with older age, lower income, and a larger share of household members with no income. The level of positive WTP is positively related to income (+7% per 1000 UAH increase in income) and is lower for people who visited a doctor but did not pay (-22%). Rather substantial WTP levels (between 0.9% and 1.9% of household income) for one visit to physician indicate a potential for official patient charges in Ukraine. User fees may cover a substantial share of personnel cost in the out-patient sector. The patterns of inability to pay support well designed exemption criteria based on age, income, and other aspects of economic status. The WTP patterns highlight the necessity for payments that are proportional to income. Other methodological and policy implications are discussed.

What's it worth? A general manager's guide to valuation.

PubMed

Luehrman, T A

1997-01-01

Behind every major resource-allocation decision a company makes lies some calculation of what that move is worth. So it is not surprising that valuation is the financial analytical skill general managers want to learn more than any other. Managers whose formal training is more than a few years old, however, are likely to have learned approaches that are becoming obsolete. What do generalists need in an updated valuation tool kit? In the 1970s, discounted-cash-flow analysis (DCF) emerged as best practice for valuing corporate assets. And one version of DCF-using the weighted-average cost of capital (WACC)-became the standard. Over the years, WACC has been used by most companies as a one-size-fits-all valuation tool. Today the WACC standard is insufficient. Improvements in computers and new theoretical insights have given rise to tools that outperform WACC in the three basic types of valuation problems managers face. Timothy Luehrman presents an overview of the three tools, explaining how they work and when to use them. For valuing operations, the DCF methodology of adjusted present value allows managers to break a problem into pieces that make managerial sense. For valuing opportunities, option pricing captures the contingent nature of investments in areas such as R&D and marketing. And for valuing ownership claims, the tool of equity cash flows helps managers value their company's stake in a joint venture, a strategic alliance, or an investment that uses project financing.

Assessing the cost of groundwater pollution: the case of diffuse agricultural pollution in the Upper Rhine valley aquifer.

PubMed

Rinaudo, J-D; Arnal, C; Blanchin, R; Elsass, P; Meilhac, A; Loubier, S

2005-01-01

This paper presents an assessment of the costs of diffuse groundwater pollution by nitrates and pesticides for the industrial and the drinking water sectors in the Upper Rhine valley, France. Pollution costs which occurred between 1988 and 2002 are described and assessed using the avoidance cost method. Geo-statistical methods (kriging) are then used to construct three scenarios of nitrate concentration evolution. The economic consequences of each scenario are then assessed. The estimates obtained are compared with the results of a contingent valuation study carried out in the same study area ten years earlier.

Economic appraisal of the public control and prevention strategy against the 2010 West Nile Virus outbreak in Central Macedonia, Greece.

PubMed

Kolimenakis, A; Bithas, K; Richardson, C; Latinopoulos, D; Baka, A; Vakali, A; Hadjichristodoulou, C; Mourelatos, S; Kalaitzopoulou, S; Gewehr, S; Michaelakis, A; Koliopoulos, G

2016-02-01

The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the economic efficiency of the public control and prevention strategies to tackle the 2010 West Nile Virus (WNV) outbreak in the Region of Central Macedonia, Greece. Efficiency is examined on the basis of the public prevention costs incurred and their potential in justifying the costs arising from health and nuisance impacts in the succeeding years. Economic appraisal of public health management interventions. Prevention and control cost categories including control programmes, contingency planning and blood safety testing, are analyzed based on market prices. A separate cost of illness approach is conducted for the estimation of medical costs and productivity losses from 2010 to 2013 and for the calculation of averted health impacts. The averted mosquito nuisance costs to households are estimated on the basis of a contingent valuation study. Based on these findings, a limited cost-benefit analysis is employed in order to evaluate the economic efficiency of these strategies in 2010-2013. Results indicate that cost of illness and prevention costs fell significantly in the years following the 2010 outbreak, also as a result of the epidemic coming under control. According to the contingent valuation survey, the annual average willingness to pay to eliminate the mosquito problem in the study area ranged between 22 and 27 € per household. Cost-benefit analysis indicates that the aggregate benefit of implementing the previous 3-year strategy creates a net socio-economic benefit in 2013. However the spread of the WNV epidemic and the overall socio-economic consequences, had the various costs not been employed, remain unpredictable and extremely difficult to calculate. The application of a post epidemic strategy appears to be of utmost importance for public health safety. An updated well designed survey is needed for a more precise definition of the optimum prevention policies and levels and for the establishment of the various cost/benefit parameters. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Monetizing the social benefits of landfill mining: Evidence from a Contingent Valuation survey in a rural area in Greece.

PubMed

Damigos, Dimitris; Menegaki, Maria; Kaliampakos, Dimitris

2016-05-01

Despite the emerging global attention towards promoting waste management policies that reduce environmental impacts and conserve natural resources, landfilling still remains the dominant waste management practice in many parts of the world. Owing to this situation, environmental burdens are bequeathed to and large amounts of potentially valuable materials are lost for future generations. As a means to undo these adverse effects a process known as landfill mining (LFM) could be implemented provided that economic feasibility is ensured. So far, only a few studies have focused on the economic feasibility of LFM from a private point of view and even less studies have attempted to economically justify the need for LMF projects from a social point of view. This paper, aiming to add to the limited literature in the field, presents the results of a survey conducted in a rural district in Greece, by means of the Contingent Valuation method (CVM) in order to estimate society's willingness to pay for LFM programs. According to the empirical survey, more than 95% of the respondents recognize the need for LFM programs. Nevertheless, only one-fourth of the respondents are willing to pay through increased taxes for LFM, owing mainly to economic depression and unemployment. Those who accept the increased tax are willing to pay about €50 per household per year, on average, which results in a mean willingness to pay (WTP) for the entire population under investigation of around €12 per household per year. The findings of this research work provide useful insights about the 'dollar-based' benefits of LFM in the context of social cost-benefit analysis of LFM projects. Yet, it is evident that further research is necessary. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The link between past informal payments and willingness of the Hungarian population to pay formal fees for health care services: results from a contingent valuation study.

PubMed

Baji, Petra; Pavlova, Milena; Gulácsi, László; Farkas, Miklós; Groot, Wim

2014-11-01

We examine the willingness of health care consumers to pay formal fees for health care use and how this willingness to pay is associated with past informal payments. We use data from a survey carried out in Hungary in 2010 among a representative sample of 1,037 respondents. The contingent valuation method is used to elicit the willingness to pay official charges for health care services covered by the social health insurance if certain quality attributes (regarding the health care facility, access to the services and health care personnel) are guaranteed. A bivariate probit model is applied to examine the relationship between willingness to pay and past informal payments. We find that 66% of the respondents are willing to pay formal fees for specialist examinations and 56% are willing to pay for planned hospitalizations if these services are provided with certain quality and access attributes. The act of making past informal payments for health care services is positively associated with the willingness to pay formal charges. The probability that a respondent is willing to pay official charges for health care services is 22% points higher for specialist examinations and 45% points higher for hospitalization if the respondent paid informally during the last 12 months. The introduction of formal fees should be accompanied by adequate service provision to assure acceptance of the fees. Furthermore, our results suggest that the problem of informal patient payments may remain even after the implementation of user fees.

Preventing land loss in coastal Louisiana: estimates of WTP and WTA.

PubMed

Petrolia, Daniel R; Kim, Tae-Goun

2011-03-01

A dichotomous-choice contingent-valuation survey was conducted in the State of Louisiana (USA) to estimate compensating surplus (CS) and equivalent surplus (ES) welfare measures for the prevention of future coastal wetland losses in Louisiana. Valuations were elicited using both willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept compensation (WTA) payment vehicles. Mean CS (WTP) estimates based on a probit model using a Box-Cox specification on income was $825 per household annually, and mean ES (WTA) was estimated at $4444 per household annually. Regression results indicate that the major factors influencing support for land-loss prevention were income (positive, WTP model only), perceived hurricane protection benefits (positive), environmental and recreation protection (positive), distrust of government (negative), age (positive, WTA model only), and race (positive for whites). Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Contingent Valuation Analysis of an Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology Emergency Department: The Value of Acute Specialty Care.

PubMed

Naunheim, Matthew R; Kozin, Elliot D; Sethi, Rosh K; Ota, H G; Gray, Stacey T; Shrime, Mark G

2017-03-01

Specialty emergency departments (EDs) provide a unique mechanism of health care delivery, but the value that they add to the medical system is not known. Evaluation of patient preferences to determine value can have a direct impact on resource allocation and direct-to-specialist care. To assess the feasibility of contingent valuation (CV) methodology using a willingness-to-pay (WTP) survey to evaluate specialty emergency services, in the context of an ophthalmology- and otolaryngology-specific ED. Contingent valuation analysis of a standalone otolaryngology and ophthalmology ED. Participants were English-speaking adults presenting to a dedicated otolaryngology and ophthalmology ED. The WTP questions were assessed using a payment card format, with reference to an alternative modality of treatment (ie, general ED), and were analyzed with multivariate regression. Validated WTP survey administered from October 14, 2014, through October 1, 2015. Sociodemographic data, level of distress, referral data, income, and WTP. A total of 327 of 423 (77.3%) ED patients responded to the WTP survey, with 116 ophthalmology and 211 otolaryngology patients included (52.3% female; mean [range] age, 46 [18-90] years). The most common reason for seeking care at this facility was a reputation for specialty care for both ear, nose, and throat (80 [37.9%]) and ophthalmology (43 [37.1%]). Mean WTP for specialty-specific ED services was $377 for ophthalmology patients, and $321 for otolaryngology patients ($340 overall; 95% CI, $294 to $386), without significant difference between groups (absolute difference, $56; 95% CI, $-156 to $43). Self-reported level of distress was higher among ear, nose, and throat vs ophthalmology patients (absolute difference, 0.47 on a Likert scale of 1-7; 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.84). Neither level of distress, income, nor demographic characteristics influenced WTP, but patients with higher estimates of total visit cost were more likely to have higher WTP (β coefficient, 0.27; SE, 0.05; adjusted R2 = 0.17 for model). Patients with eye and ear, nose, and throat complaints place a mean explicit value on specialty emergency services of $340 per visit, relative to general emergency care. Ultimately, CV data using WTP methodology are useful in valuing patient preferences in monetary terms and can help inform state-wide resource allocation and the availability of direct-to-specialist care.

Measuring the economic benefit of maintaining the ecological integrity of the Río Mameyes in Puerto Rico.

Treesearch

Armando González-Cabán; John Loomis

1999-01-01

A contingent valuation in-person survey of Puerto Rican households was performed from April to August 1995 to estimate their willingness-to-pay for preserving instream flows in the Río Mameyes and avoiding a dam on the Río Fajardo. Annual willingness-to-pay was $21 for each river. When expanded to the 1 million households in Puerto Rico for the 5-year period households...

Isolating the incentive salience of reward-associated stimuli: value, choice, and persistence

PubMed Central

Chow, Jonathan J.

2015-01-01

Sign- and goal-tracking are differentially associated with drug abuse-related behavior. Recently, it has been hypothesized that sign- and goal-tracking behavior are mediated by different neurobehavioral valuation systems, including differential incentive salience attribution. Herein, we used different conditioned stimuli to preferentially elicit different response types to study the different incentive valuation characteristics of stimuli associated with sign- and goal-tracking within individuals. The results demonstrate that all stimuli used were equally effective conditioned stimuli; however, only a lever stimulus associated with sign-tracking behavior served as a robust conditioned reinforcer and was preferred over a tone associated with goal-tracking. Moreover, the incentive value attributed to the lever stimulus was capable of promoting suboptimal choice, leading to a significant reduction in reinforcers (food) earned. Furthermore, sign-tracking to a lever was more persistent than goal-tracking to a tone under omission and extinction contingencies. Finally, a conditional discrimination procedure demonstrated that sign-tracking to a lever and goal-tracking to a tone were dependent on learned stimulus–reinforcer relations. Collectively, these results suggest that the different neurobehavioral valuation processes proposed to govern sign- and goal-tracking behavior are independent but parallel processes within individuals. Examining these systems within individuals will provide a better understanding of how one system comes to dominate stimulus–reward learning, thus leading to the differential role these systems play in abuse-related behavior. PMID:25593298

The economic impact of project MARS (motivating adolescents to reduce sexual risk).

PubMed

Dealy, Bern C; Horn, Brady P; Callahan, Tiffany J; Bryan, Angela D

2013-09-01

The purpose of this study was to economically evaluate Project MARS (Motivating Adolescents to Reduce Sexual Risk; T. J. Callahan, E. A. Montanaro, R. E. Magnan, & A. D. Bryan, 2013, "Project MARS: Design of a multi-behavior intervention trial for justice-involved youth," Translational Behavioral Medicine, Vol. 3, pp. 122-130), an ongoing, randomized, sexual-risk-reduction intervention for justice-involved youth. We consider the effect of including viral STIs in the economic analysis, and explore the impact of the MARS intervention on the perceived cost of acquiring STIs to justice-involved youth. 206 participants, ages 14 to 18, participated in a sexual-risk-reduction intervention that included screening and treatment for chlamydia and gonorrhea. A Bernoulli probability model was used to estimate averted STIs attributable to the MARS intervention. The economic benefit of averted STIs was monetized using the direct medical cost of treatment. In addition, we used a contingent valuation (willingness-to-pay) model to investigate the impact of the Project MARS on participants' perceived cost of acquiring an STI. Using the standard outcome domains typically used to evaluate STI interventions, Project MARS resulted in a reduction of $2.08 in direct medical costs for every $1 spent. When viral STIs were added to the economic model, a considerable increase in averted direct medical costs ($2.68 for every $1 spent) was found. Preliminary contingent valuation estimates suggest that participants' willingness-to-pay for averted STIs significantly increased after receiving the MARS intervention. From an economic perspective, Project MARS is a worthwhile program to adopt. Future attention should be given to the impact of behavioral interventions on viral infections. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Public goods and private interests: The role of voluntary green power demand in achieving environmental improvements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiser, Ryan Hayes

This dissertation explores the role of consumer purchasing behavior in providing public, environmental goods. It does so by empirically evaluating one market---voluntary demand for renewable energy. The dissertation addresses the following five research questions: (1) What does early experience with green power marketing tell us about the prospects for this market to deliver environmental benefits? (2) What product design and marketing approaches might be used to increase voluntary demand? (3) What motivates non-residential customers to voluntarily purchase green power? (4) What role might public policy play in the creation of the green power market? (5) What preferences do individuals hold on the most appropriate forms of support for renewable energy? By helping to answer these questions, this dissertation seeks to better understand the gap between widespread positive attitudes for the environment and an often-anemic response to green product offerings. It contributes to not only the public goods and environmental marketing literatures, but also to contingent valuation methodology and to an emerging literature on the motivations of firms to contribute to environmental causes. The analysis performed is diverse, and includes: a literature review, a mail survey of green power marketers, a mail survey of non-residential green power customers, and contingent valuation and opinion surveys of U.S. residents. Detailed statistical analysis is performed on the data collected from the residential and non-residential surveys. The analysis reveals that customer participation in green power programs to date has been weak. The possibility that the traditional economic concept of "free riding" may explain this low response is raised, and the dissertation identifies a number of marketing approaches that might be used to partially combat this problem. Analysis of survey data shows that non-residential green power purchases have been motivated principally by altruistic concerns; this finding differs substantially from the extant literature on firm motivations to pursue environmental initiatives. Meanwhile, a mail survey of marketers illustrates the importance of policy in stimulating the green power market. Finally, responses to contingent valuation and opinion surveys show that U.S. residents prefer collective payments for renewable energy over voluntary programs. Overall, this analysis presents a more nuanced understanding of the "green" market than traditionally offered by neoclassical economics and environmental marketing. Some evidence of free riding is found, but this work also identifies other barriers to the development of the green market. The study concludes that green power marketing may increase renewables supply, but that traditional public policy supports should not be abandoned in the hope that customer-driven markets will take up the slack.

[Ecosystem services valuation of Qinghai Lake].

PubMed

Jiang, Bo; Zhang, Lu; Ouyang, Zhi-yun

2015-10-01

Qinghai Lake is the largest inland and salt water lake in China, and provides important ecosystem services to beneficiaries. Economic valuation of wetland ecosystem services from Qinghai Lake can reveal the direct contribution of lake ecosystems to beneficiaries using economic data, which can advance the incorporation of wetland protection of Qinghai Lake into economic tradeoffs and decision analyses. In this paper, we established a final ecosystem services valuation system based on the underlying ecological mechanisms and regional socio-economic conditions. We then evaluated the eco-economic value provided by the wetlands at Qinghai Lake to beneficiaries in 2012 using the market value method, replacement cost method, zonal travel cost method, and contingent valuation method. According to the valuation result, the total economic values of the final ecosystem services provided by the wetlands at Qinghai Lake were estimated to be 6749.08 x 10(8) yuan RMB in 2012, among which the value of water storage service and climate regulation service were 4797.57 x 10(8) and 1929.34 x 10(8) yuan RMB, accounting for 71.1% and 28.6% of the total value, respectively. The economic value of the 8 final ecosystem services was ranked from greatest to lowest as: water storage service > climate regulation service > recreation and tourism service > non-use value > oxygen release service > raw material production service > carbon sequestration service > food production service. The evaluation result of this paper reflects the substantial value that the wetlands of Qinghai Lake provide to beneficiaries using monetary values, which has the potential to help increase wetland protection awareness among the public and decision-makers, and inform managers about ways to create ecological compensation incentives. The final ecosystem service evaluation system presented in this paper will offer guidance on separating intermediate services and final services, and establishing monitoring programs for dynamic ecosystem services valuation with the aim of helping improve management outcomes.

Willingness to pay for physician services at a primary contact in Ukraine: results of a contingent valuation study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background The existence of quasi-formal and informal payments in the Ukrainian health care system jeopardizes equity and creates barriers to access to proper care. Patient payment policies that better match patient preferences are necessary. We analyze the potential and feasibility of official patient charges for public health care services in Ukraine by studying the patterns of fee acceptability, ability and willingness to pay (WTP) for public health care among population groups. Methods We use contingent valuation data collected from 303 respondents representative of the adult Ukrainian population. Three decision points were separated: objection to pay, inability to pay, and level of positive non-zero WTP. These decisions were studied for relations with quality profiles of the services, and socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and their households. Results The likelihood to object to pay is mostly determined by the quality characteristics of the services. Objection to pay is not related to corresponding behavior in real life. The likelihood of being unable to pay is associated with older age, lower income, and a larger share of household members with no income. The level of positive WTP is positively related to income (+7% per 1000 UAH increase in income) and is lower for people who visited a doctor but did not pay (−22%). Conclusions Rather substantial WTP levels (between 0.9% and 1.9% of household income) for one visit to physician indicate a potential for official patient charges in Ukraine. User fees may cover a substantial share of personnel cost in the out-patient sector. The patterns of inability to pay support well designed exemption criteria based on age, income, and other aspects of economic status. The WTP patterns highlight the necessity for payments that are proportional to income. Other methodological and policy implications are discussed. PMID:23758839

Exploring the value of overseas biodiversity to Chinese netizens based on willingness to pay for the African elephants' protection.

PubMed

Wang, Zhengzao; Gong, Yazhen; Mao, Xianqiang

2018-10-01

For a long time, Chinese people have been considered to be concerned only with commercial interests but not ecological systems and biodiversity conservation, even though their trade and investment footprints are globalizing rapidly. This study intended to reveal the non-market valuation on the non-use value of African elephant to Chinese people. Taking the ban of ivory trade as the background, in this study, Chinese netizens' willingness to pay for African elephant conservation was investigated using the contingent valuation method. Four versions of questionnaires were designed and distinguished by offering different background information and payment vehicles (tax and donation). It was demonstrated that the differences in both given information and payment vehicles had no significant impacts on the estimated mean willingness to pay value. 53.36% of the respondents gave positive responses for the hypothetical projects of African elephant protection. The mean willingness to pay was 83.62 RMB (12.59 USD) and 158.58 RMB (23.88 USD) per year per household and the aggregated willingness to pay or benefits for the protection of African elephants from Chinese netizens were estimated to be 16.31 billion RMB (2.45 billion USD) and 30.92 billion RMB (4.65 billion USD) per year after grouping regression and benefit transfer adjustments, respectively. The current research shows that Chinese people, living thousands kilometers away from Africa, have a high public awareness for and valuation to the endangered elephants. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The willingness to pay to remove billboards and improve scenic amenities.

PubMed

Groothuis, Peter A; Groothuis, Jana D; Whitehead, John C

2007-12-01

We use the contingent valuation method to measure the amount citizens are willing to pay to improve scenic mountain-view amenities through the removal of billboards. Our approach addresses both the perceived property rights as well as the perceptions of the status quo in the southern Appalachian Mountains. We find that individuals who retire to the mountains have different preferences for land use and mountain views than individuals who have ancestors who lived in Watauga County. In the aggregate, we find that citizens are willing to pay almost one-half million dollars to remove billboards from Watauga County roadsides. This study provides insights to the debate surrounding land use along public roads.

Consumer preferences for reduced packaging under economic instruments and recycling policy.

PubMed

Yamaguchi, Keiko; Takeuchi, Kenji

2016-02-01

This study was conducted using a web-based survey and bidding game in contingent valuation method to evaluate consumer preferences for packaging with less material. Results revealed that people who live in a municipality implementing unit-based pricing of waste have a higher willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a product. Economic instruments can affect the purchase of products with reduced packaging because a higher disposal cost increases the attractiveness of source reduction. However, unit-based pricing combined with plastic separation for recycling reduces WTP. This result suggests that recycling policy weakens the effect of economic instruments on source reduction of waste. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Data of a willingness to pay survey for national climate change mitigation policies in Germany.

PubMed

Uehleke, Reinhard

2016-06-01

The dataset includes responses from a contingent valuation study about the national climate change mitigation policies in Germany. The online survey was carried out in the spring of 2014. It assesses the willingness to pay for an increase of the national CO2 reduction target by 10 percentage points, which closely represents Germany׳s climate change mitigation strategy. Respondents were randomly allocated to one of the following three question formats: The dichotomous choice referendum, the dissonance minimizing referendum and the two-sided payment ladder. The data can be used to investigate the influence of alternative statistical approaches on the willingness to pay measures and their comparison across question formats.

WTP and WTA: do people think differently?

PubMed

Whynes, David K; Sach, Tracey H

2007-09-01

Contingent valuation (CV) studies in health care have used the willingness to pay (WTP) approach, to the virtual exclusion of willingness to accept (WTA). Outside the health care field, disparities between WTP and WTA values have been observed. Were such disparities to be demonstrated for health care technologies, the conventional assumption of a linear cost-effectiveness plane would be invalidated. This paper employs data derived from interviews with users of the UK's paediatric cochlear implantation (PCI) programme based in Nottingham (i) to assess the feasibility of estimating WTA for the potential discontinuation of an existing technology, and (ii) to investigate any WTA-WTP disparity which might be revealed. Only one-third of subjects providing WTP values were willing and able to offer a corresponding WTA value. Our qualitative data revealed that modes of response differed between the two valuation approaches. In particular, the presumption of fungibility of the health care intervention was a far more serious obstacle to completing the WTA task than it was for WTP. Among those prepared to offer values under both approaches, mean WTA was approximately four times mean WTP. Until more health studies are conducted, it remains unclear whether or not the findings are specific both to the intervention and to the elicitation format.

Valuing improvements to threatened and endangered marine species: an application of stated preference choice experiments.

PubMed

Wallmo, Kristy; Lew, Daniel K

2011-07-01

Non-market valuation research has produced value estimates for over forty threatened and endangered (T&E) species, including mammals, fish, birds, and crustaceans. Increasingly, Stated Preference Choice Experiments (SPCE) are utilized for valuation, as the format offers flexibility for policy analysis and may reduce certain types of response biases relative to the more traditional Contingent Valuation method. Additionally, SPCE formats can allow respondents to make trade-offs among multiple species, providing information on the distinctiveness of preferences for different T&E species. In this paper we present results of an SPCE involving three U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species: the Puget Sound Chinook salmon, the Hawaiian monk seal, and the smalltooth sawfish. We estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) values for improving each species' ESA listing status and statistically compare these values between the three species using a method of convolutions approach. Our results suggest that respondents have distinct preferences for the three species, and that WTP estimates differ depending on the species and the level of improvement to their ESA status. Our results should be of interest to researchers and policy-makers, as we provide value estimates for three species that have limited, if any, estimates available in the economics literature, as well as new information about the way respondents make trade-offs among three taxonomically different species. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Neural evidence for the intrinsic value of action as motivation for behavior.

PubMed

Miura, Naoki; Tanabe, Hiroki C; Sasaki, Akihiro T; Harada, Tokiko; Sadato, Norihiro

2017-06-03

The intrinsic value of an action refers to the inherent sense that experiencing a behavior is enjoyable even if it has no explicit outcome. Previous research has suggested that a common valuation mechanism within the reward network may be responsible for processing the intrinsic value of achieving both the outcome and external rewards. However, how the intrinsic value of action is neurally represented remains unknown. We hypothesized that the intrinsic value of action is determined by an action-outcome contingency indicating the behavior is controllable and that the outcome of the action can be evaluated by this feedback. Consequently, the reward network should be activated, reflecting the generation of the intrinsic value of action. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) investigation of a stopwatch game in which the action-outcome contingency was manipulated. This experiment involved 36 healthy volunteers and four versions of a stopwatch game that manipulated controllability (the feeling that participants were controlling the stopwatch themselves) and outcome (a signal allowing participants to see the result of their action). A free-choice experiment was administered after the fMRI to explore preference levels for each game. The results showed that the stopwatch game with the action-outcome contingency evoked a greater degree of enjoyment because the participants chose this condition over those that lacked such a contingency. The ventral striatum and midbrain were activated only when action-outcome contingency was present. Thus, the intrinsic value of action was represented by an increase in ventral striatal and midbrain activation. Copyright © 2017 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Willingness to participate and Pay for a proposed national health insurance in St. Vincent and the grenadines: a cross-sectional contingent valuation approach.

PubMed

Adams, Rosmond; Chou, Yiing-Jenq; Pu, Christy

2015-04-09

Numerous Caribbean countries are considering implementing National Health Insurance (NHI) and pooling resources to finance their health sectors. Based on this increased interest in health insurance, we investigated the willingness to participate and to pay for NHI in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an upper-middle-income Caribbean country. Four hundred heads of household in St. Vincent and the Grenadines were interviewed in August 2012 and September 2012. The samples were selected through simple random sampling, including the stratification of rural, semiurban, and urban communities to ensure the representativeness of the sample. A contingent valuation method with a pretested interviewer-led questionnaire was used. Respondents were presented with a hypothetical NHI plan. Chi-squared analysis was performed to identify factors that are associated with the willingness to participate. Multiple logistic regression was used to explore the factors that influence respondents' willingness to pay. In total, 69.5% (n = 278) of the respondents indicated that they were willing to participate in the proposed NHI plan, of whom 72.3% were willing to pay for the first bid (EC$50). When the bid was reduced to EC$25, all of the remaining respondents who indicated they were willing to participate were willing to pay this lowered bid. Overall, the respondents were willing to pay EC$77.83 (US$28.83) per month for each person to enroll in the NHI plan. Age, income, and having some form of health insurance were significantly associated with a willingness to participate in the plan. A higher socioeconomic status was the principal determinant factor for the willingness to participate. This is similar to studies on developing economies. The government can use these findings to guide the successful implementation of the proposed NHI program. People with a lower socioeconomic status must be engaged from the start of and throughout the development process to enhance their understanding of and participation in the plan.

Public willingness to pay for CO2 mitigation and the determinants under climate change: a case study of Suzhou, China.

PubMed

Yang, Jie; Zou, Liping; Lin, Tiansheng; Wu, Ying; Wang, Haikun

2014-12-15

This study explored the factors that influence respondents' willingness to pay (WTP) for CO2 mitigation under climate change. A questionnaire survey combined with contingent valuation and psychometric paradigm methods were conducted in the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province in China. Respondents' traditional demographic attributes, risk perception of greenhouse gas (GHG), and attitude toward the government's risk management practices were established using a Tobit model to analyze the determinants. The results showed that about 55% of the respondents refused to pay for CO2 mitigation, respondent's WTP increased with increasing CO2 mitigation percentage. Important factors influencing WTP include people's feeling of dread of GHGs, confidence in policy, the timeliness of governmental information disclosure, age, education and income level. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Convergent validity between willingness to pay elicitation methods: an application to Grand Canyon whitewater boaters

USGS Publications Warehouse

Neher, Christopher; Bair, Lucas S.; Duffield, John; Patterson, David A.; Neher, Katherine

2018-01-01

We directly compare trip willingness to pay (WTP) values between dichotomous choice contingent valuation (DCCV) and discrete choice experiment (DCE) stated preference surveys of private party Grand Canyon whitewater boaters. The consistency of DCCV and DCE estimates is debated in the literature, and this study contributes to the body of work comparing the methods. Comparisons were made of mean WTP estimates for four hypothetical Colorado River flow-level scenarios. Boaters were found to most highly value mid-range flows, with very low and very high flows eliciting lower WTP estimates across both DCE and DCCV surveys. Mean WTP precision was estimated through simulation. No statistically significant differences were detected between the two methods at three of the four hypothetical flow levels.

Contingent valuation and pharmacists' acceptable levels of compensation for medication therapy management services.

PubMed

Wang, Junling; Hong, Song Hee

2015-01-01

Pharmacists' acceptable level of compensation for medication therapy management (MTM) services needs to be determined using various economic evaluation techniques. Using contingent valuation method, determine pharmacists' acceptable levels of compensation for MTM services. A mailing survey was used to elicit Tennessee (U.S.) pharmacists' acceptable levels of compensation for a 30-minute MTM session for a new patient with 2 medical conditions, 8 medications, and an annual drug cost of $2000. Three versions of a series of double-bounded, closed-ended, binary discrete choice questions were asked of pharmacists for their willingness to accept (WTA) for an original monetary value ($30, $60, or $90) and then follow-up higher or lower value depending on their responses to the original value. A Kaplan-Meier approach was taken to analyze pharmacists' WTA, and Cox's proportional hazards model was used to examine the effects of pharmacist characteristics on their WTA. Three hundred and forty-eight pharmacists responded to the survey. Pharmacists' WTA for the given MTM session had a mean of $63.31 and median of $60. The proportions of pharmacists willing to accept $30, $60, and $90 for the given MTM session were 30.61%, 85.19%, and 91.01%, respectively. Pharmacists' characteristics had statistically significant association with their WTA rates. Pharmacists' WTA for the given MTM session is higher than current Medicare MTM programs' compensation levels of $15-$50 and patients' willingness to pay of less than $40. Besides advocating for higher MTM compensation levels by third-party payers, pharmacists also may need to charge patients to reach sufficient compensation levels for MTM services. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Contingent Valuation and Pharmacists' Acceptable Levels of Compensation for Medication Therapy Management Services

PubMed Central

Wang, Junling; Hong, Song Hee

2012-01-01

Background Pharmacists' acceptable level of compensation for medication therapy management (MTM) services needs to be determined using various economic evaluation techniques. Objectives Using contingent valuation method, determine pharmacists' acceptable levels of compensation for MTM services. Methods A mailing survey was used to elicit Tennessee (US) pharmacists' acceptable levels of compensation for a 30-minute MTM session for a new patient with 2 medical conditions, 8 medications, and an annual drug cost of $2,000. Three versions of a series of double-bounded, closed-ended, binary discrete choice questions were asked of pharmacists for their willingness-to-accept (WTA) for an original monetary value ($30, $60, or $90) and then follow-up higher or lower value depending on their responses to the original value. A Kaplan-Meier approach was taken to analyze pharmacists' WTA, and Cox's proportional hazards model was used to examine the effects of pharmacist characteristics on their WTA. Results Three hundred and forty-eight pharmacists responded to the survey. Pharmacists' WTA for the given MTM session had a mean of $63.31 and median of $60. The proportions of pharmacists willing to accept $30, $60, and $90 for the given MTM session were 30.61%, 85.19%, and 91.01%, respectively. Pharmacists' characteristics had statistically significant association with their WTA rates. Conclusions Pharmacists' WTA for the given MTM session is higher than current Medicare MTM programs' compensation levels of $15 to $50 and patients' willingness-to-pay of less than $40. Besides advocating for higher MTM compensation levels by third-party payers, pharmacists also may need to charge patients to reach sufficient compensation levels for MTM services. PMID:22436583

Consumer willingness to invest money and time for benefits of lifestyle behaviour change: an application of the contingent valuation method.

PubMed

Alayli-Goebbels, Adrienne F G; van Exel, Job; Ament, André J H A; de Vries, Nanne K; Bot, Sandra D M; Severens, Johan L

2015-12-01

To use contingent valuation (CV) to derive individual consumer values for both health and broader benefits of a public-health intervention directed at lifestyle behaviour change (LBC) and to examine the feasibility and validity of the method. Participants of a lifestyle intervention trial (n = 515) were invited to complete an online CV survey. Respondents (n = 312) expressed willingness to invest money and time for changes in life expectancy, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and broader quality of life aspects. Internal validity was tested for by exploring associations between explanatory variables (i.e. income, paid work, experience and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases) and willingness to invest, and by examining ordering effects and respondents' sensitivity to the scope of the benefits. The majority of respondents (94.3%) attached value to benefits of LBC, and 87.4% were willing to invest both money and time. Respondents were willing to invest more for improvements in HRQOL (€42/month; 3 h/week) and broader quality of life aspects (€40/month; 2.6 h/week) than for improvements in life expectancy (€24/month; 2 h/week). Protest answers were limited (3%) and findings regarding internal validity were mixed. The importance of broader quality of life outcomes to consumers suggests that these outcomes are relevant to be considered in the decision making. Our research showed that CV is a feasible method to value both health and broader outcomes of LBC, but generalizability to other areas of public health still needs to be examined. Mixed evidence regarding internal validity pleads for caution to use CV as only the base for decision making. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Valuing Recreational Benefits of Coral Reefs: The Case of Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve, Kenya

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ransom, Kevin P.; Mangi, Stephen C.

2010-01-01

A contingent valuation study was conducted with adult Kenyan citizens and foreign tourists to estimate the value of recreational benefits arising from coral reefs at Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve (MMNPR), and to assess the implications for local reef management. Citizen and foreign visitors to MMNPR were willing to pay an extra 2.2 (median = 1.6) and 8 (median = 6.7) per visit respectively, in addition to current park entrance fees, to support reef quality improvements. By aggregating visitors’ willingness to pay bids over the number of visitors to MMNPR in 2006-2007 the value of benefits was estimated at 346,733, which was more than twice the total annual operational expenditure of 152,383 for MMNPR. The findings indicate that annual revenues from citizen and foreign visitors may be increased by 60% to 261,932 through the implementation of proposed higher park fees of 3.10 for citizens and 15 for foreign visitors. However, any fee increase would serve to intensify concerns among citizens that only relatively affluent Kenyans can afford to visit MMNPR. Park managers need to demonstrate that the extra revenue would be used to fund the proposed conservation activities. This valuation study demonstrates that visitors are prepared to pay higher user fees for access to the marine protected area revealing considerable untapped resource to finance reef quality improvements.

Valuing recreational benefits of coral reefs: the case of Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve, Kenya.

PubMed

Ransom, Kevin P; Mangi, Stephen C

2010-01-01

A contingent valuation study was conducted with adult Kenyan citizens and foreign tourists to estimate the value of recreational benefits arising from coral reefs at Mombasa Marine National Park and Reserve (MMNPR), and to assess the implications for local reef management. Citizen and foreign visitors to MMNPR were willing to pay an extra $2.2 (median = $1.6) and $8 (median = $6.7) per visit respectively, in addition to current park entrance fees, to support reef quality improvements. By aggregating visitors' willingness to pay bids over the number of visitors to MMNPR in 2006-2007 the value of benefits was estimated at $346,733, which was more than twice the total annual operational expenditure of $152,383 for MMNPR. The findings indicate that annual revenues from citizen and foreign visitors may be increased by 60% to $261,932 through the implementation of proposed higher park fees of $3.10 for citizens and $15 for foreign visitors. However, any fee increase would serve to intensify concerns among citizens that only relatively affluent Kenyans can afford to visit MMNPR. Park managers need to demonstrate that the extra revenue would be used to fund the proposed conservation activities. This valuation study demonstrates that visitors are prepared to pay higher user fees for access to the marine protected area revealing considerable untapped resource to finance reef quality improvements.

Aquatic habitat measurement and valuation: imputing social benefits to instream flow levels

USGS Publications Warehouse

Douglas, Aaron J.; Johnson, Richard L.

1991-01-01

Instream flow conflicts have been analysed from the perspectives offered by policy oriented applied (physical) science, theories of conflict resolution and negotiation strategy, and psychological analyses of the behavior patterns of the bargaining parties. Economics also offers some useful insights in analysing conflict resolution within the context of these water allocation problems. We attempt to analyse the economics of the bargaining process in conjunction with a discussion of the water allocation process. In particular, we examine in detail the relation between certain habitat estimation techniques, and the socially optimal allocation of non-market resources. The results developed here describe the welfare implications implicit in the contemporary general equilibrium analysis of a competitive market economy. We also review certain currently available techniques for assigning dollar values to the social benefits of instream flow. The limitations of non-market valuation techniques with respect to estimating the benefits provided by instream flows and the aquatic habitat contingent on these flows should not deter resource managers from using economic analysis as a basic tool for settling instream flow conflicts.

Disentangling WTP per QALY data: different analytical approaches, different answers.

PubMed

Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte; Kjaer, Trine

2012-03-01

A large random sample of the Danish general population was asked to value health improvements by way of both the time trade-off elicitation technique and willingness-to-pay (WTP) using contingent valuation methods. The data demonstrate a high degree of heterogeneity across respondents in their relative valuations on the two scales. This has implications for data analysis. We show that the estimates of WTP per QALY are highly sensitive to the analytical strategy. For both open-ended and dichotomous choice data we demonstrate that choice of aggregated approach (ratios of means) or disaggregated approach (means of ratios) affects estimates markedly as does the interpretation of the constant term (which allows for disproportionality across the two scales) in the regression analyses. We propose that future research should focus on why some respondents are unwilling to trade on the time trade-off scale, on how to interpret the constant value in the regression analyses, and on how best to capture the heterogeneity in preference structures when applying mixed multinomial logit. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Inclusiveness in the health economic evaluation space.

PubMed

Ryan, Mandy; Gerard, Karen

2014-05-01

This paper presents an overview of Gavin Mooney's contributions to broadening the evaluative space in health economics. It outlines how Mooney's ideas have encouraged many, including ourselves, to expand the conventional QALYs/health gain approach and look more broadly at what it is that is of value from health services. We reflect on Mooney's contributions to debates around cost-effectiveness analysis, Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) and cost-utility analysis as well as his contribution to the development and application of contingent valuation and discrete choice experiments in health economics. We conclude by suggesting important avenues for future research to take forward Mooney's work. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Valuing morbidity from wildfire smoke exposure: a comparison of revealed and stated preference techniques

USGS Publications Warehouse

Richardson, Leslie; Loomis, John B.; Champ, Patricia A.

2013-01-01

Estimating the economic benefits of reduced health damages due to improvements in environmental quality continues to challenge economists. We review welfare measures associated with reduced wildfire smoke exposure, and a unique dataset from California’s Station Fire of 2009 allows for a comparison of cost of illness (COI) estimates with willingness to pay (WTP) measures. The WTP for one less symptom day is estimated to be $87 and $95, using the defensive behavior and contingent valuation methods, respectively. These WTP estimates are not statistically different but do differ from a $3 traditional daily COI estimate and $17 comprehensive daily COI estimate.

The amount of consolation compensation in road traffic accidents.

PubMed

Jou, Rong-Chang

2014-06-01

This study aimed to investigate the amount of consolation compensation that road accident perpetrators were willing to pay victims. It used 2010 statistics for general road accidents from Taiwan's National Police Agency (NPA) for further sampling and to mail questionnaires. In investigating consolation compensation, the framework of the contingent valuation method was used, and the data were collected through the design of different scenarios. In this study, five injury levels were designed to further analyse the consolation compensation price the perpetrators were willing to pay: minor injury, moderate injury, serious injury, disability, and death. The results revealed the price that many perpetrators were willing to pay was zero; however, we overcame this issue by using the Spike model. The estimated results showed that road accident perpetrators were willing to pay more consolation compensation with increased injury severity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Willingness to Pay for Home-Based Rehabilitation Service Among Older Adults.

PubMed

Li, Xuemei; Wan, Xia; Pang, Yajuan; Zhou, Lanshu

2018-06-18

This study aims to investigate the willingness to pay (WTP) for a home-based rehabilitation service and explore the influencing factors of WTP among older adults in Shanghai, China. A cross-sectional design was used. A questionnaire survey based on the contingent valuation method was conducted by face-to-face survey over 3 months. Only 242 (44%) participants were willing to pay for a home-based rehabilitation service. The median amount they were willing to pay was RMB 8 (US$1.15) per visit. Older adults who had higher monthly income, had at least one partner who worked, and had medical insurance were willing to pay more for the service. Older adults showed low WTP for a home-based rehabilitation service. Economic status and health condition are the significant influencing factors of WTP. Studies on recipients' precise needs and ability to pay are required before home-based services are implemented.

Estimating a constant WTP for a QALY-a mission impossible?

PubMed

Sund, Björn; Svensson, Mikael

2017-09-21

Economic evaluations are an important input to decision-making and priority-setting in the health care sector. Measuring preferences for health improvements, as the demand-side value (willingness to pay) of gaining a quality-adjusted life year (QALY), is one relevant component in the interpretation of the results from health economic evaluations. Our article addresses whether willingness to pay for a QALY (WTP-Q) is sensitive to the size of the health differences and the probability for improvement. We use data from a contingent valuation survey based on 1400 respondents conducted in the spring of 2014. The results show that the expectation of sensitivity to scope, or higher WTP to the larger expected quality of life improvement, is not supported. We find WTP-Q values that conform reasonably well to previous studies in Sweden.

Technical attainment, practical success and practical knowledge: hermeneutical bases for child nursing care.

PubMed

de Mello, Débora Falleiros; de Lima, Regina Aparecida Garcia

2009-01-01

This reflective study aimed to present some aspects of the concepts technical attainment, practical success and practical knowledge, with a view to a broader understanding of child nursing care. Health care is considered in the perspective of reconstructive practices, characterized as contingencies, highlighting the importance of the connection between technical attainment and practical success and the valuation of practical knowledge, based on philosophical hermeneutics, in the context of practical philosophy. Child health nursing can deal with technical attainment and practical success jointly, and also understand practical knowledge in the longitudinality of care. Health promotion, disease prevention, recovery and rehabilitation of child health should be indissociably associated with contextualized realities, shared between professionals and families, aiming to follow the child's growth and development, produce narratives, identify experiences, choices and decision making to broaden health care.

Estimating the economic impact of climate change on cardiovascular diseases--evidence from Taiwan.

PubMed

Liao, Shu-Yi; Tseng, Wei-Chun; Chen, Pin-Yu; Chen, Chi-Chung; Wu, Wei-Min

2010-12-01

The main purpose of this study was to investigate how climate change affects blood vessel-related heart disease and hypertension and to estimate the associated economic damage. In this paper, both the panel data model and the contingent valuation method (CVM) approaches are applied. The empirical results indicate that the number of death from cardiovascular diseases would be increased by 0.226% as the variation in temperature increases by 1%. More importantly, the number of death from cardiovascular diseases would be increased by 1.2% to 4.1% under alternative IPCC climate change scenarios. The results from the CVM approach show that each person would be willing to pay US$51 to US$97 per year in order to avoid the increase in the mortality rate of cardiovascular diseases caused by climate change.

Estimating the Economic Impact of Climate Change on Cardiovascular Diseases—Evidence from Taiwan

PubMed Central

Liao, Shu-Yi; Tseng, Wei-Chun; Chen, Pin-Yu; Chen, Chi-Chung; Wu, Wei-Min

2010-01-01

The main purpose of this study was to investigate how climate change affects blood vessel-related heart disease and hypertension and to estimate the associated economic damage. In this paper, both the panel data model and the contingent valuation method (CVM) approaches are applied. The empirical results indicate that the number of death from cardiovascular diseases would be increased by 0.226% as the variation in temperature increases by 1%. More importantly, the number of death from cardiovascular diseases would be increased by 1.2% to 4.1% under alternative IPCC climate change scenarios. The results from the CVM approach show that each person would be willing to pay US$51 to US$97 per year in order to avoid the increase in the mortality rate of cardiovascular diseases caused by climate change. PMID:21318006

[Monetary value of the human costs of road traffic injuries in Spain].

PubMed

Martínez Pérez, Jorge Eduardo; Sánchez Martínez, Fernando Ignacio; Abellán Perpiñán, José María; Pinto Prades, José Luis

2015-09-01

Cost-benefit analyses in the field of road safety compute human costs as a key component of total costs. The present article presents two studies promoted by the Directorate-General for Traffic aimed at obtaining official values for the costs associated with fatal and non-fatal traffic injuries in Spain. We combined the contingent valuation approach and the (modified) standard gamble technique in two surveys administered to large representative samples (n1=2,020, n2=2,000) of the Spanish population. The monetary value of preventing a fatality was estimated to be 1.4 million euros. Values of 219,000 and 6,100 euros were obtained for minor and severe non-fatal injuries, respectively. These figures are comparable to those observed in neighboring countries. Copyright © 2014 SESPAS. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

Valuing the effects of hydropower development on watershed ecosystem services: Case studies in the Jiulong River Watershed, Fujian Province, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Guihua; Fang, Qinhua; Zhang, Luoping; Chen, Weiqi; Chen, Zhenming; Hong, Huasheng

2010-02-01

Hydropower development brings many negative impacts on watershed ecosystems which are not fully integrated into current decision-making largely because in practice few accept the cost and benefit beyond market. In this paper, a framework was proposed to valuate the effects on watershed ecosystem services caused by hydropower development. Watershed ecosystem services were classified into four categories of provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services; then effects on watershed ecosystem services caused by hydropower development were identified to 21 indicators. Thereafter various evaluation techniques including the market value method, opportunity cost approach, project restoration method, travel cost method, and contingent valuation method were determined and the models were developed to valuate these indicators reflecting specific watershed ecosystem services. This approach was applied to three representative hydropower projects (Daguan, Xizaikou and Tiangong) of Jiulong River Watershed in southeast China. It was concluded that for hydropower development: (1) the value ratio of negative impacts to positive benefits ranges from 64.09% to 91.18%, indicating that the negative impacts of hydropower development should be critically studied during its environmental administration process; (2) the biodiversity loss and water quality degradation (together accounting for 80-94%) are the major negative impacts on watershed ecosystem services; (3) the average environmental cost per unit of electricity is up to 0.206 Yuan/kW h, which is about three quarters of its on-grid power tariff; and (4) the current water resource fee accounts for only about 4% of its negative impacts value, therefore a new compensatory method by paying for ecosystem services is necessary for sustainable hydropower development. These findings provide a clear picture of both positive and negative effects of hydropower development for decision-makers in the monetary term, and also provide a basis for further design of environmental instrument such as payment for watershed ecosystem services.

Comparing willingness to pay for improved drinking-water quality using stated preference methods in rural and urban Kenya.

PubMed

Brouwer, Roy; Job, Fumbi Crescent; van der Kroon, Bianca; Johnston, Richard

2015-02-01

Access to safe drinking water has been on the global agenda for decades. The key to safe drinking water is found in household water treatment and safe storage systems. In this study, we assessed rural and urban household demand for a new gravity-driven membrane (GDM) drinking-water filter. A choice experiment (CE) was used to assess the value attached to the characteristics of a new GDM filter before marketing in urban and rural Kenya. The CE was followed by a contingent valuation (CV) question. Differences in willingness to pay (WTP) for the same filter design were tested between methods, as well as urban and rural samples. The CV follow-up approach produces more conservative and statistically more efficient WTP values than the CE, with only limited indications of anchoring. The effect of the new filter technology on children with diarrhea is among the most important drivers behind choice behavior and WTP in both areas. The urban sample is willing to pay more in absolute terms than the rural sample irrespective of the valuation method. Rural households are more price sensitive, and willing to pay more in relative terms compared with disposable household income. A differentiated marketing strategy across rural and urban areas is expected to increase uptake and diffusion of the new filter technology.

Going green? Ex-post valuation of a multipurpose water infrastructure in Northern Italy.

PubMed

Reynaud, Arnaud; Lanzanova, Denis; Liquete, Camino; Grizzetti, Bruna

2017-10-01

A contingent valuation approach is used to estimate how households value different multipurpose infrastructures (conventional or green) for managing flood risk and water pollution. As a case study we consider the Gorla Maggiore water park located in the Lombardy Region, in Northern Italy. The park is a neo-ecosystem including an infrastructure to treat waste water and store excess rain water, built in 2011 on the shore of the Olona River in an area previously used for poplar plantation. This park is the first one of this type built in Italy. A novel aspect of our research is that it not only considers the values people hold for different water ecosystem services (pollution removal, recreative use, wildlife support, flood risk reduction), but also their preferences for how those outcomes are achieved (through conventional or green infrastructures). The results indicate that the type of infrastructure delivering the ecosystem services does have an impact on individuals' preferences for freshwater ecosystem services. Households are willing to pay from 6.3 to 7.1 euros per year for a green infrastructure (compared to a conventional one), with a premium up to 16.5 euros for a surrounding made of a park. By considering the type of infrastructure within the choice model, we gain a richer understanding of the relationship between social welfare and freshwater ecosystem services.

Altered cingulo-striatal function underlies reward drive deficits in schizophrenia.

PubMed

Park, Il Ho; Chun, Ji Won; Park, Hae-Jeong; Koo, Min-Seong; Park, Sunyoung; Kim, Seok-Hyeong; Kim, Jae-Jin

2015-02-01

Amotivation in schizophrenia is assumed to involve dysfunctional dopaminergic signaling of reward prediction or anticipation. It is unclear, however, whether the translation of neural representation of reward value to behavioral drive is affected in schizophrenia. In order to examine how abnormal neural processing of response valuation and initiation affects incentive motivation in schizophrenia, we conducted functional MRI using a deterministic reinforcement learning task with variable intervals of contingency reversals in 20 clinically stable patients with schizophrenia and 20 healthy controls. Behaviorally, the advantage of positive over negative reinforcer in reinforcement-related responsiveness was not observed in patients. Patients showed altered response valuation and initiation-related striatal activity and deficient rostro-ventral anterior cingulate cortex activation during reward approach initiation. Among these neural abnormalities, rostro-ventral anterior cingulate cortex activation was correlated with positive reinforcement-related responsiveness in controls and social anhedonia and social amotivation subdomain scores in patients. Our findings indicate that the central role of the anterior cingulate cortex is in translating action value into driving force of action, and underscore the role of the cingulo-striatal network in amotivation in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Value of arsenic-free drinking water to rural households in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Ahmad, Junaid; Goldar, Bishwanath; Misra, Smita

2005-01-01

Using contingent valuation survey data for about 2700 households in rural Bangladesh, and applying a multinomial logit model, the paper estimates the value of arsenic-free drinking water to the rural people. The estimates indicate that the rural people in arsenic-affected areas of Bangladesh place a low value on arsenic-free drinking water. It is about 10-14 percent of the amount they are willing to pay for piped water and only about 0.2-0.3 percent of the average household income. The implication of the result is that robust but costly arsenic reduction technologies such as activated alumina technology may find little social acceptance, unless heavily subsidized.

Embodying Deficiency Through ‘Affective Practice’: Shame, Relationality, and the Lived Experience of Social Class and Gender in Higher Education

PubMed Central

Loveday, Vik

2015-01-01

Based on empirical research with participants from working-class backgrounds studying and working in higher education in England, this article examines the lived experience of shame. Building on a feminist Bourdieusian approach to social class analysis, the article contends that ‘struggles for value’ within the field of higher education precipitate classed judgements, which have the potential to generate shame. Through an examination of the ‘affective practice’ of judgement, the article explores the contingencies that precipitate shame and the embodiment of deficiency. The article links the classed and gendered dimensions of shame with valuation, arguing that the fundamental relationality of social class and gender is not only generative of shame, but that shame helps in turn to structure both working-class experience and a view of the working classes as ‘deficient’. PMID:28018006

Valuing improved wetland quality using choice modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morrison, Mark; Bennett, Jeff; Blamey, Russell

1999-09-01

The main stated preference technique used for estimating environmental values is the contingent valuation method. In this paper the results of an application of an alternative technique, choice modeling, are reported. Choice modeling has been developed in the marketing and transport applications but has only been used in a handful of environmental applications, most of which have focused on use values. The case study presented here involves the estimation of the nonuse environmental values provided by the Macquarie Marshes, a major wetland in New South Wales, Australia. Estimates of the nonuse value the community places on preventing job losses are also presented. The reported models are robust, having high explanatory power and variables that are statistically significant and consistent with expectations. These results provide support for the hypothesis that choice modeling can be used to estimate nonuse values for both environmental and social consequences of resource use changes.

Specification of the utility function in discrete choice experiments.

PubMed

van der Pol, Marjon; Currie, Gillian; Kromm, Seija; Ryan, Mandy

2014-03-01

The specification of the utility function has received limited attention within the discrete choice experiment (DCE) literature. This lack of investigation is surprising given that evidence from the contingent valuation literature suggests that welfare estimates are sensitive to different specifications of the utility function. This study investigates the effect of different specifications of the utility function on results within a DCE. The DCE elicited the public's preferences for waiting time for hip and knee replacement and estimated willingness to wait (WTW). The results showed that the WTW for the different patient profiles varied considerably across the three different specifications of the utility function. Assuming a linear utility function led to much higher estimates of marginal rates of substitution (WTWs) than with nonlinear specifications. The goodness-of-fit measures indicated that nonlinear specifications were superior. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Willingness to pay for health insurance: an analysis of the potential market for new low-cost health insurance products in Namibia.

PubMed

Gustafsson-Wright, Emily; Asfaw, Abay; van der Gaag, Jacques

2009-11-01

This study analyzes the willingness to pay for health insurance and hence the potential market for new low-cost health insurance product in Namibia, using the double bounded contingent valuation (DBCV) method. The findings suggest that 87 percent of the uninsured respondents are willing to join the proposed health insurance scheme and on average are willing to insure 3.2 individuals (around 90 percent of the average family size). On average respondents are willing to pay NAD 48 per capita per month and respondents in the poorest income quintile are willing to pay up to 11.4 percent of their income. This implies that private voluntary health insurance schemes, in addition to the potential for protecting the poor against the negative financial shock of illness, may be able to serve as a reliable income flow for health care providers in this setting.

`Been There Done That': Disentangling Option Value Effects from User Heterogeneity When Valuing Natural Resources with a Use Component

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyssenko, Nikita; Martínez-Espiñeira, Roberto

2012-11-01

Endogeneity bias arises in contingent valuation studies when the error term in the willingness to pay (WTP) equation is correlated with explanatory variables because observable and unobservable characteristics of the respondents affect both their WTP and the value of those variables. We correct for the endogeneity of variables that capture previous experience with the resource valued, humpback whales, and with the geographic area of study. We consider several endogenous behavioral variables. Therefore, we apply a multivariate Probit approach to jointly model them with WTP. In this case, correcting for endogeneity increases econometric efficiency and substantially corrects the bias affecting the estimated coefficients of the experience variables, by isolating the decreasing effect on option value caused by having already experienced the resource. Stark differences are unveiled between the marginal effects on WTP of previous experience of the resource in an alternative location versus experience in the location studied, Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada).

'Been there done that': disentangling option value effects from user heterogeneity when valuing natural resources with a use component.

PubMed

Lyssenko, Nikita; Martínez-Espiñeira, Roberto

2012-11-01

Endogeneity bias arises in contingent valuation studies when the error term in the willingness to pay (WTP) equation is correlated with explanatory variables because observable and unobservable characteristics of the respondents affect both their WTP and the value of those variables. We correct for the endogeneity of variables that capture previous experience with the resource valued, humpback whales, and with the geographic area of study. We consider several endogenous behavioral variables. Therefore, we apply a multivariate Probit approach to jointly model them with WTP. In this case, correcting for endogeneity increases econometric efficiency and substantially corrects the bias affecting the estimated coefficients of the experience variables, by isolating the decreasing effect on option value caused by having already experienced the resource. Stark differences are unveiled between the marginal effects on WTP of previous experience of the resource in an alternative location versus experience in the location studied, Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada).

Co-financing for viral load monitoring during the course of antiretroviral therapy among patients with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam: A contingent valuation survey.

PubMed

Nguyen, Quyen Le Thi; Nguyen, Long Hoang; Tran, Bach Xuan; Phan, Huong Thi Thu; Le, Huong Thi; Nguyen, Hinh Duc; Tran, Tho Dinh; Do, Cuong Duy; Nguyen, Cuong Manh; Thuc, Vu Thi Minh; Latkin, Carl; Zhang, Melvyn W B; Ho, Roger C M

2017-01-01

Viral load testing is considered the gold standard for monitoring HIV treatment; however, given its high cost, some patients cannot afford viral load testing if this testing is not subsidized. Since foreign aid for HIV/AIDS in Vietnam is rapidly decreasing, we sought to assess willingness to pay (WTP) for viral load and CD4 cell count tests among HIV-positive patients, and identified factors that might inform future co-payment schemes. A multi-site cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1133 HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Hanoi and Nam Dinh. Patients' health insurance coverage, quality of life, and history of illicit drug use were assessed. A contingent valuation approach was employed to measure patients' WTP for CD4 cell count and viral load testing. HIV-positive patients receiving ART at provincial sites reported more difficulty obtaining health insurance (HI) and had the overall the poorest quality of life. Most patients (90.9%) were willing to pay for CD4 cell count testing; here, the mean WTP was valued at US$8.2 (95%CI = 7.6-8.8 US$) per test. Most patients (87.3%) were also willing to pay for viral load testing; here, mean WTP was valued at US$18.6 (95%CI = 16.3-20.9 US$) per test. High income, high education level, and hospitalization were positively associated with WTP, while co-morbidity with psychiatric symptoms and trouble paying for health insurance were both negatively related to WTP. These findings raise concerns that HIV-positive patients in Vietnam might have low WTP for CD4 cell count and viral load testing. This means that without foreign financial subsidies, many of these patients would likely go without these important tests. Treating psychiatric co-morbidities, promoting healthcare services utilization, and removing barriers to accessing health insurance may increase WTP for monitoring of HIV/AIDS treatment among HIV+-positive Vietnamese patients.

The value of informal care in the context of option B+ in Malawi: a contingent valuation approach.

PubMed

Chiwaula, Levison Stanely; Chirwa, Gowokani Chijere; Cataldo, Fabian; Kapito-Tembo, Atupele; Hosseinipour, Mina C; van Lettow, Monique; Tweya, Hannock; Kayoyo, Virginia; Khangamwa-Kaunda, Blessings; Kasende, Florence; Trapence, Clement; Gugsa, Salem; Rosenberg, Nora E; Eliya, Michael; Phiri, Sam

2016-04-19

Informal care, the health care provided by the patient's social network is important in low income settings although its monetary value is rarely estimated. The lack of estimates of the value of informal care has led to its omission in economic evaluations but this can result in incorrect decisions about cost effectiveness of an intervention. We explore the use of contingent valuation methods of willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept (WTA) to estimate the value of informal care provided to HIV infected women that are accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART) under the Option B+ approach to prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in Malawi. We collected cross sectional data from 93 caregivers of women that received ART care from six health facilities in Malawi. Caregivers of women that reported for ART care on the survey day and consented to participate in the survey were included until the targeted sample size for the facility was reached. We estimated the value of informal care by using the willingness to accept (WTA) and willingness to pay (WTP) approaches. Medians were used to summarize the values and these were compared by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The median WTA to provide informal care in a month was US$30 and the median WTP for informal care was US$13 and the two were statistically different (p < 0.000). Median WTP was higher in the urban areas than in the rural areas (US$21 vs. US$13, p < 0.001) and for caregivers from households from higher wealth quintile than in the lower quintile (US$15 vs. US$13, p < 0.0462). Informal caregivers place substantial value on informal care giving. In low income settings where most caregivers are not formally employed, WTP and WTA approaches can be used to value informal care. NCT02005835.

Intelligent databases assist transparent and sound economic valuation of ecosystem services.

PubMed

Villa, Ferdinando; Ceroni, Marta; Krivov, Sergey

2007-06-01

Assessment and economic valuation of services provided by ecosystems to humans has become a crucial phase in environmental management and policy-making. As primary valuation studies are out of the reach of many institutions, secondary valuation or benefit transfer, where the results of previous studies are transferred to the geographical, environmental, social, and economic context of interest, is becoming increasingly common. This has brought to light the importance of environmental valuation databases, which provide reliable valuation data to inform secondary valuation with enough detail to enable the transfer of values across contexts. This paper describes the role of next-generation, intelligent databases (IDBs) in assisting the activity of valuation. Such databases employ artificial intelligence to inform the transfer of values across contexts, enforcing comparability of values and allowing users to generate custom valuation portfolios that synthesize previous studies and provide aggregated value estimates to use as a base for secondary valuation. After a general introduction, we introduce the Ecosystem Services Database, the first IDB for environmental valuation to be made available to the public, describe its functionalities and the lessons learned from its usage, and outline the remaining needs and expected future developments in the field.

Economic amenity values of wildlife: Six case studies in Pennsylvania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shafer, Elwood L.; Carline, Robert; Guldin, Richard W.; Cordell, H. Ken

1993-09-01

The travel clost method (TCM) and contingent valuation method (CVM) were used to evaluate the economic value of six different ecotourism activities involving observation of wildlife in Pennsylvania. The six activities were: catch-and-release trout fishing; catch-and-release trout fishing with fly-fishing equipment; viewing waterfowl; watching elk; observing migration flights of raptors; and seeing live wildlife in an environmental education setting. TCM results provided significant statistical relationships between level of use and travel costs for the two types of trout fishing activities. CVM provided estimates of consumer surplus for the other four sites. The consumers' surplus value (1988 dollars) of all six activities to participants amounted to a total of more than 1.28 million annually—twice the total out-of-pocket expenditures of approximately 640,000 spent to visit the sites. The economic amenity values of the six activities compare favorably with similarly derived values in other studies for hunting, fishing, hiking, and backpacking in dispersed recreation environments and wilderness areas in western states.

Willingness to pay for small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements for women and children: Evidence from Ghana and Malawi.

PubMed

Adams, Katherine P; Vosti, Stephen A; Ayifah, Emmanuel; Phiri, Thokozani E; Adu-Afarwuah, Seth; Maleta, Kenneth; Ashorn, Ulla; Arimond, Mary; Dewey, Kathryn G

2018-04-01

Small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) are designed to enrich maternal and child diets with the objective of preventing undernutrition during the first 1,000 days. Scaling up the delivery of supplements such as SQ-LNS hinges on understanding private demand and creatively leveraging policy-relevant factors that might influence demand. We used longitudinal stated willingness-to-pay (WTP) data from contingent valuation studies that were integrated into randomized controlled nutrition trials in Ghana and Malawi to estimate private valuation of SQ-LNS during pregnancy, postpartum, and early childhood. We found that average stated WTP for a day's supply of SQ-LNS was more than twice as high in Ghana than Malawi, indicating that demand for SQ-LNS (and by extension, the options for effective delivery of SQ-LNS) may be very context specific. We also examined factors associated with WTP, including intervention group, household socioeconomic status, birth outcomes, child growth, and maternal and child morbidity. In both sites, WTP was consistently negatively associated with household food insecurity, indicating that subsidization might be needed to permit food insecure households to acquire SQ-LNS if it is made available for purchase. In Ghana, WTP was higher among heads of household than among mothers, which may be related to control over household resources. Personal experience using SQ-LNS was not associated with WTP in either site. © 2017 The Authors. Maternal and Child Nutrition published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Cattle-Wolf Dilemma: Interactions among Three Protected Species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, Nir; Farja, Yanay

2017-02-01

This paper utilizes economic valuation to offer a new perspective on livestock rancher—predator conflicts. While most studies have considered losses to the species directly involved, i.e., cattle and wolves ( Canis lupus), we take into account other species that are threatened by efforts to protect livestock. In this case, vultures ( Gyps fulvus) and gazelles ( Gazella gazella), both endangered species, are either poisoned (vultures) or suffer from habitat fragmentation (gazelles) in the Upper Galilee region in Israel. Since the ecological value of these species is unobserved in the marketplace, we use the contingent valuation method to quantify the loss incurred from damage to protected species: wolves, vultures and gazelles. This method uses surveys of a representative sample from the population to generate estimates for use and non-use values of animals and other components of the natural environment. These value estimates are then used to compare between different measures that address the problem: either protect cattle herds by building anti-wolf fences and taking other protective measures, or compensating ranchers for their losses from wolf depredations. Our analysis suggests that while it is optimal from the ranchers' point of view to invest in protective measures such as fences, dogs and guards against wolves, it is not in society's best interest. A cost-benefit analysis taking into account all the ecological values finds a higher net benefit to society from a relatively small amount of protection, coupled with compensation to the farmers for depredations.

Valuations of genetic test information for treatable conditions: the case of colorectal cancer screening.

PubMed

Kilambi, Vikram; Johnson, F Reed; González, Juan Marcos; Mohamed, Ateesha F

2014-12-01

The value of the information that genetic testing services provide can be questioned for insurance-based health systems. The results of genetic tests oftentimes may not lead to well-defined clinical interventions; however, Lynch syndrome, a genetic mutation for which carriers are at an increased risk for colorectal cancer, can be identified through genetic testing, and meaningful health interventions are available via increased colonoscopic surveillance. Valuations of test information for such conditions ought to account for the full impact of interventions and contingent outcomes. To conduct a discrete-choice experiment to elicit individuals' preferences for genetic test information. A Web-enabled discrete-choice experiment survey was administered to a representative sample of US residents aged 50 years and older. In addition to specifying expenditures on colonoscopies, respondents were asked to make a series of nine selections between two hypothetical genetic tests or a no-test option under the premise that a relative had Lynch syndrome. The hypothetical genetic tests were defined by the probability of developing colorectal cancer, the probability of a false-negative test result, privacy of the result, and out-of-pocket cost. A model specification identifying necessary interactions was derived from assumptions of risk behavior and the decision context and was estimated using random-parameters logit. A total of 650 respondents were contacted, and 385 completed the survey. The monetary equivalent of test information was approximately $1800. Expenditures on colonoscopies to reduce mortality risks affected valuations. Respondents with lower income or who reported being employed significantly valued genetic tests more. Genetic testing may confer benefits through the impact of subsequent interventions on private individuals. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Neurons in the pigeon caudolateral nidopallium differentiate Pavlovian conditioned stimuli but not their associated reward value in a sign-tracking paradigm

PubMed Central

Kasties, Nils; Starosta, Sarah; Güntürkün, Onur; Stüttgen, Maik C.

2016-01-01

Animals exploit visual information to identify objects, form stimulus-reward associations, and prepare appropriate behavioral responses. The nidopallium caudolaterale (NCL), an associative region of the avian endbrain, contains neurons exhibiting prominent response modulation during presentation of reward-predicting visual stimuli, but it is unclear whether neural activity represents valuation signals, stimulus properties, or sensorimotor contingencies. To test the hypothesis that NCL neurons represent stimulus value, we subjected pigeons to a Pavlovian sign-tracking paradigm in which visual cues predicted rewards differing in magnitude (large vs. small) and delay to presentation (short vs. long). Subjects’ strength of conditioned responding to visual cues reliably differentiated between predicted reward types and thus indexed valuation. The majority of NCL neurons discriminated between visual cues, with discriminability peaking shortly after stimulus onset and being maintained at lower levels throughout the stimulus presentation period. However, while some cells’ firing rates correlated with reward value, such neurons were not more frequent than expected by chance. Instead, neurons formed discernible clusters which differed in their preferred visual cue. We propose that this activity pattern constitutes a prerequisite for using visual information in more complex situations e.g. requiring value-based choices. PMID:27762287

Municipal solid waste management in rural areas and small counties: an economic analysis using contingent valuation to estimate willingness to pay for Yunnan, China.

PubMed

Wang, Hua; He, Jie; Kim, Yoonhee; Kamata, Takuya

2014-08-01

Municipal solid waste management (SWM) is a major challenge for local governments in rural China. One key issue is the low priority assigned by the local government which is faced with limited financing capacity. We conducted an economic analysis in Eryuan, a poor county in Yunnan, China, where the willingness- to- pay (WTP) for an improved solid waste collection and disposal service was valuated and compared with project cost. Similar to most previous studies in developing countries, this study found that the mean WTP is approximately 1% of the household income. The economic internal rate of return of the project is about 5%, which signifies the estimated social benefit to be already higher than the project cost. Moreover, we believe our estimation of social benefit to be a conservative one since our study only focuses on the local people who will be directly served by the project; wider positive externality of the project, such as CO2 emission reduction and groundwater pollution alleviation, etc., whose impact most probably surpass the frontier of Eryuan county, are not considered explicitly in our survey. The analysis also reveals that the poorest households are not only willing to pay more than the rich households in terms of percentage income but are also willing to pay no less than the rich in terms of absolute value in locations where solid waste services are unavailable. This result reveals the fact that the poorest households have stronger demands for public SWM services, whereas the rich may have the ability to employ private solutions. © The Author(s) 2014.

Individual contributions, provision point mechanisms and project cost information effects on contingent values: Findings from a field validity test.

PubMed

Christantoni, Maria; Damigos, Dimitris

2018-05-15

In many instances, Contingent Valuation practitioners rely on voluntary monetary contributions, despite the fact that they are deemed to be neither incentive compatible in theory nor demand revealing in practice. The reason is that they are suitable for most field applications and offer benefits that may outweigh their drawbacks. This paper endeavors to contribute to the literature by exploring the effect of donation payments with differing incentive structures and information levels on contingent values and on respondents' uncertainty regarding the donations declared. To this end, a field survey was conducted using a sample of 332 respondents who were randomly assigned to one of three different mechanisms: (1) individual contribution (hereinafter CVM treatment); (2) individual contribution with provision point mechanism (PPM), where the total cost of the project is unknown (hereinafter PPM treatment); and (3) individual contribution with PPM, where the total cost of the project is known (hereinafter PPM-INF treatment). The results indicate that there are no statistically significant differences in willingness to pay (WTP) estimates between the CVM and PPM treatments nor between the PPM and the PPM-INF treatments. The results also indicate that the PPM has a positive effect on respondents' certainty level, but there is no evidence that the certainty level is affected by the project information cost. The results are mixed compared to previous research efforts. Thus, further tests are necessary in field comparisons and under different information environments before any definite recommendations can be made. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A social preference valuations set for EQ-5D health states in Flanders, Belgium.

PubMed

Cleemput, Irina

2010-04-01

This study aimed at deriving a preference valuation set for EQ-5D health states from the general Flemish public in Belgium. A EuroQol valuation instrument with 16 health states to be valued on a visual analogue scale was sent to a random sample of 2,754 adults. The initial response rate was 35%. Eventually, 548 (20%) respondents provided useable valuations for modeling. Valuations for 245 health states were modeled using a random effects model. The selection of the model was based on two criteria: health state valuations must be consistent, and the difference with the directly observed valuations must be small. A model including a value decrement if any health dimension of the EQ-5D is on the worst level was selected to construct the social health state valuation set. A comparison with health state valuations from other countries showed similarities, especially with those from New Zealand. The use of a single preference valuation set across different health economic evaluations within a country is highly preferable to increase their usability for policy makers. This study contributes to the standardization of outcome measurement in economic evaluations in Belgium.

Willingness to pay for a 4% chlorhexidine (7.1% chlorhexidine digluconate) product for umbilical cord care in rural Bangladesh: a contingency valuation study

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Recent trials in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan have shown that chlorhexidine is an effective antiseptic for umbilical cord care compared to existing community-based cord care practices. Because of the aggregate reduction in neonatal mortality in these trials, interest is high in introducing a 7.1% chlorhexidine digluconate liquid or gel that delivers 4% chlorhexidine for umbilical cord care in Bangladesh and elsewhere. Methods In 2010, we conducted a household survey applying a contingent valuation method with 1717 eligible couples (pregnant women or women with a first child younger than 6 months old, and their husbands) in the rural subdistricts of Abhoynagar and Mirsarai in Bangladesh to assess their willingness to pay for three types of umbilical cord care products at different price points. Each respondent was asked about willingness to pay prefixed prices for any one of three 7.1% chlorhexidine digluconate products: 1) a single-dose liquid, 2) a multi-dose liquid, or 3) a gel formulation. Each also reported the maximum price they were independently willing to pay for their selected product. We compared participant willingness-to-pay responses to the prefixed prices with their independently reported maximum prices for each type of the product separately. The comparison identified to what extent the respondents’ positive responses to the prefixed prices matched their independently reported maximum prices. Results This cross matching revealed that willingness to pay the prefixed prices was 41% for the single-dose liquid, 33% for the multi-dose liquid, and 31% for the gel formulation. Although the majority of the respondents were unwilling to pay the prefixed prices, all were willing to pay some amount and reported they could borrow money if necessary. Subsequent analysis of responses to the multi-dose liquid showed borrowing money would not be required if the unit price was Bangladeshi taka 15–25. Conclusions A unit price of Bangladeshi taka 15–25 (US$0.21–0.35) for multi-dose 7.1% chlorhexidine digluconate liquid would be affordable to the primary target population in Bangladesh. Although a large market demand could be generated if the product were available at this price point, subsidization may be required to achieve optimal coverage, especially among poorer families. PMID:24139384

Willingness to pay for a 4% chlorhexidine (7.1% chlorhexidine digluconate) product for umbilical cord care in rural Bangladesh: a contingency valuation study.

PubMed

Coffey, Patricia S; Metzler, Mutsumi; Islam, Ziaul; Koehlmoos, Tracey P

2013-10-18

Recent trials in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan have shown that chlorhexidine is an effective antiseptic for umbilical cord care compared to existing community-based cord care practices. Because of the aggregate reduction in neonatal mortality in these trials, interest is high in introducing a 7.1% chlorhexidine digluconate liquid or gel that delivers 4% chlorhexidine for umbilical cord care in Bangladesh and elsewhere. In 2010, we conducted a household survey applying a contingent valuation method with 1717 eligible couples (pregnant women or women with a first child younger than 6 months old, and their husbands) in the rural subdistricts of Abhoynagar and Mirsarai in Bangladesh to assess their willingness to pay for three types of umbilical cord care products at different price points. Each respondent was asked about willingness to pay prefixed prices for any one of three 7.1% chlorhexidine digluconate products: 1) a single-dose liquid, 2) a multi-dose liquid, or 3) a gel formulation. Each also reported the maximum price they were independently willing to pay for their selected product. We compared participant willingness-to-pay responses to the prefixed prices with their independently reported maximum prices for each type of the product separately. The comparison identified to what extent the respondents' positive responses to the prefixed prices matched their independently reported maximum prices. This cross matching revealed that willingness to pay the prefixed prices was 41% for the single-dose liquid, 33% for the multi-dose liquid, and 31% for the gel formulation. Although the majority of the respondents were unwilling to pay the prefixed prices, all were willing to pay some amount and reported they could borrow money if necessary. Subsequent analysis of responses to the multi-dose liquid showed borrowing money would not be required if the unit price was Bangladeshi taka 15-25. A unit price of Bangladeshi taka 15-25 (US$0.21-0.35) for multi-dose 7.1% chlorhexidine digluconate liquid would be affordable to the primary target population in Bangladesh. Although a large market demand could be generated if the product were available at this price point, subsidization may be required to achieve optimal coverage, especially among poorer families.

Willingness to pay for safe drinking water: Evidence from Parral, Mexico.

PubMed

Vásquez, William F; Mozumder, Pallab; Hernández-Arce, Jesús; Berrens, Robert P

2009-08-01

A referendum-format contingent valuation (CV) survey is used to elicit household willingness to pay responses for safe and reliable drinking water in Parral, Mexico. Households currently adopt a variety of averting and private investment choices (e.g., bottled water consumption, home-based water treatment, and installation of water storage facilities) to adapt to the existing water supply system. These revealed behaviors indicate the latent demand for safer and more reliable water services, which is corroborated by the CV survey evidence. Validity findings include significant scope sensitivity in WTP for water services. Further, results indicate that households are willing to pay from 1.8% to 7.55% of reported household income above their current water bill for safe and reliable drinking water services, depending upon the assumptions about response uncertainty.

Validity of Willingness to Pay Measures under Preference Uncertainty.

PubMed

Braun, Carola; Rehdanz, Katrin; Schmidt, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Recent studies in the marketing literature developed a new method for eliciting willingness to pay (WTP) with an open-ended elicitation format: the Range-WTP method. In contrast to the traditional approach of eliciting WTP as a single value (Point-WTP), Range-WTP explicitly allows for preference uncertainty in responses. The aim of this paper is to apply Range-WTP to the domain of contingent valuation and to test for its theoretical validity and robustness in comparison to the Point-WTP. Using data from two novel large-scale surveys on the perception of solar radiation management (SRM), a little-known technique for counteracting climate change, we compare the performance of both methods in the field. In addition to the theoretical validity (i.e. the degree to which WTP values are consistent with theoretical expectations), we analyse the test-retest reliability and stability of our results over time. Our evidence suggests that the Range-WTP method clearly outperforms the Point-WTP method.

Validity of Willingness to Pay Measures under Preference Uncertainty

PubMed Central

Braun, Carola; Rehdanz, Katrin; Schmidt, Ulrich

2016-01-01

Recent studies in the marketing literature developed a new method for eliciting willingness to pay (WTP) with an open-ended elicitation format: the Range-WTP method. In contrast to the traditional approach of eliciting WTP as a single value (Point-WTP), Range-WTP explicitly allows for preference uncertainty in responses. The aim of this paper is to apply Range-WTP to the domain of contingent valuation and to test for its theoretical validity and robustness in comparison to the Point-WTP. Using data from two novel large-scale surveys on the perception of solar radiation management (SRM), a little-known technique for counteracting climate change, we compare the performance of both methods in the field. In addition to the theoretical validity (i.e. the degree to which WTP values are consistent with theoretical expectations), we analyse the test-retest reliability and stability of our results over time. Our evidence suggests that the Range-WTP method clearly outperforms the Point-WTP method. PMID:27096163

Estimating the willingness to pay to protect coral reefs from potential damage caused by climate change--The evidence from Taiwan.

PubMed

Tseng, William Wei-Chun; Hsu, Shu-Han; Chen, Chi-Chung

2015-12-30

Coral reefs constitute the most biologically productive and diverse ecosystem, and provide various goods and services including those related to fisheries, marine tourism, coastal protection, and medicine. However, they are sensitive to climate change and rising temperatures. Taiwan is located in the central part of the world's distribution of coral reefs and has about one third of the coral species in the world. This study estimates the welfare losses associated with the potential damage to coral reefs in Taiwan caused by climate change. The contingent valuation method adopted includes a pre-survey, a face-to-face formal survey, and photo illustrations used to obtain reliable data. Average annual personal willingness to pay is found to be around US$35.75 resulting in a total annual willingness to pay of around US$0.43 billion. These high values demonstrate that coral reefs in Taiwan deserve to be well preserved, which would require a dedicated agency and ocean reserves.

Urban water restrictions: Attitudes and avoidance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, Bethany; Burton, Michael; Crase, Lin

2011-12-01

In most urban cities across Australia, water restrictions remain the dominant policy mechanism to restrict urban water consumption. The extensive adoption of water restrictions as a means to limit demand, over several years, means that Australian urban water prices have consistently not reflected the opportunity cost of water. Given the generally strong political support for water restrictions and the likelihood that they will persist for some time, there is value in understanding households' attitudes in this context. More specifically, identifying the welfare gains associated with avoiding urban water restrictions entirely would be a nontrivial contribution to our knowledge and offer insights into the benefits of alternative policy responses. This paper describes the results from a contingent valuation study that investigates consumers' willingness to pay to avoid urban water restrictions. Importantly, the research also investigates the influence of cognitive and exogenous dimensions on the utility gain associated with avoiding water restrictions. The results provide insights into the impact of the current policy mechanism on economic welfare.

Willingness to pay for maternal health outcomes: are women willing to pay more than men?

PubMed

Ternent, Laura; McNamee, Paul; Newlands, David; Belemsaga, Danielle; Gbangou, Adjima; Cross, Suzanne

2010-01-01

Only a limited number of studies have specifically sought to analyse and try to understand sex differences in willingness to pay (WTP). To identify the role of sex in determining monetary values placed upon improvements in maternal health in Burkina Faso, West Africa. A contingent valuation survey using the bidding game method was conducted in the district of Nouna in 2005; a sample of 409 male heads of households and their spouses were asked their WTP for a reduction in the number of maternal deaths in the Nouna area. Ordinary least squares regression analysis was employed to examine the determinants of WTP. Men were willing to pay significantly more than women (3127 vs 2273 West African francs), although this represented a significantly smaller proportion of their annual income (4% vs 11%). In the multivariate analyses of all respondents there was a significant positive relationship between WTP values and both starting bid and whether there had been a previous maternal complication in the respondent's household. However, there was a significant negative relationship between WTP and female sex. Once interactions between sex and income were taken into account, income did affect valuations, with a positive relationship between higher-income women and WTP values. In absolute terms, men were willing to pay more than women, while women were willing to pay a greater proportion of their income. Differences between men and women in their WTP, both in absolute terms and in terms of proportion of income, can be explained by a household effect. Future studies should distinguish between individual income and command over decision making with respect to use of individual and household income, and gain further insight into the strategies used by respondents in answering bidding game questions.

The impact of economic evaluation on quality management in spine surgery

PubMed Central

2009-01-01

Health care expenditures are substantially increasing within the last two decades prompting the imperative need for economic evaluations in health care. Historically, economic evaluations in health care have been carried out by four approaches: (1) the human-capital approach (HCA), (2) cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), (3) cost-utility analysis (CUA) and (4) cost-benefit analysis (CBA). While the HCA cannot be recommended because of methodological shortcomings, CEA and CUA have been used frequently in healthcare. In CEA, costs are measured in monetary terms and health effects are measured in a non-monetary unit, e.g. number of successfully treated patients. In an attempt to develop an effectiveness measure that incorporates effects on both quantity and quality of life, so-called Quality Adjusted Life Years (QUALYs) were introduced. Contingent valuation surveys are used in cost-benefit analyses (CBA) to elicit the consumer’s monetary valuations for program benefits by applying the willingness-to-pay approach. A distinguished feature of CBA is that costs and benefits are expressed in the same units of value, i.e. money. Only recently, economic evaluations have started to explore various spinal interventions particularly the very expensive fusion operations. While most of the studies used CEA or CUA approaches, CBAs are still rare. Most studies fail to show that sophisticated spinal interventions are more cost-effective than conventional treatments. In spite of the lack of therapeutic or cost-effectiveness for most spinal surgeries, there is rapidly growing spinal implant market demonstrating market imperfection and information asymmetry. A change can only be anticipated when physicians start to focus on the improvement of health care quality as documented by outcome research and economic evaluations of cost-effectiveness and net benefits. PMID:19337760

Monetary Value of Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) among Patients with Cardiovascular Disease: a Willingness to Pay Study (WTP)

PubMed Central

Moradi, Najmeh; Rashidian, Arash; Rasekh, Hamid Reza; Olyaeemanesh, Alireza; Foroughi, Mahnoosh; Mohammadi, Teymoor

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to estimate the monetary value of a QALY among patients with heart disease and to identify its determinants. A cross-sectional survey was conducted through face-to-face interview on 196 patients with cardiovascular disease from two heart hospitals in Tehran, Iran, to estimate the value of QALY using disaggregated and aggregated approaches. The EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) questionnaire, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Time Trade-Off (TTO) and contingent valuation WTP techniques were employed, first to elicit patients’ preferences and then, to estimate WTP for QALY. The association of patients’ characteristics with WTP for QALY, was assessed through Heckman selection model. The Mean willingness to pay per QALY, estimated by the disaggregated approach ranged from 2,799 to 3599 US dollars. It is higher than the values, estimated from aggregated methods (USD 2,256 to 3,137). However, in both approaches, the values were less than one Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of Iran. Significant variables were: Current health state, education, age, marital status, number of comorbidities, and household’s cost group. Our results challenge two major issues: the first, is a policy challenge which concerns the WHO recommendation to use less than 3 GDP per capita as a cost-effectiveness threshold value. The second, is an analytical challenge related to patients with zero QALY gain. More scrutiny is suggested on the issue of how patients with full health state valuation should be dealt with and what arbitrary value could be included in the estimation value of QALY when the disaggregated approach used. PMID:28979338

Monetary Value of Quality-Adjusted Life Years (QALY) among Patients with Cardiovascular Disease: a Willingness to Pay Study (WTP).

PubMed

Moradi, Najmeh; Rashidian, Arash; Rasekh, Hamid Reza; Olyaeemanesh, Alireza; Foroughi, Mahnoosh; Mohammadi, Teymoor

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to estimate the monetary value of a QALY among patients with heart disease and to identify its determinants. A cross-sectional survey was conducted through face-to-face interview on 196 patients with cardiovascular disease from two heart hospitals in Tehran, Iran, to estimate the value of QALY using disaggregated and aggregated approaches. The EuroQol-5 Dimension (EQ-5D) questionnaire, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Time Trade-Off (TTO) and contingent valuation WTP techniques were employed, first to elicit patients' preferences and then, to estimate WTP for QALY. The association of patients' characteristics with WTP for QALY, was assessed through Heckman selection model. The Mean willingness to pay per QALY, estimated by the disaggregated approach ranged from 2,799 to 3599 US dollars. It is higher than the values, estimated from aggregated methods (USD 2,256 to 3,137). However, in both approaches, the values were less than one Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of Iran. Significant variables were: Current health state, education, age, marital status, number of comorbidities, and household's cost group. Our results challenge two major issues: the first, is a policy challenge which concerns the WHO recommendation to use less than 3 GDP per capita as a cost-effectiveness threshold value. The second, is an analytical challenge related to patients with zero QALY gain. More scrutiny is suggested on the issue of how patients with full health state valuation should be dealt with and what arbitrary value could be included in the estimation value of QALY when the disaggregated approach used.

The Monetary Valuation of Lifetime Health Improvement and Life Expectancy Gains in Turkey

PubMed Central

Tekeşin, Cem

2017-01-01

The main objective of this study is to estimate the monetary value of the gains of healthy days and life expectancy due to the ambient air quality standard that came into effect in 2014 by estimating the country-specific value of a life year (VOLY) and the value of the healthier and longer life (VHLL) for Turkey. Contingent valuation method is adopted to reveal individuals’ willingness to pay for an improvement of health condition and the extension of their life expectancy by avoiding respiratory and lung related illnesses. VHLL is composed of two parts, WTP for an extension of one’s life years (VOLY) and for an increase in the number of healthy days throughout one’s life time (VHLL-VOLY). We found that close to 80% of WTP is allocated to the latter component of VHLL and only 20% is for VOLY mainly due to Islamic beliefs of the respondents. A total of 1314 observations are collected by face-to-face interviews from Afsin-Elbistan, Kutahya-Tavsanli and Ankara. The estimated VHLL and VOLY are [41,750 TL, 10,258 TL] with all the observations, [30,185 TL, 7132 TL] for Afsin-Elbistan, [31,718 TL, 7081 TL] for Kutahya-Tavsanli and [52,334 TL, 14,813 TL] for Ankara. The Inverse-U shaped relationship between Age and WTP is confirmed. The income elasticities of WTP is found to be close to 0.5 for all study areas while an Inverse-U shaped relationship between the household income and Income Elasticity of WTP is observed in the income group based analysis. Age and household income are the two prominent determinants of VHLL. PMID:28961227

The Monetary Valuation of Lifetime Health Improvement and Life Expectancy Gains in Turkey.

PubMed

Ara, Shihomi; Tekeşin, Cem

2017-09-29

The main objective of this study is to estimate the monetary value of the gains of healthy days and life expectancy due to the ambient air quality standard that came into effect in 2014 by estimating the country-specific value of a life year (VOLY) and the value of the healthier and longer life (VHLL) for Turkey. Contingent valuation method is adopted to reveal individuals' willingness to pay for an improvement of health condition and the extension of their life expectancy by avoiding respiratory and lung related illnesses. VHLL is composed of two parts, WTP for an extension of one's life years (VOLY) and for an increase in the number of healthy days throughout one's life time (VHLL-VOLY). We found that close to 80% of WTP is allocated to the latter component of VHLL and only 20% is for VOLY mainly due to Islamic beliefs of the respondents. A total of 1314 observations are collected by face-to-face interviews from Afsin-Elbistan, Kutahya-Tavsanli and Ankara. The estimated VHLL and VOLY are [41,750 TL, 10,258 TL] with all the observations, [30,185 TL, 7132 TL] for Afsin-Elbistan, [31,718 TL, 7081 TL] for Kutahya-Tavsanli and [52,334 TL, 14,813 TL] for Ankara. The Inverse-U shaped relationship between Age and WTP is confirmed. The income elasticities of WTP is found to be close to 0.5 for all study areas while an Inverse-U shaped relationship between the household income and Income Elasticity of WTP is observed in the income group based analysis. Age and household income are the two prominent determinants of VHLL.

The impact of economic evaluation on quality management in spine surgery.

PubMed

Boos, Norbert

2009-08-01

Health care expenditures are substantially increasing within the last two decades prompting the imperative need for economic evaluations in health care. Historically, economic evaluations in health care have been carried out by four approaches: (1) the human-capital approach (HCA), (2) cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), (3) cost-utility analysis (CUA) and (4) cost-benefit analysis (CBA). While the HCA cannot be recommended because of methodological shortcomings, CEA and CUA have been used frequently in healthcare. In CEA, costs are measured in monetary terms and health effects are measured in a non-monetary unit, e.g. number of successfully treated patients. In an attempt to develop an effectiveness measure that incorporates effects on both quantity and quality of life, so-called Quality Adjusted Life Years (QUALYs) were introduced. Contingent valuation surveys are used in cost-benefit analyses (CBA) to elicit the consumer's monetary valuations for program benefits by applying the willingness-to-pay approach. A distinguished feature of CBA is that costs and benefits are expressed in the same units of value, i.e. money. Only recently, economic evaluations have started to explore various spinal interventions particularly the very expensive fusion operations. While most of the studies used CEA or CUA approaches, CBAs are still rare. Most studies fail to show that sophisticated spinal interventions are more cost-effective than conventional treatments. In spite of the lack of therapeutic or cost-effectiveness for most spinal surgeries, there is rapidly growing spinal implant market demonstrating market imperfection and information asymmetry. A change can only be anticipated when physicians start to focus on the improvement of health care quality as documented by outcome research and economic evaluations of cost-effectiveness and net benefits.

Did people "buy" what was "sold"? A qualitative evaluation of a contingent valuation survey information set for gains in life expectancy.

PubMed

Baker, R; Bartczak, A; Chilton, S; Metcalf, H

2014-01-15

A number of stated preferences studies have estimated a monetary value for the gains in life expectancy resulting from pollution control, using a Value of a Life Year (VOLY) approach. However, life expectancy gains are a complex concept and no attempt has been made, to date, to investigate peoples' understanding of what it is they are being asked to value. Past practice has been to focus on the outcome of a policy i.e. a gain to the average person of X months', providing no details on how the individual receives, or experiences this gain, a potentially important attribute to value. This paper sets up and reports the results from a structured debriefing exercise to qualitatively investigate an alternative approach which explicitly emphasises how this gain is delivered (on-going reductions in the risk of death). We find that, for the majority of respondents, the approach is effective in communicating the on-going nature of the gain and reduces or eliminates the use of the (incorrect) heuristic that it is an 'add-on' at the end of life, in poor health. Further refinements are required, however, to communicate the cumulative nature of these risk reductions and the lack of impact on quality of life. The lesson for stated preference studies in general is that structured debriefings can be very useful, highlighting such issues as the persistence of ill-defined attributes and the difficulties that respondents may encounter setting aside their preferences over attributes of the good that should not be included in the valuation. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Addressing Risk in the Valuation of Energy Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Veeramany, Arun; Hammerstrom, Donald J.; Woodward, James T.

2017-06-26

Valuation is a mechanism by which potential worth of a transaction between two or more parties can be evaluated. Examples include valuation of transactive energy systems such as electric power system and building energy systems. Uncertainties can manifest while exercising a valuation methodology in the form of lack of knowledge or be inherently embedded in the valuation process. Uncertainty could also exist in the temporal dimension while planning for long-term growth. This paper discusses risk considerations associated with valuation studies in support of decision-making in the presence of such uncertainties. It is often important to have foresight of uncertain entitiesmore » that can impact real-world deployments, such as the comparison or ranking of two valuation studies to determine cost-benefit impacts to multiple stakeholders. The research proposes to address this challenge through simulation and sensitivity analyses to support ‘what-if’ analysis of well-defined future scenarios. This paper describes foundational value of diagrammatic representation techniques such as unified modeling language to understand the implications of not addressing some of the risk elements encountered during the valuation process. The paper includes examples from generation resource adequacy assessment studies (e.g. loss of load) to illustrate the principles of risk in valuation.« less

An Approach for Calculating Land Valuation by Using Inspire Data Models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aydinoglu, A. C.; Bovkir, R.

2017-11-01

Land valuation is a highly important concept for societies and governments have always emphasis on the process especially for taxation, expropriation, market capitalization and economic activity purposes. To success an interoperable and standardised land valuation, INSPIRE data models can be very practical and effective. If data used in land valuation process produced in compliance with INSPIRE specifications, a reliable and effective land valuation process can be performed. In this study, possibility of the performing land valuation process with using the INSPIRE data models was analysed and with the help of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) a case study in Pendik was implemented. For this purpose, firstly data analysis and gathering was performed. After, different data structures were transformed according to the INSPIRE data model requirements. For each data set necessary ETL (Extract-Transform-Load) tools were produced and all data transformed according to the target data requirements. With the availability and practicability of spatial analysis tools of GIS software, land valuation calculations were performed for study area.

Co-financing for viral load monitoring during the course of antiretroviral therapy among patients with HIV/AIDS in Vietnam: A contingent valuation survey

PubMed Central

Tran, Bach Xuan; Phan, Huong Thi Thu; Le, Huong Thi; Nguyen, Hinh Duc; Tran, Tho Dinh; Do, Cuong Duy; Nguyen, Cuong Manh; Thuc, Vu Thi Minh; Latkin, Carl; Zhang, Melvyn W. B.; Ho, Roger C. M.

2017-01-01

Background Viral load testing is considered the gold standard for monitoring HIV treatment; however, given its high cost, some patients cannot afford viral load testing if this testing is not subsidized. Since foreign aid for HIV/AIDS in Vietnam is rapidly decreasing, we sought to assess willingness to pay (WTP) for viral load and CD4 cell count tests among HIV-positive patients, and identified factors that might inform future co-payment schemes. Methods A multi-site cross-sectional survey was conducted with 1133 HIV-positive patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in Hanoi and Nam Dinh. Patients’ health insurance coverage, quality of life, and history of illicit drug use were assessed. A contingent valuation approach was employed to measure patients’ WTP for CD4 cell count and viral load testing. Results HIV-positive patients receiving ART at provincial sites reported more difficulty obtaining health insurance (HI) and had the overall the poorest quality of life. Most patients (90.9%) were willing to pay for CD4 cell count testing; here, the mean WTP was valued at US$8.2 (95%CI = 7.6–8.8 US$) per test. Most patients (87.3%) were also willing to pay for viral load testing; here, mean WTP was valued at US$18.6 (95%CI = 16.3–20.9 US$) per test. High income, high education level, and hospitalization were positively associated with WTP, while co-morbidity with psychiatric symptoms and trouble paying for health insurance were both negatively related to WTP. Conclusions These findings raise concerns that HIV-positive patients in Vietnam might have low WTP for CD4 cell count and viral load testing. This means that without foreign financial subsidies, many of these patients would likely go without these important tests. Treating psychiatric co-morbidities, promoting healthcare services utilization, and removing barriers to accessing health insurance may increase WTP for monitoring of HIV/AIDS treatment among HIV+-positive Vietnamese patients. PMID:28199405

Valuation of medical resource units collected in health economic studies.

PubMed

Copley-Merriman, C; Lair, T J

1994-01-01

This paper reviews the issues that are critical for the valuation of medical resources in the context of health economic studies. There are several points to consider when undertaking the valuation of medical resources. The perspective of the analysis should be established before determining the valuation process. Future costs should be discounted to present values, and time and effort spent in assigning a monetary value to a medical resource should be proportional to its importance in the analysis. Prices vary considerably based on location of the service and the severity of the illness episode. Because of the wide variability in pricing data, sensitivity analysis is an important component of validation of study results. A variety of data sources have been applied to the valuation of medical resources. Several types of data are reviewed in this paper, including claims data, national survey data, administrative data, and marketing research data. Valuation of medical resources collected in clinical trials is complex because of the lack of standardization of the data sources. A national pricing data source for health economic valuation would greatly facilitate study analysis and make comparisons between results more meaningful.

For public service or money: understanding geographical imbalances in the health workforce.

PubMed

Serneels, Pieter; Lindelow, Magnus; Montalvo, Jose G; Barr, Abigail

2007-05-01

Geographical imbalances in the health workforce have been a consistent feature of nearly all health systems, and especially in developing countries. In this paper we investigate the willingness to work in a rural area among final year nursing and medical students in Ethiopia. Analysing data obtained from contingent valuation questions for final year students from three medical schools and eight nursing schools, we find that there is substantial heterogeneity in the willingness to serve in rural areas. Using both ordinary least squares and maximum likelihood regression analysis, we find that household consumption and the student's motivation to help the poor are the main determinants of willingness to work in a rural area. We carry out a simulation on how much it would cost to get a target proportion of health workers to take up a rural post.

Reasons to value the health care intangible asset valuation.

PubMed

Reilly, Robert F

2012-01-01

There are numerous individual reasons to conduct a health care intangible asset valuation. This discussion summarized many of these reasons and considered the common categories of these individual reasons. Understanding the reason for the intangible asset analysis is an important prerequisite to conducting the valuation, both for the analyst and the health care owner/operator. This is because an intangible asset valuation may not be the type of analysis that the owner/operator really needs. Rather, the owner/operator may really need an economic damages measurement, a license royalty rate analysis, an intercompany transfer price study, a commercialization potential evaluation, or some other type of intangible asset analysis. In addition, a clear definition of the reason for the valuation will allow the analyst to understand if (1) any specific analytical guidelines, procedures, or regulations apply and (2) any specific reporting requirement applies. For example, intangible asset valuations prepared for fair value accounting purposes should meet specific ASC 820 fair value accounting guidance. Intangible asset valuations performed for intercompany transfer price tax purposes should comply with the guidance provided in the Section 482 regulations. Likewise, intangible asset valuations prepared for Section 170 charitable contribution purposes should comply with specific reporting requirements. The individual reasons for the health care intangible asset valuation may influence the standard of value applied, the valuation date selected, the valuation approaches and methods applied, the form and format of valuation report prepared, and even the type of professional employed to perform the valuation.

Comparing EQ-5D valuation studies: a systematic review and methodological reporting checklist.

PubMed

Xie, Feng; Gaebel, Kathryn; Perampaladas, Kuhan; Doble, Brett; Pullenayegum, Eleanor

2014-01-01

There has been a growing interest around the world in developing country-specific scoring algorithms for the EQ-5D. This study systematically reviews all existing EQ-5D valuation studies to highlight their strengths and limitations, explores heterogeneity in observed utilities using meta-regression, and proposes a methodological checklist for reporting EQ-5D valuation studies. . We searched Medline, EMBASE, the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database (NHS EED) via Wiley's Cochrane Library, and Wiley's Health Economic Evaluation Database from inception through November 2012, as well as bibliographies of key papers and the EuroQol Plenary Meeting Proceedings from 1991 to 2012 for English-language reports of EQ-5D valuation studies. Two reviewers independently screened the titles and abstracts for relevance. Three reviewers performed data extraction and compared the characteristics and scoring algorithms developed in the included valuation studies. . Of the 31 studies included in the review, 19 used the time trade-off (TTO) technique, 10 used the visual analogue scale (VAS) technique, and 2 used both TTO and VAS. Most studies included respondents from the general population selected by random or quota sampling and used face-to-face interviews or postal surveys. Studies valued between 7 and 198 total states, with 1-23 states valued per respondent. Different model specifications have been proposed for scoring. Some sample or demographic factors, including gender, education, percentage urban population, and national health care expenditure, were associated with differences in observed utilities for moderate or severe health states. . EQ-5D valuation studies conducted to date have varied widely in their design and in the resulting scoring algorithms. Therefore, we propose the Checklist for Reporting Valuation Studies of the EQ-5D (CREATE) for those conducting valuation studies.

“Gaining or losing”: The importance of the perspective in primary care health services valuation

PubMed Central

Ariza-Cardiel, Gloria; Peña-Longobardo, Luz Mª; Polentinos-Castro, Elena; Oliva-Moreno, Juan; Gil-Lacruz, Ana Isabel; Medina-Palomino, Héctor; del Cura-González, Isabel

2017-01-01

Rationale and objectives Economic theory classifies an intervention as socially beneficial if the total Willingness to Pay (WTP) of those who gain exceeds the total Willingness to accept (WTA) of those who are harmed. This paper examines the differences in health system users’ valuation of a health care service in primary care setting based on the WTP and WTA perspectives, discussing the impact of personal and service variables, including risk attitudes, on these disparities. Method Six hundred and sixty two subjects who asked for care in health centres in the Region of Madrid (Spain) were interviewed, using the contingent valuation method to estimate WTP and WTA. Patient sociodemographic characteristics, health needs, satisfaction with the service and risk attitude and behaviour under risk (measured by self-reported scales and lottery games respectively) were collected. Generalised Linear Models were used to estimate the association between the explanatory variables and the WTA/WTP ratio. Results We obtained the WTA/WTP ratio for 570 subjects (mean 1.66 CI 95%: 1.53–1.79; median 1, interquartile range 1–2). People with higher education or in high social groups expressed WTA values closest to WTP. The opposite occurred in patients with the greatest health needs or who were born abroad. Self-reported expression of risk aversion appeared also related to increases in the WTA/WTP ratio. Satisfaction with the service evaluated was the most influential factor in the WTA/WTP ratio. Conclusion Health need, difficulty in obtaining substitutes and satisfaction with the service could serve for profiling people averse to loss for health care services in primary care setting. Self-reported expression of risk aversion could also be related to increases in the WTA/WTP ratio. This would mean that these characteristics should be taken into account both in the design and implementation of new healthcare interventions, as in the making decision for disinvestment. PMID:29206847

"Gaining or losing": The importance of the perspective in primary care health services valuation.

PubMed

Martín-Fernández, Jesús; Ariza-Cardiel, Gloria; Peña-Longobardo, Luz Mª; Polentinos-Castro, Elena; Oliva-Moreno, Juan; Gil-Lacruz, Ana Isabel; Medina-Palomino, Héctor; Del Cura-González, Isabel

2017-01-01

Economic theory classifies an intervention as socially beneficial if the total Willingness to Pay (WTP) of those who gain exceeds the total Willingness to accept (WTA) of those who are harmed. This paper examines the differences in health system users' valuation of a health care service in primary care setting based on the WTP and WTA perspectives, discussing the impact of personal and service variables, including risk attitudes, on these disparities. Six hundred and sixty two subjects who asked for care in health centres in the Region of Madrid (Spain) were interviewed, using the contingent valuation method to estimate WTP and WTA. Patient sociodemographic characteristics, health needs, satisfaction with the service and risk attitude and behaviour under risk (measured by self-reported scales and lottery games respectively) were collected. Generalised Linear Models were used to estimate the association between the explanatory variables and the WTA/WTP ratio. We obtained the WTA/WTP ratio for 570 subjects (mean 1.66 CI 95%: 1.53-1.79; median 1, interquartile range 1-2). People with higher education or in high social groups expressed WTA values closest to WTP. The opposite occurred in patients with the greatest health needs or who were born abroad. Self-reported expression of risk aversion appeared also related to increases in the WTA/WTP ratio. Satisfaction with the service evaluated was the most influential factor in the WTA/WTP ratio. Health need, difficulty in obtaining substitutes and satisfaction with the service could serve for profiling people averse to loss for health care services in primary care setting. Self-reported expression of risk aversion could also be related to increases in the WTA/WTP ratio. This would mean that these characteristics should be taken into account both in the design and implementation of new healthcare interventions, as in the making decision for disinvestment.

Multi-angle Indicators System of Non-point Pollution Source Assessment in Rural Areas: A Case Study Near Taihu Lake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Lei; Ban, Jie; Han, Yu Ting; Yang, Jie; Bi, Jun

2013-04-01

This study aims to identify key environmental risk sources contributing to water eutrophication and to suggest certain risk management strategies for rural areas. The multi-angle indicators included in the risk source assessment system were non-point source pollution, deficient waste treatment, and public awareness of environmental risk, which combined psychometric paradigm methods, the contingent valuation method, and personal interviews to describe the environmental sensitivity of local residents. Total risk values of different villages near Taihu Lake were calculated in the case study, which resulted in a geographic risk map showing which village was the critical risk source of Taihu eutrophication. The increased application of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N), loss vulnerability of pollutant, and a lack of environmental risk awareness led to more serious non-point pollution, especially in rural China. Interesting results revealed by the quotient between the scores of objective risk sources and subjective risk sources showed what should be improved for each study village. More environmental investments, control of agricultural activities, and promotion of environmental education are critical considerations for rural environmental management. These findings are helpful for developing targeted and effective risk management strategies in rural areas.

Coupled hydrological, ecological, decision and economic models for monetary valuation of riparian ecosystem services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodrich, D. C.; Brookshire, D.; Broadbent, C.; Dixon, M. D.; Brand, L. A.; Thacher, J.; Benedict, K. K.; Lansey, K. E.; Stromberg, J. C.; Stewart, S.; McIntosh, M.

2011-12-01

Water is a critical component for sustaining both natural and human systems. Yet the value of water for sustaining ecosystem services is not well quantified in monetary terms. Ideally decisions involving water resource management would include an apples-to-apples comparison of the costs and benefits in dollars of both market and non-market goods and services - human and ecosystem. To quantify the value of non-market ecosystem services, scientifically defensible relationships must be developed that link the effect of a decision (e.g. human growth) to the change in ecosystem attributes from current conditions. It is this linkage that requires the "poly-disciplinary" coupling of knowledge and models from the behavioral, physical, and ecological sciences. In our experience another key component of making this successful linkage is development of a strong poly-disciplinary scientific team that can readily communicate complex disciplinary knowledge to non-specialists outside their own discipline. The time to build such a team that communicates well and has a strong sense of trust should not be underestimated. The research described in the presentation incorporated hydrologic, vegetation, avian, economic, and decision models into an integrated framework to determine the value of changes in ecological systems that result from changes in human water use. We developed a hydro-bio-economic framework for the San Pedro River Region in Arizona that considers groundwater, stream flow, and riparian vegetation, as well as abundance, diversity, and distribution of birds. In addition, we developed a similar framework for the Middle Rio Grande of New Mexico. There are six research components for this project: (1) decision support and scenario specification, (2) regional groundwater model, (3) the riparian vegetation model, (4) the avian model, (5) methods for displaying the information gradients in the valuation survey instruments (Choice Modeling and Contingent Valuation), and (6) the economic framework. Our modeling framework began with the identification of factors that influence spatial and temporal changes in riparian vegetation on the two rivers. The linked modeling framework was then employed for making spatial predictions of the changes in presence of surface water, vegetation change, and avian populations in both river systems. An overview of the overall project will be provided, with lessons learned, and initial valuation survey results.

Willingness to pay for social health insurance among informal sector workers in Wuhan, China: a contingent valuation study.

PubMed

Bärnighausen, Till; Liu, Yuanli; Zhang, Xinping; Sauerborn, Rainer

2007-07-20

Most of the about 140 million informal sector workers in urban China do not have health insurance. A 1998 central government policy leaves it to the discretion of municipal governments to offer informal sector workers in cities voluntary participation in a social health insurance for formal sector workers, the so-called 'basic health insurance' (BHI). We used the contingent valuation method to assess the maximum willingness to pay (WTP) for BHI among informal sector workers, including unregistered rural-to-urban migrants, in Wuhan City, China. We selected respondents in a two-stage self-weighted cluster sampling scheme. On average, informal sector workers were willing to pay substantial amounts for BHI (30 Renminbi (RMB), 95% confidence interval (CI) 27-33) as well as substantial proportions of their incomes (4.6%, 95% CI 4.1-5.1%). Average WTP increased significantly when any one of the copayments of the BHI was removed in the valuation: to 51 RMB (95% CI 46-56) without reimbursement ceiling; to 43 RMB (95% CI 37-49) without deductible; and to 47 RMB (95% CI 40-54) without coinsurance. WTP was higher than estimates of the cost of BHI based on past health expenditure or on premium contributions of formal sector workers. Predicted coverage with BHI declined steeply with the premium contribution at low contribution levels. When we applied equity weighting in the aggregation of individual WTP values in order to adjust for inequity in the distribution of income, mean WTP for BHI increased with inequality aversion over a plausible range of the aversion parameter. Holding other factors constant in multiple regression analysis, for a 1% increase in income WTP for BHI with different copayments increased by 0.434-0.499% (all p < 0.0001), and for a 1% increase in past health care expenditure WTP increased by 0.076-0.148% (all p < 0.0004). Being male, a migrant, or without permanent employment significantly decreased WTP for BHI. Education was not a significant determinant of WTP for BHI. Our results suggest that Chinese municipal governments should allow informal sector workers to participate in the BHI. From a normative perspective, BHI for informal sector workers is likely to increase social welfare because average WTP for BHI is significantly higher than estimates of the average cost of BHI. We further find that informal sector workers do not value the BHI as a mechanism to recover the relatively frequent but small financial losses associated with common illnesses, but because it protects against the rare but large financial losses associated with catastrophic care. From a behavioural perspective, our results predict that at a price equal to the average premium contribution of formal sector workers 35% of informal sector workers will enroll in the BHI. Subsidies and changes in insurance attributes (e.g. including catastrophic care and portability) should be effective in increasing BHI coverage. In addition, coverage should expand with rising incomes among informal sector workers in China. Finally, adverse selection will be unlikely to be a large problem, if the BHI is offered to informal sector workers.

Willingness to pay for social health insurance among informal sector workers in Wuhan, China: a contingent valuation study

PubMed Central

Bärnighausen, Till; Liu, Yuanli; Zhang, Xinping; Sauerborn, Rainer

2007-01-01

Background Most of the about 140 million informal sector workers in urban China do not have health insurance. A 1998 central government policy leaves it to the discretion of municipal governments to offer informal sector workers in cities voluntary participation in a social health insurance for formal sector workers, the so-called 'basic health insurance' (BHI). Methods We used the contingent valuation method to assess the maximum willingness to pay (WTP) for BHI among informal sector workers, including unregistered rural-to-urban migrants, in Wuhan City, China. We selected respondents in a two-stage self-weighted cluster sampling scheme. Results On average, informal sector workers were willing to pay substantial amounts for BHI (30 Renminbi (RMB), 95% confidence interval (CI) 27-33) as well as substantial proportions of their incomes (4.6%, 95% CI 4.1-5.1%). Average WTP increased significantly when any one of the copayments of the BHI was removed in the valuation: to 51 RMB (95% CI 46-56) without reimbursement ceiling; to 43 RMB (95% CI 37-49) without deductible; and to 47 RMB (95% CI 40-54) without coinsurance. WTP was higher than estimates of the cost of BHI based on past health expenditure or on premium contributions of formal sector workers. Predicted coverage with BHI declined steeply with the premium contribution at low contribution levels. When we applied equity weighting in the aggregation of individual WTP values in order to adjust for inequity in the distribution of income, mean WTP for BHI increased with inequality aversion over a plausible range of the aversion parameter. Holding other factors constant in multiple regression analysis, for a 1% increase in income WTP for BHI with different copayments increased by 0.434-0.499% (all p < 0.0001), and for a 1% increase in past health care expenditure WTP increased by 0.076-0.148% (all p < 0.0004). Being male, a migrant, or without permanent employment significantly decreased WTP for BHI. Education was not a significant determinant of WTP for BHI. Conclusion Our results suggest that Chinese municipal governments should allow informal sector workers to participate in the BHI. From a normative perspective, BHI for informal sector workers is likely to increase social welfare because average WTP for BHI is significantly higher than estimates of the average cost of BHI. We further find that informal sector workers do not value the BHI as a mechanism to recover the relatively frequent but small financial losses associated with common illnesses, but because it protects against the rare but large financial losses associated with catastrophic care. From a behavioural perspective, our results predict that at a price equal to the average premium contribution of formal sector workers 35% of informal sector workers will enrol in the BHI. Subsidies and changes in insurance attributes (e.g. including catastrophic care and portability) should be effective in increasing BHI coverage. In addition, coverage should expand with rising incomes among informal sector workers in China. Finally, adverse selection will be unlikely to be a large problem, if the BHI is offered to informal sector workers. PMID:17659084

Ecosystem service valuations of mangrove ecosystems to inform decision making and future valuation exercises.

PubMed

Mukherjee, Nibedita; Sutherland, William J; Dicks, Lynn; Hugé, Jean; Koedam, Nico; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid

2014-01-01

The valuation of ecosystem services is a complex process as it includes several dimensions (ecological, socio-cultural and economic) and not all of these can be quantified in monetary units. The aim of this paper is to conduct an ecosystem services valuation study for mangroves ecosystems, the results of which can be used to inform governance and management of mangroves. We used an expert-based participatory approach (the Delphi technique) to identify, categorize and rank the various ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems at a global scale. Subsequently we looked for evidence in the existing ecosystem services literature for monetary valuations of these ecosystem service categories throughout the biogeographic distribution of mangroves. We then compared the relative ranking of ecosystem service categories between the monetary valuations and the expert based analysis. The experts identified 16 ecosystem service categories, six of which are not adequately represented in the literature. There was no significant correlation between the expert based valuation (the Delphi technique) and the economic valuation, indicating that the scope of valuation of ecosystem services needs to be broadened. Acknowledging this diversity in different valuation approaches, and developing methodological frameworks that foster the pluralism of values in ecosystem services research, are crucial for maintaining the credibility of ecosystem services valuation. To conclude, we use the findings of our dual approach to valuation to make recommendations on how to assess and manage the ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems.

Ecosystem Service Valuations of Mangrove Ecosystems to Inform Decision Making and Future Valuation Exercises

PubMed Central

Mukherjee, Nibedita; Sutherland, William J.; Dicks, Lynn; Hugé, Jean; Koedam, Nico; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid

2014-01-01

The valuation of ecosystem services is a complex process as it includes several dimensions (ecological, socio-cultural and economic) and not all of these can be quantified in monetary units. The aim of this paper is to conduct an ecosystem services valuation study for mangroves ecosystems, the results of which can be used to inform governance and management of mangroves. We used an expert-based participatory approach (the Delphi technique) to identify, categorize and rank the various ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems at a global scale. Subsequently we looked for evidence in the existing ecosystem services literature for monetary valuations of these ecosystem service categories throughout the biogeographic distribution of mangroves. We then compared the relative ranking of ecosystem service categories between the monetary valuations and the expert based analysis. The experts identified 16 ecosystem service categories, six of which are not adequately represented in the literature. There was no significant correlation between the expert based valuation (the Delphi technique) and the economic valuation, indicating that the scope of valuation of ecosystem services needs to be broadened. Acknowledging this diversity in different valuation approaches, and developing methodological frameworks that foster the pluralism of values in ecosystem services research, are crucial for maintaining the credibility of ecosystem services valuation. To conclude, we use the findings of our dual approach to valuation to make recommendations on how to assess and manage the ecosystem services provided by mangrove ecosystems. PMID:25243852

Reconsidering the use of rankings in the valuation of health states: a model for estimating cardinal values from ordinal data

PubMed Central

Salomon, Joshua A

2003-01-01

Background In survey studies on health-state valuations, ordinal ranking exercises often are used as precursors to other elicitation methods such as the time trade-off (TTO) or standard gamble, but the ranking data have not been used in deriving cardinal valuations. This study reconsiders the role of ordinal ranks in valuing health and introduces a new approach to estimate interval-scaled valuations based on aggregate ranking data. Methods Analyses were undertaken on data from a previously published general population survey study in the United Kingdom that included rankings and TTO values for hypothetical states described using the EQ-5D classification system. The EQ-5D includes five domains (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression) with three possible levels on each. Rank data were analysed using a random utility model, operationalized through conditional logit regression. In the statistical model, probabilities of observed rankings were related to the latent utilities of different health states, modeled as a linear function of EQ-5D domain scores, as in previously reported EQ-5D valuation functions. Predicted valuations based on the conditional logit model were compared to observed TTO values for the 42 states in the study and to predictions based on a model estimated directly from the TTO values. Models were evaluated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between predictions and mean observations, and the root mean squared error of predictions at the individual level. Results Agreement between predicted valuations from the rank model and observed TTO values was very high, with an ICC of 0.97, only marginally lower than for predictions based on the model estimated directly from TTO values (ICC = 0.99). Individual-level errors were also comparable in the two models, with root mean squared errors of 0.503 and 0.496 for the rank-based and TTO-based predictions, respectively. Conclusions Modeling health-state valuations based on ordinal ranks can provide results that are similar to those obtained from more widely analyzed valuation techniques such as the TTO. The information content in aggregate ranking data is not currently exploited to full advantage. The possibility of estimating cardinal valuations from ordinal ranks could also simplify future data collection dramatically and facilitate wider empirical study of health-state valuations in diverse settings and population groups. PMID:14687419

Mediodorsal thalamus is required for discrete phases of goal-directed behavior in macaques.

PubMed

Wicker, Evan; Turchi, Janita; Malkova, Ludise; Forcelli, Patrick Alexander

2018-05-31

Reward contingencies are dynamic: outcomes that were valued at one point may subsequently lose value. Action selection in the face of dynamic reward associations requires several cognitive processes: registering a change in value of the primary reinforcer, adjusting the value of secondary reinforcers to reflect the new value of the primary reinforcer, and guiding action selection to optimal choices. Flexible responding has been evaluated extensively using reinforcer devaluation tasks. Performance on this task relies upon amygdala, Areas 11 and 13 of orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and mediodorsal thalamus (MD). Differential contributions of amygdala and Areas 11 and 13 of OFC to specific sub-processes have been established, but the role of MD in these sub-processes is unknown. Pharmacological inactivation of the macaque MD during specific phases of this task revealed that MD is required for reward valuation and action selection. This profile is unique, differing from both amygdala and subregions of the OFC.

Behavioral economic insights into physician tobacco treatment decision-making.

PubMed

Leone, Frank T; Evers-Casey, Sarah; Graden, Sarah; Schnoll, Robert

2015-03-01

Physicians self-report high adherence rates for Ask and Advise behaviors of tobacco dependence treatment but are much less likely to engage in "next steps" consistent with sophisticated management of chronic illness. A variety of potential explanations have been offered, yet each lacks face validity in light of experience with other challenging medical conditions. Conduct a preliminary exploration of the behavioral economics of tobacco treatment decision-making in the face of uncertain outcomes, seeking evidence that behaviors may be explained within the framework of Prospect Theory. Four physician cohorts were polled regarding their impressions of the utility of tobacco use treatment and their estimations of "success" probabilities. Contingent valuation was estimated by asking respondents to make monetary tradeoffs relative to three common chronic conditions. Responses from all four cohorts showed a similar pattern of high utility of tobacco use treatment but low success probability when compared with the other chronic medical conditions. Following instructional methods aimed at controverting cognitive biases related to tobacco, this pattern was reversed, with success probabilities attaining higher valuation than for diabetes. Important presuppositions regarding the potential "success" of tobacco-related patient interactions are likely limiting physician engagement by favoring the most secure visit outcome despite the limited potential for health gains. Under these conditions, low engagement rates would be consistent with Prospect Theory predictions. Interventions aimed at counteracting the cognitive biases limiting estimations of success probabilities seem to effectively reverse this pattern and provide clues to improving the adoption of target clinical behaviors.

Health literacy and logical inconsistencies in valuations of hypothetical health states: results from the Canadian EQ-5D-5L valuation study.

PubMed

Al Sayah, Fatima; Johnson, Jeffrey A; Ohinmaa, Arto; Xie, Feng; Bansback, Nick

2017-06-01

To examine the association of health literacy with logical inconsistencies in time trade-off valuations of hypothetical health states described by the EQ-5D-5L classification system. Data from the EQ-5D-5L Canadian Valuation study were used. Health literacy was assessed using the Brief Health Literacy Screen. A health state valuation was considered logically inconsistent if a respondent gave the same or lower value for a very mild health state compared to the value given to 55555, or gave the same or lower value for a very mild health state compared to value assigned to the majority of the health states that are dominated by the very mild health state. Average age of respondents (N = 1209) was 48 (SD = 17) years, 45% were male, 7% reported inadequate health literacy, and 11% had a logical inconsistency. In adjusted analysis, participants with inadequate health literacy were 2.2 (95%CI: 1.2, 4.0; p = 0.014) times more likely to provide an inconsistent valuation compared to those with adequate health literacy. More specifically, those who had problems in "understanding written information" and "reading health information" were more likely to have a logical inconsistency compared to those who did not. However, lacking "confidence in completing medical forms" was not associated with logical inconsistencies. Health literacy was associated with logical inconsistencies in valuations of hypothetical health states described by the EQ-5D-5L classification system. Valuations studies should consider assessing health literacy, and explore better ways to introduce the valuation tasks or use simpler approaches of health preferences elicitation for individuals with inadequate health literacy.

An assessment of the nonmarket benefits of the Water Framework Directive for households in England and Wales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metcalfe, Paul J.; Baker, William; Andrews, Kevin; Atkinson, Giles; Bateman, Ian J.; Butler, Sarah; Carson, Richard T.; East, Jo; Gueron, Yves; Sheldon, Rob; Train, Kenneth

2012-03-01

Results are presented from a large-scale stated preference study designed to estimate the nonmarket benefits for households in England and Wales arising from the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD). Multiple elicitation methods (a discrete choice experiment and two forms of contingent valuation) are employed, with the order in which they are asked randomly varied across respondents, to obtain a robust model for valuing specified WFD implementation programs applied to all of the lakes, reservoirs, rivers, canals, transitional, and coastal waters of England and Wales. The potential for subsequent policy incorporation and value transfer was enhanced by generating area-based values. These were found to vary from £2,263 to £39,168 per km2 depending on the population density around the location of the improvement, the ecological scope of that improvement, and the value elicitation method employed. While the former factors are consistent with expectations, the latter suggests that decision makers need to be aware of such methodological effects when employing derived values.

Provision of a wildfire risk map: informing residents in the wildland urban interface.

PubMed

Mozumder, Pallab; Helton, Ryan; Berrens, Robert P

2009-11-01

Wildfires in the wildland urban interface (WUI) are an increasing concern throughout the western United States and elsewhere. WUI communities continue to grow and thus increase the wildfire risk to human lives and property. Information such as a wildfire risk map can inform WUI residents of potential risks and may help to efficiently sort mitigation efforts. This study uses the survey-based contingent valuation (CV) method to examine annual household willingness to pay (WTP) for the provision of a wildfire risk map. Data were collected through a mail survey of the East Mountain WUI area in the State of New Mexico (USA). The integrated empirical approach includes a system of equations that involves joint estimation of WTP values, along with measures of a respondent's risk perception and risk mitigation behavior. The median estimated WTP is around U.S. $12 for the annual wildfire risk map, which covers at least the costs of producing and distributing available risk information. Further, providing a wildfire risk map can help address policy goals emphasizing information gathering and sharing among stakeholders to mitigate the effects of wildfires.

Estimates of the non-market value of sea turtles in Tobago using stated preference techniques.

PubMed

Cazabon-Mannette, Michelle; Schuhmann, Peter W; Hailey, Adrian; Horrocks, Julia

2017-05-01

Economic benefits are derived from sea turtle tourism all over the world. Sea turtles also add value to underwater recreation and convey non-use values. This study examines the non-market value of sea turtles in Tobago. We use a choice experiment to estimate the value of sea turtle encounters to recreational SCUBA divers and the contingent valuation method to estimate the value of sea turtles to international tourists. Results indicate that turtle encounters were the most important dive attribute among those examined. Divers are willing to pay over US$62 per two tank dive for the first turtle encounter. The mean WTP for turtle conservation among international visitors to Tobago was US$31.13 which reflects a significant non-use value associated with actions targeted at keeping sea turtles from going extinct. These results illustrate significant non-use and non-consumptive use value of sea turtles, and highlight the importance of sea turtle conservation efforts in Tobago and throughout the Caribbean region. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comprehensive evaluation of environmental and economic benefits of China's urban underground transportation construction projects.

PubMed

Yang, Xiaobin; Chen, Zhilong; Guo, Dongjun

2015-07-01

Urban underground transportation projects are introduced to address problems of scarce green land and traffic pollution. As construction of urban underground transportation is still in its infancy, there is no definite quantitative measurement on whether the construction is beneficial and what influences it will place on the region in China. This study intends to construct a comprehensive evaluation method for evaluating social, economic and environmental benefits of urban underground transportation projects and proposes the concept, role and principle for evaluation of environmental and economic benefits. It figures out relationship between the environment and factors of city development. It also summarizes three relevant factors, including transportation, biophysics and social economy, and works out indicators to evaluate the influence of urban underground transportation construction. Based on Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), Cost of Illness Approach (CIA), Human Capital Approach (HCA), this paper constructs 13 monetization calculation models for social, economic and environmental benefits in response to seven aspects, namely, reducing noise pollution and air pollution, using land efficiently, improving traffic safety, reducing traffic congestion, saving shipping time and minimizing transportation costs.

Neuromodulation of reward-based learning and decision making in human aging

PubMed Central

Eppinger, Ben; Hämmerer, Dorothea; Li, Shu-Chen

2013-01-01

In this paper, we review the current literature to highlight relations between age-associated declines in dopaminergic and serotonergic neuromodulation and adult age differences in adaptive goal-directed behavior. Specifically, we focus on evidence suggesting that deficits in neuromodulation contribute to older adults’ behavioral disadvantages in learning and decision making. These deficits are particularly pronounced when reward information is uncertain or the task context requires flexible adaptations to changing stimulus–reward contingencies. Moreover, emerging evidence points to age-related differences in the sensitivity to rewarding and aversive outcomes during learning and decision making if the acquisition of behavior critically depends on outcome processing. These age-related asymmetries in outcome valuation may be explained by age differences in the interplay of dopaminergic and serotonergic neuromodulation. This hypothesis is based on recent neurocomputational and psychopharmacological approaches, which suggest that dopamine and serotonin serve opponent roles in regulating the balance between approach behavior and inhibitory control. Studying adaptive regulation of behavior across the adult life span may shed new light on how the aging brain changes functionally in response to its diminishing resources. PMID:22023564

Congruence or Discrepancy? Comparing Patients' Health Valuations and Physicians' Treatment Goals for Rehabilitation for Patients with Chronic Conditions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nagl, Michaela; Farin, Erik

2012-01-01

The aim of this study was to test the congruence of patients' health valuations and physicians' treatment goals for the rehabilitation of chronically ill patients. In addition, patient characteristics associated with greater or less congruence were to be determined. In a questionnaire study, patients' health valuations and physicians' goals were…

Willingness to pay and willingness to accept in a patient-centered blood pressure control study.

PubMed

Gleason-Comstock, Julie; Streater, Alicia; Goodman, Allen; Janisse, James; Brody, Aaron; Mango, LynnMarie; Dawood, Rachelle; Levy, Phillip

2017-08-07

Elevated blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke but patients often discount recommended behavioral changes and prescribed medications. While effective interventions to promote adherence have been developed, cost-effectiveness from the patient's perspective, has not been well studied. The valuation of patient time and out of pocket expenses should be included while performing cost effectiveness evaluation. The Achieve BP study uses the contingent valuation method to assess willingness to accept (WTA) and willingness to pay (WTP) among patients with a history of uncontrolled blood pressure discharged from an urban emergency department and enrolled in a larger randomized controlled trial. WTA and WTP were assessed by asking patients a series of questions about time and travel costs and time value related to their study participation. A survey was conducted during the final study visit with patients to investigate the effectiveness of a kiosk-based educational intervention on blood pressure control. All study patients, regardless of study arm, received the same clinical protocol of commonly prescribed antihypertensive medication and met with research clinicians four times as part of the study procedures. Thirty-eight patients were offered the opportunity to participate in the cost-effectiveness study and all completed the survey. Statistical comparisons revealed these 38 patients were similar in representation to the entire RCT study population. All 38 (100.0%) were African-American, with an average age of 49.1 years; 55.3% were male, 21.1% were married, 78.9% had a high school or higher education, and 44.7% were working. 55.9% did not have a primary care provider and 50.0% did not have health insurance. Time price linear regression analysis was performed to estimate predictors of WTA and WTP. WTP and WTA may generate different results, and the elasticities were proportional to the estimated coefficients, with WTP about twice as responsive as WTA. An additional feature for health services research was successful piloting in a clinical setting of a brief patient-centered cost effectiveness survey. https://clinicaltrials.gov . Registration Number NCT02069015 . Registered February 19, 2014 (Retrospectively registered).

Demand for Long-Term Care Insurance in China.

PubMed

Wang, Qun; Zhou, Yi; Ding, Xinrui; Ying, Xiaohua

2017-12-22

The aim of this study was to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) for long-term care insurance (LTCI) and to explore the determinants of demand for LTCI in China. We collected data from a household survey conducted in Qinghai and Zhejiang on a sample of 1842 households. We relied on contingent valuation methods to elicit the demand for LTCI and random effects logistic regression to analyze the factors associated with the demand for LTCI. Complementarily, we used document analysis to compare the LTCI designed in this study and the current LTCI policies in the pilot cities. More than 90% of the respondents expressed their willingness to buy LTCI. The median WTP for LTCI was estimated at 370.14 RMB/year, accounting for 2.29% of average annual per capita disposable income. Price, age, education status, and income were significantly associated with demand for LTCI. Most pilot cities were found to mainly rely on Urban Employees Basic Medical Insurance funds as the financing source for LTCI. Considering that financing is one of the greatest challenges in the development of China's LTCI, we suggest that policy makers consider individual contribution as an important and possible option as a source of financing for LTCI.

Comparing 15D Valuation Studies in Norway and Finland-Challenges When Combining Information from Several Valuation Tasks.

PubMed

Michel, Yvonne Anne; Augestad, Liv Ariane; Rand, Kim

2018-04-01

The 15D is a generic preference-based health-related quality-of-life instrument developed in Finland. Values for the 15D instrument are estimated by combining responses to three distinct valuation tasks. The impact of how these tasks are combined is relatively unexplored. To compare 15D valuation studies conducted in Norway and Finland in terms of scores assigned in the valuation tasks and resulting value algorithms, and to discuss the contributions of each task and the algorithm estimation procedure to observed differences. Norwegian and Finnish scores from the three valuation tasks were compared using independent samples t tests and Lin concordance correlation coefficients. Covariance between tasks was assessed using Pearson product-moment correlations. Norwegian and Finnish value algorithms were compared using concordance correlation coefficients, total ranges, and ranges for individual dimensions. Observed differences were assessed using minimal important difference. Mean scores in the main valuation task were strikingly similar between the two countries, whereas the final value algorithms were less similar. The largest differences between Norway and Finland were observed for depression, vision, and mental function. 15D algorithms are a product of combining scores from three valuation tasks by use of methods involving multiplication. This procedure used to combine scores from the three tasks by multiplication serves to amplify variance from each task. From relatively similar responses in Norway and Finland, diverging value algorithms are created. We propose to simplify the 15D algorithm estimation procedure by using only one of the valuation tasks. Copyright © 2018 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Contingent feasibility for forest carbon credit: evidence from South Korean firms.

PubMed

Roh, TaeWoo; Koo, Ja-Choon; Cho, Dong-Sung; Youn, Yeo-Chang

2014-11-01

Under the Kyoto Protocol, a global governmental response to climate change, protocol signatories make an effort to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. South Korea is not included in the list of Annex I countries; yet, South Korea is the seventh highest emitter of CO2. The South Korean government has enacted various institutional policies to encourage greenhouse gas reductions. While previous studies have focused on the guidance that reflects the stance of suppliers in the carbon market, this study focuses on South Korean firms' actual demand for forest carbon credits. By applying the contingent valuation method, we estimated domestic firms' willingness to pay for forest carbon credits. We then applied a rank-ordered logistic regression to confirm whether the rank of forest carbon credits, as compared to any other carbon credit, is influenced by a firm's characteristics. The results showed that Korean firms are willing to pay 5.45 USD/tCO2 and 7.77 USD/tCO2 for forest carbon credits in domestic and overseas forest carbon projects, respectively. Therefore, the introduction of forest carbon credits in the Korean carbon market seems reasonable. Analysis of the priority rankings of forest carbon credits, however, demonstrated that forestry projects were least likely to be ranked by firms as their first priority. Although relative preferences for forest carbon credits were influenced by individual firms' characteristics such as prior experience of environmental CSR related activities and whether the firm established an emissions reduction plan, the impact of perceived behavior control, whether the firm was included in the emissions target management scheme on forest carbon credits was negligible. Therefore, forest carbon credits are not a feasible solution without strong government support or institutional instruments. The results of this study are expected to provide policy makers with realistic approaches to formulate climatic change-related policies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Exploring the willingness to pay for a quality-adjusted life-year in the state of Penang, Malaysia

PubMed Central

Shafie, Asrul Akmal; Lim, Yen Wei; Chua, Gin Nie; Hassali, Mohammed Azmi Ahmad

2014-01-01

Introduction The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is typically compared with a reference value to support the cost-effectiveness of a decision. One method for estimating this value is to estimate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). This study was conducted to explore the WTP for a QALY in the Malaysian population. Methods A cross-sectional, contingent valuation study was conducted in Penang, Malaysia. Respondents were selected from randomly chosen geographical grids of Penang. Respondents’ sociodemographic information, qualities of life, and WTP for one additional QALY were collected using predesigned questionnaires in face-to-face interviews. WTP values were elicited using a double-bound dichotomous choice via a bidding game approach. The Heckman selection model was applied to the analysis of the mean WTP/QALY values, where the “protest zero” values, which may contribute to selection bias, were excluded. Results The mean value of WTP for an additional QALY gained was estimated to be MYR (Malaysian Ringgit) 29,080 (~USD 9,000). Key factors that affected the WTP include ethnicity and estimated monthly household income. Conclusion The study findings suggested that the cost-effectiveness threshold value as studied in Penang, Malaysia was estimated to be MYR 29,080. PMID:25364267

Exploring the willingness to pay for a quality-adjusted life-year in the state of Penang, Malaysia.

PubMed

Shafie, Asrul Akmal; Lim, Yen Wei; Chua, Gin Nie; Hassali, Mohammed Azmi Ahmad

2014-01-01

The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) is typically compared with a reference value to support the cost-effectiveness of a decision. One method for estimating this value is to estimate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a quality-adjusted life-year (QALY). This study was conducted to explore the WTP for a QALY in the Malaysian population. A cross-sectional, contingent valuation study was conducted in Penang, Malaysia. Respondents were selected from randomly chosen geographical grids of Penang. Respondents' sociodemographic information, qualities of life, and WTP for one additional QALY were collected using predesigned questionnaires in face-to-face interviews. WTP values were elicited using a double-bound dichotomous choice via a bidding game approach. The Heckman selection model was applied to the analysis of the mean WTP/QALY values, where the "protest zero" values, which may contribute to selection bias, were excluded. The mean value of WTP for an additional QALY gained was estimated to be MYR (Malaysian Ringgit) 29,080 (~USD 9,000). Key factors that affected the WTP include ethnicity and estimated monthly household income. The study findings suggested that the cost-effectiveness threshold value as studied in Penang, Malaysia was estimated to be MYR 29,080.

Council tax valuation band of patient residence and clinical contacts in a general practice

PubMed Central

Beale, Norman; Taylor, Gordon; Straker-Cook, Dawn; Peart, Carole; Gwynne, Mark

2005-01-01

Background There is a dearth of data relating UK general practice workload to personal and social markers of individual patients. Aim To test whether there is a significant association between general practice patient contact rates and the council tax valuation band of their residential address. Design of study Cross-sectional analyses using data recorded, over 1 year, for over 3300 general practice patients. Setting One medium-sized group practice in an industrialised English market town. Method Face-to-face contacts between the patients and the doctors and nurses in the practice were compared by patient age, sex, registration period, distance from surgery, Underprivileged Area 8 (UPA8) score, and council tax valuation band. Results Patient sex, age, recent registration, distance from surgery, and council tax valuation band were each significantly associated with face-to-face contact rate in univariate analyses. UPA8 score was not significantly associated with contact rates. On multivariate testing, sex, age, recent registration, and council tax valuation band remained significantly associated with contact rates. The last is a new finding. Conclusion Council tax valuation bands predict contact rate in general practice; the lower the band, the higher the contact rate. Council tax valuation band could be a useful marker of workload that is linked to socioeconomic status. This is a pilot study and multipractice research is advocated. PMID:15667763

Assessing quality of life in a clinical study on heart rehabilitation patients: how well do value sets based on given or experienced health states reflect patients' valuations?

PubMed

Leidl, Reiner; Schweikert, Bernd; Hahmann, Harry; Steinacker, Juergen M; Reitmeir, Peter

2016-03-22

Quality of life as an endpoint in a clinical study may be sensitive to the value set used to derive a single score. Focusing on patients' actual valuations in a clinical study, we compare different value sets for the EQ-5D-3L and assess how well they reproduce patients' reported results. A clinical study comparing inpatient (n = 98) and outpatient (n = 47) rehabilitation of patients after an acute coronary event is re-analyzed. Value sets include: 1. Given health states and time-trade-off valuation (GHS-TTO) rendering economic utilities; 2. Experienced health states and valuation by visual analog scale (EHS-VAS). Valuations are compared with patient-reported VAS rating. Accuracy is assessed by mean absolute error (MAE) and by Pearson's correlation ρ. External validity is tested by correlation with established MacNew global scores. Drivers of differences between value sets and VAS are analyzed using repeated measures regression. EHS-VAS had smaller MAEs and higher ρ in all patients and in the inpatient group, and correlated best with MacNew global score. Quality-adjusted survival was more accurately reflected by EHS-VAS. Younger, better educated patients reported lower VAS at admission than the EHS-based value set. EHS-based estimates were mostly able to reproduce patient-reported valuation. Economic utility measurement is conceptually different, produced results less strongly related to patients' reports, and resulted in about 20 % longer quality-adjusted survival. Decision makers should take into account the impact of choosing value sets on effectiveness results. For transferring the results of heart rehabilitation patients from another country or from another valuation method, the EHS-based value set offers a promising estimation option for those decision makers who prioritize patient-reported valuation. Yet, EHS-based estimates may not fully reflect patient-reported VAS in all situations.

Behavioral Economic Insights into Physician Tobacco Treatment Decision-Making

PubMed Central

Evers-Casey, Sarah; Graden, Sarah; Schnoll, Robert

2015-01-01

Rationale: Physicians self-report high adherence rates for Ask and Advise behaviors of tobacco dependence treatment but are much less likely to engage in “next steps” consistent with sophisticated management of chronic illness. A variety of potential explanations have been offered, yet each lacks face validity in light of experience with other challenging medical conditions. Objective: Conduct a preliminary exploration of the behavioral economics of tobacco treatment decision-making in the face of uncertain outcomes, seeking evidence that behaviors may be explained within the framework of Prospect Theory. Methods: Four physician cohorts were polled regarding their impressions of the utility of tobacco use treatment and their estimations of “success” probabilities. Contingent valuation was estimated by asking respondents to make monetary tradeoffs relative to three common chronic conditions. Measurements and Main Results: Responses from all four cohorts showed a similar pattern of high utility of tobacco use treatment but low success probability when compared with the other chronic medical conditions. Following instructional methods aimed at controverting cognitive biases related to tobacco, this pattern was reversed, with success probabilities attaining higher valuation than for diabetes. Conclusions: Important presuppositions regarding the potential “success” of tobacco-related patient interactions are likely limiting physician engagement by favoring the most secure visit outcome despite the limited potential for health gains. Under these conditions, low engagement rates would be consistent with Prospect Theory predictions. Interventions aimed at counteracting the cognitive biases limiting estimations of success probabilities seem to effectively reverse this pattern and provide clues to improving the adoption of target clinical behaviors. PMID:25664676

Willingness to pay for safe drinking water: A contingent valuation study in Jacksonville, FL.

PubMed

Chatterjee, Chiradip; Triplett, Russell; Johnson, Christopher K; Ahmed, Parvez

2017-12-01

A surprising number of U.S. cities have drinking water with unhealthy levels of chemicals and contaminants. The city of Jacksonville (Florida), the location for this study, owns the dubious distinction of being ranked among the worst major American cities in water quality according to water quality tests conducted between 2005 and 2009 by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). This report of toxic chemicals in the Jacksonville water supply generated considerable negative publicity and coincides with a frequent and common complaint among residents of foul-smelling water. System revenues from water supply and program subsidies from government are often inadequate in mitigating the problems, perceived or real, with water quality. Therefore, this paper investigates how much residents will be willing to pay for improvements in the quality of tap water. The commonly known economic metric willingness-to-pay (WTP) is applied to estimate any possible rate hikes public utility can assess in any effort to improve real or perceived water quality. The study shows that the estimated weighted average of WTP is $6.22, which can be added to the regular water bill without eliciting much negative reaction from residents. Evidence shows that factors such as trust in authorities, health concerns, family structure, and education significantly impact the WTP. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Willingness to pay for community-based ivermectin distribution: a study of three onchocerciasis-endemic communities in Nigeria.

PubMed

Onwujekwe, O E; Shu, E N; Nwagbo, D; Akpala, C O; Okonkwo, P O

1998-10-01

To determine the willingness to pay (WTP) for local ivermectin distribution in a community financing framework. Contingent valuation in three communities in Nigeria, using randomly selected household heads. WTP was elicited using a bidding game, and for collecting information on the households' socio-economic status, level of knowledge, priority ranking and perception of risk of contracting the disease, structured questionnaires were used. Ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression analysis was used to analyse factors associated with WTP. Between 92.1% and 93.3 % of respondents were willing to pay amounts ranging from 5 Naira (US$ 0.06) to 100 Naira (US$ 1.25) (median: 20 Naira, US$ 0.25) in the three communities, more than three times the modelled unit direct cost of distributing ivermectin by the communities themselves. Occupation of the respondent, marital status, average monthly expenditure on health care, manifestations of onchocerciasis, the type of savings scheme embarked on by the respondent, age-group, level of education and type of property were statistically significant (P < 0.05) variables affecting WTP. This study shows that there is WTP for local ivermectin distribution in the three study communities, and that it should be assessed before instituting community-directed treatment with ivermectin.

Unveiling consumer's privacy paradox behaviour in an economic exchange.

PubMed

Motiwalla, Luvai F; Li, Xiao-Bai

2016-01-01

Privacy paradox is of great interest to IS researchers and firms gathering personal information. It has been studied from social, behavioural, and economic perspectives independently. However, prior research has not examined the degrees of influence these perspectives contribute to the privacy paradox problem. We combine both economic and behavioural perspectives in our study of the privacy paradox with a price valuation of personal information through an economic experiment combined with a behavioural study on privacy paradox. Our goal is to reveal more insights on the privacy paradox through economic valuation on personal information. Results indicate that general privacy concerns or individual disclosure concerns do not have a significant influence on the price valuation of personal information. Instead, prior disclosure behaviour in specific scenario, like with healthcare providers or social networks, is a better indicator of consumer price valuations.

Unveiling consumer’s privacy paradox behaviour in an economic exchange

PubMed Central

Li, Xiao-Bai

2015-01-01

Privacy paradox is of great interest to IS researchers and firms gathering personal information. It has been studied from social, behavioural, and economic perspectives independently. However, prior research has not examined the degrees of influence these perspectives contribute to the privacy paradox problem. We combine both economic and behavioural perspectives in our study of the privacy paradox with a price valuation of personal information through an economic experiment combined with a behavioural study on privacy paradox. Our goal is to reveal more insights on the privacy paradox through economic valuation on personal information. Results indicate that general privacy concerns or individual disclosure concerns do not have a significant influence on the price valuation of personal information. Instead, prior disclosure behaviour in specific scenario, like with healthcare providers or social networks, is a better indicator of consumer price valuations. PMID:27708687

Economic valuation of ecosystem services from coral reefs in the South Pacific: taking stock of recent experience.

PubMed

Laurans, Yann; Pascal, Nicolas; Binet, Thomas; Brander, Luke; Clua, Eric; David, Gilbert; Rojat, Dominique; Seidl, Andrew

2013-02-15

The economic valuation of coral reefs ecosystem services is currently seen as a promising approach to demonstrate the benefits of sustainable management of coral ecosystems to policymakers and to provide useful information for improved decisions. Most coral reefs economic studies have been conducted in the United States, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean, and only a few have covered the South Pacific region. In this region, coral reefs are essential assets for small island developing states as well as for developed countries. Accordingly, a series of ecosystem services valuations has been carried out recently in the South Pacific, to try and supply decision-makers with new information. Applying ecosystem services valuation to the specific ecological, social, economic and cultural contexts of the South Pacific is however not straightforward. This paper analyses how extant valuations address the various management challenges of coral reef regions in general and more specifically for the South Pacific. Bearing in mind that economic valuation has to match policy-making contexts, we emphasize a series of specific considerations when conducting and applying ecosystem services valuation in South Pacific ecological and social contexts. Finally, the paper examines the decision-making situations in which extant valuations took place. We conclude that, although ecosystem valuations have been effectively used as a means to raise awareness with respect to coral reef conservation, methodologies will have to be further developed, with multidisciplinary inputs, if they are to provide valuable inputs in local and technical decision-making. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ecosystem's Modeling of Bhoj Wetland - A Base For Economic Valuation and Sustainable Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, M.; Bakshi, N.; Nair, R.

The Bhoj wetland located in the heart of the Bhopal city, India originated as manmade lake primarily to supply drinking water to the citySs population and over the years it attained features of wetland and started providing multiple functions like commer- cial fishing, waste assimilation, microclimate regulation and recreation etc. to multiple users. It has so happened that multiple benefits have been extracted but little attention has been paid on the maintenance of this wetlands. In this context it becomes imper- ative to generate quantitative information on the economic benefits from the wetland, which could serve as a powerful tool to influence decision-making. Bhoj wetland is a Lacustrine wetland which is the highly diminished remains of the vast lake created in the 11th century by the then ruler of princely state of Bhopal The wetland has wa- ter spread area of 32 square kilometers and catchment area of 370 square kilometers. It is an important source of drinking water for the 40% of citySs total population of 1.5 millions. Multiple stakeholders use it for multiple uses. 17 municipal wards (ad- ministrative division of the city) around the lake directly drain into it. Over the years because of indiscriminate and unsustainable use of lake, its water quality has degraded from SAS quality to SCS quality along with prolific growth of weeds on account of ´ ´ which benefits from the lake have reduced and all the stakeholders are paying heavy direct and indirect costs including the government agencies which are engaged in its restoration and management activities The goal of the management is essentially to balance the use of lake with conserva- tion measures to sustain ecosystem services overtime. The paper tries to analyze the factors causing Bhoj Wetland degradation; nature and extent of injury to the wetland; how does this degradation impact on the uses those citizens of Bhopal extract out of it? What cost is borne by the users on account of degradation in terms of productivity losses and health impacts? How feedback can be taken from these impacts to revise or develop management policies and to seek participation of stakeholders to check wet- land degradation or losses? What type of benefits accrues to people from this wetland? What is the willingness of the people to pay to conserve this important water body? Lake degradation is due to multiple causes hence lakeSs restoration requires multi- ple interventions. To suggest such interventions and above all their prioritizations, an 1 ecosystem model for the lake has been developed following the systemSs dynamics approach. The main objective of the Ecosystem Modeling of the wetland was to under- stand the changes in the hydrology of the wetland first on account of certain changes in the conditions of the surroundings such that valuation process can be followed with current and future scenarios of the lakes hydrology in hand. A sophisticated computer software called as STELLA was used for the modeling exercise. The model used wa- ter quality parameters to show the impact of flow of sewage on dissolved oxygen, bio-chemical oxygen demand, pH, total hardness, total alkalinity, bacterial count and growth of weeds. A base scenario has been created and various simulation runs have been performed for the pre and ongoing restoration activities for next 25 years so as to represent the health of the wetlandSs ecosystem. These scenarios have then been used in the valuation exercise to estimate the conservation value of the lake. Various valuation techniques like contingent valuation, production function approach, hedonic pricing and supply cost have been used to capture the economic values as perceived by different stakeholders. These scenarios and the valuation exercises further throw light on the prioritization of future policy intervention for sustainable management of this urban wetland. Key words: Ecosystem Services, Water Quality Parameters, EcosystemSs Modeling, Economic Valuation, and Sustainable Management, Urban Wetland 2

Cost approach of health care entity intangible asset valuation.

PubMed

Reilly, Robert F

2012-01-01

In the valuation synthesis and conclusion process, the analyst should consider the following question: Does the selected valuation approach(es) and method(s) accomplish the analyst's assignment? Also, does the selected valuation approach and method actually quantify the desired objective of the intangible asset analysis? The analyst should also consider if the selected valuation approach and method analyzes the appropriate bundle of legal rights. The analyst should consider if there were sufficient empirical data available to perform the selected valuation approach and method. The valuation synthesis should consider if there were sufficient data available to make the analyst comfortable with the value conclusion. The valuation analyst should consider if the selected approach and method will be understandable to the intended audience. In the valuation synthesis and conclusion, the analyst should also consider which approaches and methods deserve the greatest consideration with respect to the intangible asset's RUL. The intangible asset RUL is a consideration of each valuation approach. In the income approach, the RUL may affect the projection period for the intangible asset income subject to either yield capitalization or direct capitalization. In the cost approach, the RUL may affect the total amount of obsolescence, if any, from the estimate cost measure (that is, the intangible reproduction cost new or replacement cost new). In the market approach, the RUL may effect the selection, rejection, and/or adjustment of the comparable or guideline intangible asset sale and license transactional data. The experienced valuation analyst will use professional judgment to weight the various value indications to conclude a final intangible asset value, based on: The analyst's confidence in the quantity and quality of available data; The analyst's level of due diligence performed on that data; The relevance of the valuation method to the intangible asset life cycle stage and degree of marketability; and The degree of variation in the range of value indications. Valuation analysts value health care intangible assets for a number of reasons. In addition to regulatory compliance reasons, these reasons include various transaction, taxation, financing, litigation, accounting, bankruptcy, and planning purposes. The valuation analyst should consider all generally accepted intangible asset valuation approaches, methods, and procedures. Many valuation analysts are more familiar with market approach and income approach valuation methods. However, there are numerous instances when cost approach valuation methods are also applicable to the health care intangible asset valuation. This discussion summarized the analyst's procedures and considerations with regard to the cost approach. The cost approach is often applicable to the valuation of intangible assets in the health care industry. However, the cost approach is only applicable if the valuation analyst (1) appropriately considers all of the cost components and (2) appropriately identifies and quantifies all obsolescence allowances. Regardless of the health care intangible asset or the reason for the valuation, the analyst should be familiar with all generally accepted valuation approaches and methods. And, the valuation analyst should have a clear, convincing, and cogent rationale for (1) accepting each approach and method applied and (2) rejecting each approach and method not applied. That way, the valuation analyst will best achieve the purpose and objective of the health care intangible asset valuation.

Valuing a Lifestyle Intervention for Middle Eastern Immigrants at Risk of Diabetes.

PubMed

Saha, Sanjib; Gerdtham, Ulf-G; Siddiqui, Faiza; Bennet, Louise

2018-02-27

Willingness-to-pay (WTP) techniques are increasingly being used in the healthcare sector for assessing the value of interventions. The objective of this study was to estimate WTP and its predictors in a randomized controlled trial of a lifestyle intervention exclusively targeting Middle Eastern immigrants living in Malmö, Sweden, who are at high risk of type 2 diabetes. We used the contingent valuation method to evaluate WTP. The questionnaire was designed following the payment-scale approach, and administered at the end of the trial, giving an ex-post perspective. We performed logistic regression and linear regression techniques to identify the factors associated with zero WTP value and positive WTP values. The intervention group had significantly higher average WTP than the control group (216 SEK vs. 127 SEK; p = 0.035; 1 U.S.$ = 8.52 SEK, 2015 price year) per month. The regression models demonstrated that being in the intervention group, acculturation, and self-employment were significant factors associated with positive WTP values. Male participants and lower-educated participants had a significantly higher likelihood of zero WTP. In this era of increased migration, our findings can help policy makers to take informed decisions to implement lifestyle interventions for immigrant populations.

The Evolution of a More Rigorous Approach to Benefit Transfer: Benefit Function Transfer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Loomis, John B.

1992-03-01

The desire for economic values of recreation for unstudied recreation resources dates back to the water resource development benefit-cost analyses of the early 1960s. Rather than simply applying existing estimates of benefits per trip to the study site, a fairly rigorous approach was developed by a number of economists. This approach involves application of travel cost demand equations and contingent valuation benefit functions from existing sites to the new site. In this way the spatial market of the new site (i.e., its differing own price, substitute prices and population distribution) is accounted for in the new estimate of total recreation benefits. The assumptions of benefit transfer from recreation sites in one state to another state for the same recreation activity is empirically tested. The equality of demand coefficients for ocean sport salmon fishing in Oregon versus Washington and for freshwater steelhead fishing in Oregon versus Idaho is rejected. Thus transfer of either demand equations or average benefits per trip are likely to be in error. Using the Oregon steelhead equation, benefit transfers to rivers within the state are shown to be accurate to within 5-15%.

Using stated preference methods to design cost-effective subsidy programs to induce technology adoption: an application to a stove program in southern Chile.

PubMed

Gómez, Walter; Salgado, Hugo; Vásquez, Felipe; Chávez, Carlos

2014-01-01

We study the design of an economic incentive based program - a subsidy - to induce adoption of more efficient technology in a pollution reduction program in southern Chile. Stated preferences methods, contingent valuation (CV), and choice experiment (CE) are used to estimate the probability of adoption and the willingness to share the cost of a new technology by a household. The cost-effectiveness property of different subsidy schemes is explored numerically for different regulatory objectives. Our results suggest that households are willing to participate in voluntary programs and to contribute by paying a share of the cost of adopting more efficient technologies. We find that attributes of the existing and the new technology, beyond the price, are relevant determinant factors of the participation decision and payment. Limited access to credit markets for low income families can be a major barrier for an effective implementation of these types of programs. Variations in the design of the subsidy and on the regulator's objective and constraints can have significant impact on the level and the cost of reduction of aggregate emissions achieved. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The economics of roadside bear viewing.

PubMed

Richardson, Leslie; Rosen, Tatjana; Gunther, Kerry; Schwartz, Chuck

2014-07-01

Viewing bears along roadside habitats is a popular recreational activity in certain national parks throughout the United States. However, safely managing visitors during traffic jams that result from this activity often requires the use of limited park resources. Using unique visitor survey data, this study quantifies economic values associated with roadside bear viewing in Yellowstone National Park, monetary values that could be used to determine whether this continued use of park resources is warranted on economic grounds. Based on visitor expenditure data and results of a contingent visitation question, it is estimated that summer Park visitation would decrease if bears were no longer allowed to stay along roadside habitats, resulting in a loss of 155 jobs in the local economy. Results from a nonmarket valuation survey question indicate that on average, visitors to Yellowstone National Park are willing to pay around $41 more in Park entrance fees to ensure that bears are allowed to remain along roads within the Park. Generalizing this value to the relevant population of visitors indicates that the economic benefits of allowing this wildlife viewing opportunity to continue could outweigh the costs of using additional resources to effectively manage these traffic jams. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Valuing a Lifestyle Intervention for Middle Eastern Immigrants at Risk of Diabetes

PubMed Central

Siddiqui, Faiza

2018-01-01

Willingness-to-pay (WTP) techniques are increasingly being used in the healthcare sector for assessing the value of interventions. The objective of this study was to estimate WTP and its predictors in a randomized controlled trial of a lifestyle intervention exclusively targeting Middle Eastern immigrants living in Malmö, Sweden, who are at high risk of type 2 diabetes. We used the contingent valuation method to evaluate WTP. The questionnaire was designed following the payment-scale approach, and administered at the end of the trial, giving an ex-post perspective. We performed logistic regression and linear regression techniques to identify the factors associated with zero WTP value and positive WTP values. The intervention group had significantly higher average WTP than the control group (216 SEK vs. 127 SEK; p = 0.035; 1 U.S.$ = 8.52 SEK, 2015 price year) per month. The regression models demonstrated that being in the intervention group, acculturation, and self-employment were significant factors associated with positive WTP values. Male participants and lower-educated participants had a significantly higher likelihood of zero WTP. In this era of increased migration, our findings can help policy makers to take informed decisions to implement lifestyle interventions for immigrant populations. PMID:29495529

The economics of roadside bear viewing

USGS Publications Warehouse

Richardson, Leslie; Rosen, Tatjana; Gunther, Kerry; Schwartz, Chuck

2014-01-01

Viewing bears along roadside habitats is a popular recreational activity in certain national parks throughout the United States. However, safely managing visitors during traffic jams that result from this activity often requires the use of limited park resources. Using unique visitor survey data, this study quantifies economic values associated with roadside bear viewing in Yellowstone National Park, monetary values that could be used to determine whether this continued use of park resources is warranted on economic grounds. Based on visitor expenditure data and results of a contingent visitation question, it is estimated that summer Park visitation would decrease if bears were no longer allowed to stay along roadside habitats, resulting in a loss of 155 jobs in the local economy. Results from a nonmarket valuation survey question indicate that on average, visitors to Yellowstone National Park are willing to pay around $41 more in Park entrance fees to ensure that bears are allowed to remain along roads within the Park. Generalizing this value to the relevant population of visitors indicates that the economic benefits of allowing this wildlife viewing opportunity to continue could outweigh the costs of using additional resources to effectively manage these traffic jams.

Demand and supply of emergency help: an economic analysis of Red Cross services.

PubMed

Hackl, Franz; Pruckner, Gerald Josef

2006-08-01

This paper analyzes supply and demand side characteristics of (voluntary) Red Cross services in Austria. The demand side analysis is based on a contingent valuation study on people's willingness to pay for emergency treatment, transportation services and disaster relief activities. The supply side is identified by a high percentage of volunteers in the Red Cross organization which makes the provision of emergency help at low cost possible. We find that aggregate benefits of Red Cross services exceed their cost of production. Policy conclusions are drawn with respect to future recruitment and funding: whereas intrinsic motivation is important for the decision to volunteer, and financial incentives play a minor role in general, the young Red Cross activists work voluntarily for self-realization reasons and to continue their education. Age-specific recruitment strategies accompanied by word-of-mouth advertising are recommended to address potential volunteers. As long as the volunteering character of Red Cross services will be maintained and cost of production will not go up an increase of funds does not seem necessary in the future. Moreover, a radical change in the structure of funding may crowd out both donations and voluntary labor supply.

Pricing real estate index options under stochastic interest rates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Pu; Dai, Jun

2017-08-01

Real estate derivatives as new financial instruments are not merely risk management tools but also provide a novel way to gain exposure to real estate assets without buying or selling the physical assets. Although real estate derivatives market has exhibited a rapid development in recent years, the valuation challenge of real estate derivatives remains a great obstacle for further development in this market. In this paper, we derive a partial differential equation contingent on a real estate index in a stochastic interest rate environment and propose a modified finite difference method that adopts the non-uniform grids to solve this problem. Numerical results confirm the efficiency of the method and indicate that constant interest rate models lead to the mispricing of options and the effects of stochastic interest rates on option prices depend on whether the term structure of interest rates is rising or falling. Finally, we have investigated and compared the different effects of stochastic interest rates on European and American option prices.

Economic evaluation of the new U.S. arsenic standard for drinking water: A disaggregate approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cho, Yongsung; Easter, K. William; Konishi, Yoshifumi

2010-10-01

We evaluate the welfare consequences of the new U.S. arsenic standard for drinking water, using contingent valuation survey and recent cost data for the small rural community water systems in Minnesota that have had arsenic levels above the new standard prior to its implementation. Using variation in actual arsenic levels and an elicitation method that recognizes the dependence of welfare values on both ambient arsenic concentrations and self-protection levels, the welfare values of the new arsenic rule are estimated at 6-23 per household per year for communities with less than 10 μg/L of arsenic currently in their water and 31-78 for communities with more than 10 μg/L of arsenic. Given cost estimates of 230-2,006 and the fact that a substantial portion of the cost needs to be internally financed, the new rule may have substantially negative welfare consequences for a number of small communities.

Evaluating environmental impact caused by industrial activities - Implementation of the WTP-WTA approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kopsidas, Odysseas; Batzias, Fragiskos

2012-12-01

In this work, a methodological framework under the form of an algorithmic procedure, including 28 activity stages and 6 decision nodes, has been developed for evaluating environmental impact caused by industrial activities. The main part of this procedure is a modification of the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), which is heavily relied on survey-based estimation of WTP-WTA (willingness to pay/accept, respectively). The survey may take place either under a strictly controlled environment or in situ and as-is ('laboratory conditions' or 'field conditions', respectively, in the terminology of experimental economics). Implementation of this methodology is presented, referring to three cases of industrial pollution (in three different sites) caused by (i) a cement producing units, (ii) an oil refinery complex, and (iii) an industrialized small city with an intensively polluted port, where several industrial units co-exist, all of them located in the vicinity of Athens, Greece. The results are interpreted/discussed and conclusions are drawn.

Mobilization for HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing Services in Vietnam: Clients' Risk Behaviors, Attitudes and Willingness to Pay.

PubMed

Nguyen, Long Hoang; Tran, Bach Xuan; Nguyen, Nhung Phuong; Phan, Huong Thu Thi; Bui, Trang Thu; Latkin, Carl A

2016-04-01

A multi-site survey was conducted on a sample of 365 clients to assess their willingness to pay for HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services in Ha Noi and Nam Dinh province, two epicenters of Vietnam. By using contingent valuation technique, the results showed that most of respondents (95.1 %) were willing to pay averagely 155 (95 % CI 132-177) thousands Vietnam Dong (~US $7.75, 2013) for a VCT service. Clients who were female, had middle income level, and current opioid users were willing to pay less; meanwhile clients who had university level of education were willing to pay more for a VCT service. The results highlighted the high rate of willingness to pay for the service at a high amount by VCT clients. These findings contribute to the implementation of co-payment scheme for VCT services toward the financial sustainability of HIV/AIDS programs in Vietnam.

Valuing geospatial information: Using the contingent valuation method to estimate the economic benefits of Landsat satellite imagery

USGS Publications Warehouse

Loomis, John; Koontz, Steve; Miller, Holly M.; Richardson, Leslie A.

2015-01-01

While the U.S. government does not charge for downloading Landsat images, the images have value to users. This paper demonstrates a method that can value Landsat and other imagery to users. A survey of downloaders of Landsat images found: (a) established US users have a mean value of $912 USD per scene; (b) new US users and users returning when imagery became free have a mean value of $367 USD per scene. Total US user benefits for the 2.38 million scenes downloaded is $1.8 billion USD. While these benefits indicate a high willingness-to-pay among many Landsat downloaders, it would be economically inefficient for the US government to charge for Landsat imagery. Charging a price of $100 USD a scene would result in an efficiency loss of $37.5 million a year. This economic information should be useful to policy-makers who must decide about the future of this and similar remote sensing programs.

"Tell me I'm sexy…and otherwise valuable:" Body Valuation and Relationship Satisfaction.

PubMed

Meltzer, Andrea L; McNulty, James K

2014-03-01

Although extant research demonstrates that body valuation by strangers has negative implications for women, Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that body valuation by a committed male partner is positively associated with women's relationship satisfaction when that partner also values them for their non-physical qualities, but negatively associated with women's relationship satisfaction when that partner is not committed or does not value them for their non-physical qualities. Study 3 demonstrates that body valuation by a committed female partner is negatively associated with men's relationship satisfaction when that partner does not also value them for their non-physical qualities but unassociated with men's satisfaction otherwise. These findings join others demonstrating that fully understanding the implications of interpersonal processes requires considering the interpersonal context. (120 words).

A Comparison of Japan and U.K. SF-6D Health-State Valuations Using a Non-Parametric Bayesian Method.

PubMed

Kharroubi, Samer A

2015-08-01

There is interest in the extent to which valuations of health may differ between different countries and cultures, but few studies have compared preference values of health states obtained in different countries. We sought to estimate and compare two directly elicited valuations for SF-6D health states between the Japan and U.K. general adult populations using Bayesian methods. We analysed data from two SF-6D valuation studies where, using similar standard gamble protocols, values for 241 and 249 states were elicited from representative samples of the Japan and U.K. general adult populations, respectively. We estimate a function applicable across both countries that explicitly accounts for the differences between them, and is estimated using data from both countries. The results suggest that differences in SF-6D health-state valuations between the Japan and U.K. general populations are potentially important. The magnitude of these country-specific differences in health-state valuation depended, however, in a complex way on the levels of individual dimensions. The new Bayesian non-parametric method is a powerful approach for analysing data from multiple nationalities or ethnic groups, to understand the differences between them and potentially to estimate the underlying utility functions more efficiently.

Eliciting the Monetary Value of a Quality-Adjusted Life Year in a Greek Outpatient Department in Times of Economic Austerity.

PubMed

Mavrodi, A; Aletras, V; Spanou, A; Niakas, D

2017-12-01

Contingent valuation is widely used to determine individuals' willingness to pay (WTP) for a health gain. Our study aimed to elicit an empirical estimate of the monetary value of a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) in a Greek outpatient setting in times of economic austerity and assess the impact of patients' characteristics on their valuations. We used a questionnaire as a survey tool to determine the maximum WTP for a health gain of a hypothetical therapy and to evaluate patients' health-related quality of life (EuroQoL-5D-3L) and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. EuroQoL tariffs were used to estimate health utilities. Mean WTP values were computed and ordinary least squares regressions performed on transformed Box-Cox and logarithmic dependent WTP per QALY variables to remedy observed skewness problems. Analyses were performed for 167 patients with utility values less than unity. Mean WTP per QALY reported was similar for both payment vehicles examined: payments made out-of-pocket (€2629) and payments made through new tax imposition (€2407). Regression results showed that higher net monthly family income was associated with higher WTP per QALY for both payment vehicles. Moreover, the presence of a chronic condition and higher level of education were associated with higher out-of-pocket WTP per QALY and WTP per QALY through taxes, respectively. The very low WTP per QALY estimates could be explained by the recent severe economic depression and austerity in Greece. In fact, family income was found to be a significant predictor of WTP per QALY. Since these estimates deviate significantly from the cost-effectiveness thresholds still employed in economic evaluations in this country, research should be undertaken promptly to further examine this important issue using a nationwide representative sample of the general population along with WTP and other methodologies.

Valuation of Transactive Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hammerstrom, Donald J.; Corbin, Charles D.; Fernandez, Nicholas

2016-05-12

This is a final report from a project funded by the U.S. Department of Energy to formulate and test a methodology for valuation of systems where transaction-based mechanisms coordinate the exchange of value between the system’s actors. Today, the principal commodity being exchanged is electrical energy, and such mechanisms are called transactive energy systems. The authors strove to lay a foundation for meaningful valuations of transactive systems in general, and transactive energy systems as a special case. The word valuation is used in many different ways. This report proposes a valuation methodology that is inclusive of many types of valuations.more » Many will be familiar with cost-benefit valuations, in which both costs and benefits are assessed to determine whether the assets are worth their cost. Another set of valuation methods attempt to optimize an outcome using available resources, as is the case with integrated resource planning. In the end, this report’s methodology was most influenced by and most resembles the integrated-resource-planning approach. Regardless, we wish to enforce the premise that all valuations are comparative and should clearly specify a baseline scenario. A long, annotated list of prior valuation studies and valuation methodologies that influenced this report has been appended to this report. Much research is being conducted today concerning transactive systems, but only a handful of transactive system mechanisms have been formulated and field tested. They are found to be quite diverse, and the documentation of the various mechanisms is uneven in breadth and quality. It is therefore not adequate to simply assert that a valuation scenario includes a transactive system; certain characteristics and qualities of the chosen transactive system mechanism must be defined and stated. The report lists and discusses most of the known transactive system mechanisms. It offers a set of questions that may be used to help specify important characteristics of the transactive system mechanisms, which should be conveyed along with other valuation results. A valuation methodology is proposed. Some abstraction is necessarily retained so that the methodology may be applied for the many purposes of today’s valuations and across grid, building, societal, and other domains. The report’s methodology advocates separation of operational timescales from long-term growth timescales. Operational models are defined as the models that inform impacts within the relatively short, often yearlong, operational time periods. Growth models define how the scenarios evolve from one operational period to the next (e.g., from year to year). We believe the recommended methodology is a critical step toward collaborative community platforms, where analysts and decision makers alike could contribute and borrow content within their expertise. The report then asks, what is unique about valuations when systems become coordinated by transactive systems? In answer, accurate valuations of transactive systems require careful adherence to the dynamic interaction between a system’s responsive elements and the system’s operational objectives. In every transactive system mechanism, elements respond to incentives that become revealed to them, and certain operational objectives become explicitly incentivized by the transactive system mechanism. The transactive system mechanisms define the important coupling between the responsive elements and the system’s objectives.« less

Moral valuation: a third domain of conscience functioning.

PubMed

Stilwell, B M; Galvin, M; Kopta, S M; Padgett, R J

1996-02-01

To assess development of moral valuation in normal children and adolescents, that is, how moral rules for living are derived and justified, and to examine the relationship of this progression with previously identified stages of conceptualization of conscience. Using three semistructured questions from the Stilwell Conscience Interview, 132 normal volunteers between the ages of 5 and 17 years were assessed. All moral valuation responses were examined within three aspects of social reference: authority-derived, self-derived, and peer-derived. Each aspect was scaled for complexity into six anchored levels. The levels of all three aspects correlated positively with conceptualization stages as well as with each other. When the covariate, age, was taken into consideration, peer-derived valuation was significantly correlated with both age and stage. Moral valuation is a domain of conscience functioning in which moral rules and their justifications are socially referenced in relationship to authority, self, and peers. Anchored levels of these three aspects of moral valuation provide developmental guidelines for mental status examinations in patients between 5 and 17 years of age as well as providing criteria for future comparative studies in various diagnostic categories of psychopathology.

Simulation-Based Valuation of Transactive Energy Systems

DOE PAGES

Huang, Qiuhua; McDermott, Tom; Tang, Yingying; ...

2018-05-18

Transactive Energy (TE) has been recognized as a promising technique for integrating responsive loads and distributed energy resources as well as advancing grid modernization. To help the industry better understand the value of TE and compare different TE schemes in a systematic and transparent manner, a comprehensive simulation-based TE valuation method is developed. The method has the following salient features: 1) it formally defines the valuation scenarios, use cases, baseline and valuation metrics; 2) an open-source simulation platform for transactive energy systems has been developed by integrating transmission, distribution and building simulators, and plugin TE and non-TE agents through themore » Framework for Network Co-Simulation (FNCS); 3) transparency and flexibility of the valuation is enhanced through separation of simulation and valuation, base valuation metrics and final valuation metrics. In conclusion, a valuation example based on the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) Use Case 1 is provided to demonstrate the developed TE simulation program and the valuation method.« less

Simulation-Based Valuation of Transactive Energy Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Qiuhua; McDermott, Tom; Tang, Yingying

Transactive Energy (TE) has been recognized as a promising technique for integrating responsive loads and distributed energy resources as well as advancing grid modernization. To help the industry better understand the value of TE and compare different TE schemes in a systematic and transparent manner, a comprehensive simulation-based TE valuation method is developed. The method has the following salient features: 1) it formally defines the valuation scenarios, use cases, baseline and valuation metrics; 2) an open-source simulation platform for transactive energy systems has been developed by integrating transmission, distribution and building simulators, and plugin TE and non-TE agents through themore » Framework for Network Co-Simulation (FNCS); 3) transparency and flexibility of the valuation is enhanced through separation of simulation and valuation, base valuation metrics and final valuation metrics. In conclusion, a valuation example based on the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) Use Case 1 is provided to demonstrate the developed TE simulation program and the valuation method.« less

Economic susceptibility of fire-prone landscapes in natural protected areas of the southern Andean Range.

PubMed

Molina, Juan Ramón; Moreno, Roberto; Castillo, Miguel; Rodríguez Y Silva, Francisco

2018-04-01

Large fires are the most important disturbances at landscape-level due to their ecological and socioeconomic impacts. This study aimed to develop an approach for the assessment of the socio-economic landscape susceptibility to fire. Our methodology focuses on the integration of economic components of landscape management based on contingent valuation method (CVM) and net-value change (NVC). This former component has been estimated using depreciation rates or changes on the number of arrivals to different natural protected areas after a large fire occurrence. Landscape susceptibility concept has been motivated by the need to assist fire prevention programs and environmental management. There was a remarkable variation in annual economic value attributed to each protected area based on the CVM scenario, ranging from 40,189-46,887$/year ("Tolhuaca National Park") to 241,000-341,953$/year ("Conguillio National Park"). We added landscape susceptibility using depreciation rates or tourist arrival decrease which varied from 2.04% (low fire intensity in "Tolhuaca National Park") to 76.67% (high fire intensity in "Conguillio National Park"). The integration of this approach and future studies about vegetation resilience should seek management strategies to increase economic efficiency in the fire prevention activities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Longitudinal Investigation of Willingness to Pay for Health Insurance in Germany.

PubMed

Bock, Jens-Oliver; Hajek, André; Brenner, Hermann; Saum, Kai-Uwe; Matschinger, Herbert; Haefeli, Walter Emil; Schöttker, Ben; Quinzler, Renate; Heider, Dirk; König, Hans-Helmut

2017-06-01

To investigate factors affecting willingness to pay (WTP) for health insurance of older adults in a longitudinal setting in Germany. Survey data from a cohort study in Saarland, Germany, from 2008-2010 and 2011-2014 (n 1  = 3,124; n 2  = 2,761) were used. Panel data were taken at two points from an observational, prospective cohort study. WTP estimates were derived using a contingent valuation method with a payment card. Participants provided data on sociodemographics, lifestyle factors, morbidity, and health care utilization. Fixed effects regression models showed higher individual health care costs to increase WTP, which in particular could be found for members of private health insurance. Changes in income and morbidity did not affect WTP among members of social health insurance, whereas these predictors affected WTP among members of private health insurance. The fact that individual health care costs affected WTP positively might indicate that demanding (expensive) health care services raises the awareness of the benefits of health insurance. Thus, measures to increase WTP in old age should target at improving transparency of the value of health insurances at the moment when individual health care utilization and corresponding costs are still relatively low. © Health Research and Educational Trust.

Willingness to pay for compulsory deworming of pets entering Sweden to prevent introduction of Echinoccoccus multilocularis.

PubMed

Höjgård, Sören; Sundström, Kristian; Christensson, Dan; Hallgren, Gunilla; Hjertqvist, Marika; Wallensten, Anders; Vågsholm, Ivar; Wahlström, Helene

2012-09-01

To investigate if the Swedish entry rules for pets to prevent the introduction of Echinococcus multilocularis (EM) are proportional (i.e. that their costs do not exceed the value of their benefits), a dichotomous-choice contingent valuation study was conducted. The study was performed before the first case of EM was detected in Sweden in February 2011. About 5000, randomly selected, Swedish citizens were invited to participate and 2192 of them (44%) accepted to do so. Missing information on whether or not one would accept to pay for keeping the rules for 143 respondents resulted in 2049 observations (41%) available for the estimation of willingness to pay (WTP), and missing information on personal characteristics for another 274 respondents reduced the number of observations available for sensitivity analysis to 1775 (36%). Annual expected WTP for keeping the rules ranged between € 54.3 and € 99.0 depending on assumptions about compensations demanded by respondents not willing to pay. The estimates are conservative since only answers from respondents that were absolutely certain they would pay the suggested bid were regarded as yes-responses. That WTP is positive implies that Swedish citizens perceived the benefits of the rules to be larger than their costs. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Contingency learning in human fear conditioning involves the ventral striatum.

PubMed

Klucken, Tim; Tabbert, Katharina; Schweckendiek, Jan; Merz, Christian Josef; Kagerer, Sabine; Vaitl, Dieter; Stark, Rudolf

2009-11-01

The ability to detect and learn contingencies between fearful stimuli and their predictive cues is an important capacity to cope with the environment. Contingency awareness refers to the ability to verbalize the relationships between conditioned and unconditioned stimuli. Although there is a heated debate about the influence of contingency awareness on conditioned fear responses, neural correlates behind the formation process of contingency awareness have gained only little attention in human fear conditioning. Recent animal studies indicate that the ventral striatum (VS) could be involved in this process, but in human studies the VS is mostly associated with positive emotions. To examine this question, we reanalyzed four recently published classical fear conditioning studies (n = 117) with respect to the VS at three distinct levels of contingency awareness: subjects, who did not learn the contingencies (unaware), subjects, who learned the contingencies during the experiment (learned aware) and subjects, who were informed about the contingencies in advance (instructed aware). The results showed significantly increased activations in the left and right VS in learned aware compared to unaware subjects. Interestingly, this activation pattern was only found in learned but not in instructed aware subjects. We assume that the VS is not involved when contingency awareness does not develop during conditioning or when contingency awareness is unambiguously induced already prior to conditioning. VS involvement seems to be important for the transition from a contingency unaware to a contingency aware state. Implications for fear conditioning models as well as for the contingency awareness debate are discussed.

Does evaluative learning rely on the perception of contingency?: manipulating contingency and US density during evaluative conditioning.

PubMed

Kattner, Florian; Ellermeier, Wolfgang

2011-01-01

An experiment is reported studying the impact of objective contingency and contingency judgments on cross-modal evaluative conditioning (EC). Both contingency judgments and evaluative responses were measured after a contingency learning task in which previously neutral sounds served as either weak or strong predictors of affective pictures. Experimental manipulations of contingency and US density were shown to affect contingency judgments. Stronger contingencies were perceived with high contingency and with low US density. The contingency learning task also produced a reliable EC effect. The magnitude of this effect was influenced by an interaction of statistical contingency and US density. Furthermore, the magnitude of EC was correlated with the subjective contingency judgments. Taken together, the results imply that propositional knowledge about the CS-US relationship, as reflected in contingency judgments, moderates evaluative learning. The data are discussed with respect to different accounts of EC.

Social impact analysis: monetary valuation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wainger, Lisa A.; Johnston, Robert J.; Bagstad, Kenneth J.; Casey, Frank; Vegh, Tibor

2014-01-01

This section provides basic guidance for using and conducting economic valuation, including criteria for judging whether valuation is appropriate for supporting decisions. It provides an introduction to the economic techniques used to measure changes in social welfare and describes which methods may be most appropriate for use in valuing particular ecosystem services. Rather than providing comprehensive valuation instructions,it directs readers to additional resources.More generally, it establishes that the valuation of ecosystem services is grounded in a long history of non-market valuation and discusses how ecosystem services valuation can be conducted within established economic theory and techniques.

“Tell me I’m sexy…and otherwise valuable:” Body Valuation and Relationship Satisfaction

PubMed Central

Meltzer, Andrea L.; McNulty, James K.

2013-01-01

Although extant research demonstrates that body valuation by strangers has negative implications for women, Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that body valuation by a committed male partner is positively associated with women’s relationship satisfaction when that partner also values them for their non-physical qualities, but negatively associated with women’s relationship satisfaction when that partner is not committed or does not value them for their non-physical qualities. Study 3 demonstrates that body valuation by a committed female partner is negatively associated with men’s relationship satisfaction when that partner does not also value them for their non-physical qualities but unassociated with men’s satisfaction otherwise. These findings join others demonstrating that fully understanding the implications of interpersonal processes requires considering the interpersonal context. (120 words) PMID:24683309

Valuation of preference-based measures: can existing preference data be used to generate better estimates?

PubMed

Kharroubi, Samer A

2018-06-05

Experimental studies to develop valuations of health state descriptive systems like EQ-5D or SF-6D need to be conducted in different countries, because social and cultural differences are likely to lead to systematically different valuations. There is a scope utilize the evidence in one country to help with the design and the analysis of a study in another, for this to enable the generation of utility estimates of the second country much more precisely than would have been possible when collecting and analyzing the country's data alone. We analyze SF-6D valuation data elicited from representative samples corresponding to the Hong Kong (HK) and United Kingdom (UK) general adult populations through the use of the standard gamble technique to value 197 and 249 health states respectively. We apply a nonparametric Bayesian model to estimate a HK value set using the UK dataset as informative prior to improve its estimation. Estimates are compared to a HK value set estimated using HK values alone using mean predictions and root mean square error. The novel method of modelling utility functions permitted the UK valuations to contribute significant prior information to the Hong Kong analysis. The results suggest that using HK data alongside the existing UK data produces HK utility estimates better than using the HK study data by itself. The promising results suggest that existing preference data could be combined with valuation study in a new country to generate preference weights, making own country value sets more achievable for low and middle income countries. Further research is encouraged.

Ecological economics of soil erosion: a review of the current state of knowledge.

PubMed

Adhikari, Bhim; Nadella, Karthik

2011-02-01

The economics of land degradation has received relatively little attention until recent years. Although a number of studies have undertaken valuation of ecosystem services ranging from the global to the micro level, and quite a few studies have attempted to quantify the costs of soil erosion, studies that address the full costs of land degradation are still scarce. In this review, we attempt to analyze different land resource modeling and valuation techniques applied in earlier research and the type of data used in these analyses, and to assess their utility for different forms of land resource and management appraisal. We also report on the strengths and weaknesses of different valuation techniques used in studies on the economics of soil erosion, and the relevance of these valuation techniques. We make a case for the need for more appropriate models that can make the analysis more robust in estimating the economic costs of land degradation while recognizing the spatial heterogeneity in biophysical and economic conditions. © 2011 New York Academy of Sciences.

26 CFR 20.2031-0 - Table of contents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... under section 2031. § 20.2031-1Definition of gross estate; valuation of property. § 20.2031-2Valuation... contracts; valuation of shares in an open-end investment company. § 20.2031-9Valuation of other property... term of years, and remainder or reversionary interests for estates of decedents for which the valuation...

26 CFR 20.2031-9 - Valuation of other property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 14 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Valuation of other property. 20.2031-9 Section... Valuation of other property. The valuation of any property not specifically described in §§ 20.2031-2 to 20... future interest in property not subject to valuation in accordance with the actuarial principles set...

Subjective Well-Being Approach to Environmental Valuation: Evidence for Greenhouse Gas Emissions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beja, Edsel L., Jr.

2012-01-01

The subjective well-being approach to environmental valuation is applied to analyze the valuation of greenhouse gas emissions with a fairness-adjustment in the valuation exercise. Results indicate that industrialized countries have high willingness-to-pay to reduce emissions. Developing countries differ in their valuations. Results indicate that…

Analysis of the uncertainty in the monetary valuation of ecosystem services--A case study at the river basin scale.

PubMed

Boithias, Laurie; Terrado, Marta; Corominas, Lluís; Ziv, Guy; Kumar, Vikas; Marqués, Montse; Schuhmacher, Marta; Acuña, Vicenç

2016-02-01

Ecosystem services provide multiple benefits to human wellbeing and are increasingly considered by policy-makers in environmental management. However, the uncertainty related with the monetary valuation of these benefits is not yet adequately defined or integrated by policy-makers. Given this background, our aim was to quantify different sources of uncertainty when performing monetary valuation of ecosystem services, in order to provide a series of guidelines to reduce them. With an example of 4 ecosystem services (i.e., water provisioning, waste treatment, erosion protection, and habitat for species) provided at the river basin scale, we quantified the uncertainty associated with the following sources: (1) the number of services considered, (2) the number of benefits considered for each service, (3) the valuation metrics (i.e. valuation methods) used to value benefits, and (4) the uncertainty of the parameters included in the valuation metrics. Results indicate that the highest uncertainty was caused by the number of services considered, as well as by the number of benefits considered for each service, whereas the parametric uncertainty was similar to the one related to the selection of valuation metric, thus suggesting that the parametric uncertainty, which is the only uncertainty type commonly considered, was less critical than the structural uncertainty, which is in turn mainly dependent on the decision-making context. Given the uncertainty associated to the valuation structure, special attention should be given to the selection of services, benefits and metrics according to a given context. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

26 CFR 1.430(g)-1 - Valuation date and valuation of plan assets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

....430(g)-1 Section 1.430(g)-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Certain Stock Options § 1.430(g)-1 Valuation date... plan's valuation date and the valuation of a plan's assets for a plan year under section 430(g...

26 CFR 1.430(g)-1 - Valuation date and valuation of plan assets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

....430(g)-1 Section 1.430(g)-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Certain Stock Options § 1.430(g)-1 Valuation date... plan's valuation date and the valuation of a plan's assets for a plan year under section 430(g...

26 CFR 1.430(g)-1 - Valuation date and valuation of plan assets.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

....430(g)-1 Section 1.430(g)-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Certain Stock Options § 1.430(g)-1 Valuation date... plan's valuation date and the valuation of a plan's assets for a plan year under section 430(g...

Egocentric empathy gaps between owners and buyers: misperceptions of the endowment effect.

PubMed

Van Boven, L; Dunning, D; Loewenstein, G

2000-07-01

In 5 studies, the authors examined people's perceptions of the endowment effect, or the tendency to value an object more once one owns it. In the 1st 2 studies, the authors documented egocentric empathy gaps between owners and buyers regarding the endowment effect: Both owners and buyers overestimated the similarity between their own valuation of a commodity and the valuation of people in the other role. The next 2 studies showed that these empathy gaps may lead to reduced earnings in a market setting. The final study showed that egocentric empathy gaps stem partly from people's misprediction of what their own valuation would be if they were in the other role.

43 CFR 30.264 - When must BIA furnish a valuation of a decedent's interests?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false When must BIA furnish a valuation of a... BIA furnish a valuation of a decedent's interests? (a) BIA must furnish a valuation report of the..., BIA must furnish a valuation report in the probate file when it is submitted to OHA. Interested...

Economic valuation of ecosystem services: discussion and application.

PubMed

Lazo, Jeffrey K

2002-11-01

Ecosystems provide a wide range of services that improve human welfare. Changes in ecosystems imply potential changes in the generation of these ecosystem services and thus changes in welfare. In the lingo of economists, these welfare changes are measured as changes in economic values--increases in welfare being benefits and decreases in welfare being costs. For instance, individuals may benefit from, and thus value, reductions in risks to endangered species. Yet values for many changes in ecosystem services are not captured in market transactions, and thus measuring these values requires nonmarket valuation methods. This paper discusses ecosystem services and values from the viewpoint of an economist, explains what is meant by the valuation of ecosystems, and provides an overview of methods for valuation of ecosystem services. An example is presented from a recent natural resource damage assessment--the Green Bay total value equivalency study. Resources in the Lower Fox River and Green Bay in Wisconsin have been injured by polychlorinated biphenyl contamination from numerous paper mills along the river over several decades. The Green Bay study examines individuals' preferences and values for reducing ecosystem risks and improving ecosystem services and how these values are related to individuals' awareness of and use of ecosystem services in the area. The study uses methods from nonmarket valuation to scale potential restoration projects.

Japanese consumer preferences for milk certified with the good agricultural practice(GAP) label.

PubMed

Aizaki, Hideo; Nanseki, Teruaki; Zhou, Hui

2013-01-01

This study examined Japanese consumers' valuation of a good agricultural practice (GAP) label on packaged milk and investigated the effect of detailed GAP information on valuation. A total of 624 Japanese consumers were asked to select their most preferred milk through an online survey. The milk was assumed to have three attributes: the GAP label, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points certification, and price. The results showed that consumers' valuation of GAP was significantly positive. Although providing additional GAP information to a respondent who was aware of GAP and what it means had a positive effect on the consumers' valuation of GAP, provision of this information had no effect if the respondent knew about GAP either moderately or slightly, and had a negative effect if the respondent did not know about GAP at all. To increase broad consumer awareness and valuation of GAP, it is important to provide GAP information according to the requirements of consumers. © 2012 The Authors. Animal Science Journal © 2012 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

Religiousness and hazardous alcohol use: a conditional indirect effects model.

PubMed

Jankowski, Peter J; Hardy, Sam A; Zamboanga, Byron L; Ham, Lindsay S

2013-08-01

The current study examined a conditional indirect effects model of the association between religiousness and adolescents' hazardous alcohol use. In doing so, we responded to the need to include both mediators and moderators, and the need for theoretically informed models when examining religiousness and adolescents' alcohol use. The sample consisted of 383 adolescents, aged 15-18, who completed an online questionnaire. Results of structural equation modeling supported the proposed model. Religiousness was indirectly associated with hazardous alcohol use through both positive alcohol expectancy outcomes and negative alcohol expectancy valuations. Significant moderating effects for alcohol expectancy valuations on the association between alcohol expectancies and alcohol use were also found. The effects for alcohol expectancy valuations confirm valuations as a distinct construct to that of alcohol expectancy outcomes, and offer support for the protective role of internalized religiousness on adolescents' hazardous alcohol use as a function of expectancy valuations. Copyright © 2013 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Are Urban Stream Restoration Plans Worth Implementing?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarvilinna, Auri; Lehtoranta, Virpi; Hjerppe, Turo

2017-01-01

To manage and conserve ecosystems in a more sustainable way, it is important to identify the importance of the ecosystem services they provide and understand the connection between natural and socio-economic systems. Historically, streams have been an underrated part of the urban environment. Many of them have been straightened and often channelized under pressure of urbanization. However, little knowledge exists concerning the economic value of stream restoration or the value of the improved ecosystem services. We used the contingent valuation method to assess the social acceptability of a policy-level water management plan in the city of Helsinki, Finland, and the values placed on improvements in a set of ecosystem services, accounting for preference uncertainty. According to our study, the action plan would provide high returns on restoration investments, since the benefit-cost ratio was 15-37. Moreover, seventy-two percent of the respondents willing to pay for stream restoration chose "I want to conserve streams as a part of urban nature for future generations" as the most motivating reason. Our study indicates that the water management plan for urban streams in Helsinki has strong public support. If better marketed to the population within the watershed, the future projects could be partly funded by the local residents, making the projects easier to accomplish. The results of this study can be used in planning, management and decision making related to small urban watercourses.

A Comparison of Willingness to Pay to Prevent Child Maltreatment Deaths in Ecuador and the United States

PubMed Central

Corso, Phaedra S.; Ingels, Justin B.; Roldos, M. Isabel

2013-01-01

Estimating the benefits of preventing child maltreatment (CM) is essential for policy makers to determine whether there are significant returns on investment from interventions to prevent CM. The aim of this study was to estimate the benefits of preventing CM deaths in an Ecuadorian population, and to compare the results to a similar study in a US population. The study used the contingent valuation method to elicit respondents’ willingness to pay (WTP) for a 1 in 100,000 reduction in the risk of CM mortality. After adjusting for differences in purchasing power, the WTP to prevent the CM mortality risk reduction in the Ecuador population was $237 and the WTP for the same risk reduction in the US population was $175. In the pooled analysis, WTP for a reduction in CM mortality was significantly impacted by country (p = 0.03), history of CM (p = 0.007), payment mechanism (p < 0.001), confidence in response (p = 0.014), and appropriateness of the payment mechanism (p < 0.001). These findings suggest that estimating benefits from one culture may not be transferable to another, and that low- and middle-income countries, such as Ecuador, may be better served by developing their own benefits estimates for use in future benefit-cost analyses of interventions designed to prevent CM. PMID:23538730

Contingent imitation increases verbal interaction in children with autism spectrum disorders.

PubMed

Ishizuka, Yuka; Yamamoto, Jun-Ichi

2016-11-01

Several studies have suggested that contingent adult imitation increase nonverbal communication, such as attention and proximity to adults, in children with autism spectrum disorders. However, few studies have shown the effect of contingent imitation on verbal communication. This study examined whether children with autism were able to promote verbal interaction such as vocal imitation, vocalization, and vocal turn-taking via contingent imitation. We used an alternating treatment design composed of the conditions of contingent imitation and control for six children with autism (aged 33-63 months). For contingent imitation condition, adults imitated children's vocalization immediately. For control condition, adults did not imitate but gave a vocal response immediately. Results showed that in contingent imitation condition, all children increased the number of vocal imitations and vocal turn-takings compared with control condition. The number of vocalizations increased in both condition for all children. Overall, it is suggested that all children promote verbal interaction via contingent imitation. © The Author(s) 2016.

The Role of Feedback Contingency in Perceptual Category Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ashby, F. Gregory; Vucovich, Lauren E.

2016-01-01

Feedback is highly contingent on behavior if it eventually becomes easy to predict, and weakly contingent on behavior if it remains difficult or impossible to predict even after learning is complete. Many studies have demonstrated that humans and nonhuman animals are highly sensitive to feedback contingency, but no known studies have examined how…

26 CFR 20.2031-0 - Table of contents.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

.... § 20.2031-5Valuation of cash on hand or on deposit. § 20.2031-6Valuation of household and personal... contracts; valuation of shares in an open-end investment company. § 20.2031-9Valuation of other property...

Allocating risk capital for a brownfields redevelopment project under hydrogeological and financial uncertainty.

PubMed

Yu, Soonyoung; Unger, Andre J A; Parker, Beth; Kim, Taehee

2012-06-15

In this study, we defined risk capital as the contingency fee or insurance premium that a brownfields redeveloper needs to set aside from the sale of each house in case they need to repurchase it at a later date because the indoor air has been detrimentally affected by subsurface contamination. The likelihood that indoor air concentrations will exceed a regulatory level subject to subsurface heterogeneity and source zone location uncertainty is simulated by a physics-based hydrogeological model using Monte Carlo realizations, yielding the probability of failure. The cost of failure is the future value of the house indexed to the stochastic US National Housing index. The risk capital is essentially the probability of failure times the cost of failure with a surcharge to compensate the developer against hydrogeological and financial uncertainty, with the surcharge acting as safety loading reflecting the developers' level of risk aversion. We review five methodologies taken from the actuarial and financial literature to price the risk capital for a highly stylized brownfield redevelopment project, with each method specifically adapted to accommodate our notion of the probability of failure. The objective of this paper is to develop an actuarially consistent approach for combining the hydrogeological and financial uncertainty into a contingency fee that the brownfields developer should reserve (i.e. the risk capital) in order to hedge their risk exposure during the project. Results indicate that the price of the risk capital is much more sensitive to hydrogeological rather than financial uncertainty. We use the Capital Asset Pricing Model to estimate the risk-adjusted discount rate to depreciate all costs to present value for the brownfield redevelopment project. A key outcome of this work is that the presentation of our risk capital valuation methodology is sufficiently generalized for application to a wide variety of engineering projects. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pershing in Mexico: a case study in limited contingency operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-26

Pershing in Mexico: A Case Study in Limited Contingency Operations A Monograph by MAJ Timothy J. Lawrence United States Army School...DATE (00-MM-YYYY) REPORT TYPE 12. 31-03-2016 SAMS Monograph 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Pershing in Mexico: A Case Study in Limited Contingency Operations...Monograph Approval Page Name of Candidate: MAJ Timothy J. Lawrence Monograph Title: Pershing in Mexico: A Case Study in Limited Contingency Operations

77 FR 2128 - Southwest Pennsylvania Railroad Company-Acquisition Exemption-Laurel Hill Development Corporation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-01-13

... Valuation Station 4+06.3 in Greene Junction and Rail Valuation Station 1148+43.8 in Smithfield, as shown generally on Valuation Maps V.69.1/S-43a, V.69.11/1 to 6, and V.82.1/1 to 6, in Fayette County, Pa.; (b) 3.28 miles of rail line extending between Rail Valuation Station 1+30 in Broadford and Rail Valuation...

Ecosystem Service Valuation Assessments for Protected Area Management: A Case Study Comparing Methods Using Different Land Cover Classification and Valuation Approaches

PubMed Central

Whitham, Charlotte E. L.

2015-01-01

Accurate and spatially-appropriate ecosystem service valuations are vital for decision-makers and land managers. Many approaches for estimating ecosystem service value (ESV) exist, but their appropriateness under specific conditions or logistical limitations is not uniform. The most accurate techniques are therefore not always adopted. Six different assessment approaches were used to estimate ESV for a National Nature Reserve in southwest China, across different management zones. These approaches incorporated two different land-use land cover (LULC) maps and development of three economic valuation techniques, using globally or locally-derived data. The differences in ESV across management zones for the six approaches were largely influenced by the classifications of forest and farmland and how they corresponded with valuation coefficients. With realistic limits on access to time, data, skills and resources, and using acquired estimates from globally-relevant sources, the Buffer zone was estimated as the most valuable (2.494 million ± 1.371 million CNY yr-1 km-2) and the Non-protected zone as the least valuable (770,000 ± 4,600 CNY yr-1 km-2). However, for both LULC maps, when using the locally-based and more time and skill-intensive valuation approaches, this pattern was generally reversed. This paper provides a detailed practical example of how ESV can differ widely depending on the availability and appropriateness of LULC maps and valuation approaches used, highlighting pitfalls for the managers of protected areas. PMID:26086191

Construction of an Instrument to Measure Social Valuation in an Emerging Market Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Katono, Isaac Wasswa

2011-01-01

Purpose: This study aims to construct a parsimonious instrument to measure social valuation in a collective setting using Uganda as an example. Design/methodology/approach: A triangulation technique was used in this study. Conversations with students, parents, teaching and non-teaching staff at Uganda Christian University (UCU) main campus were…

MORTALITY RISK VALUATION AND STATED PREFERENCE METHODS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

EPA Science Inventory

The purposes of this project are: (1) to improve understanding of cognitive processes involved in the valuation of mortality risk reductions that occur in an environmental pollution context, and (2) to translate this understanding into survey language appropriate for future stat...

Environmental Economics for Watershed Restoration: Valuation for Non-Economists

EPA Science Inventory

EPA economists completed research projects and summarized related valuation methods and case studies, mostly dealing with acid mine drainage. Their recent book (edited by Thurston, et al.) is intended to make stakeholders more comfortable talking about economic jargon and to info...

A comparison of Hong Kong and United Kingdom SF-6D health states valuations using a nonparametric Bayesian method.

PubMed

Kharroubi, Samer A; Brazier, John E; McGhee, Sarah

2014-06-01

There is interest in the extent to which valuations of health may differ between different countries and cultures, but few studies have compared preference values of health states obtained in different countries. The present study applies a nonparametric model to estimate and compare two HK and UK standard gamble values for six-dimensional health state short form (derived from short-form 36 health survey) (SF-6D) health states using Bayesian methods. The data set is the HK and UK SF-6D valuation studies in which two samples of 197 and 249 states defined by the SF-6D were valued by representative samples of the HK and UK general populations, respectively, both using the standard gamble technique. We estimated a function applicable across both countries that explicitly accounts for the differences between them, and is estimated using the data from both countries. The results suggest that differences in SF-6D health state valuations between the UK and HK general populations are potentially important. In particular, the valuations of Hong Kong were meaningfully higher than those of the United Kingdom for most of the selected SF-6D health states. The magnitude of these country-specific differences in health state valuation depended, however, in a complex way on the levels of individual dimensions. The new Bayesian nonparametric method is a powerful approach for analyzing data from multiple nationalities or ethnic groups to understand the differences between them and potentially to estimate the underlying utility functions more efficiently. Copyright © 2014 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Contingency Theories of Leadership: A Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Saha, Sunhir K.

1979-01-01

Some of the major contingency theories of leadership are reviewed; some results from the author's study of Fiedler's contingency model are reported; and some thoughts for the future of leadership research are provided. (Author/MLF)

26 CFR 20.2032-1 - Alternate valuation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... alternate valuation method under section 2032, the property included in the decedent's gross estate on the..., the alternate valuation method applies to all property included in the gross estate and cannot be... elects the alternate valuation method under section 2432, all property interests existing at the date of...

Extended child and caregiver benefits of behavior-based child contingency learning games.

PubMed

Dunst, Carl J; Raab, Melinda; Trivette, Carol M; Wilson, Linda L; Hamby, Deborah W; Parkey, Cindy

2010-08-01

Findings from 2 studies of the relationship between response-contingent child behavior and child, caregiver-child, and caregiver behavior not directly associated with child contingency learning are described. The participants were 19 children with significant developmental delays and their mothers in 1 study and 22 children with significant developmental delays and their teachers in the second study. Caregivers engaged the children in learning games characterized by behavior-based contingencies for 15 weeks. Research staff observed the children and their caregivers in everyday routines and activities and rated child and caregiver behavior while the children and caregivers were not playing the games. Results from both studies showed that the degree of response-contingent responding during the games was related to child and caregiver behavior, not the focus of the contingency learning opportunities afforded the children. Implications for practice are described.

The acquisition of simple associations as observed in color-word contingency learning.

PubMed

Lin, Olivia Y-H; MacLeod, Colin M

2018-01-01

Three experiments investigated the learning of simple associations in a color-word contingency task. Participants responded manually to the print colors of 3 words, with each word associated strongly to 1 of the 3 colors and weakly to the other 2 colors. Despite the words being irrelevant, response times to high-contingency stimuli and to low-contingency stimuli quickly diverged. This high-low difference remained quite constant over successive blocks of trials, evidence of stable contingency learning. Inclusion of a baseline condition-an item having no color-word contingency-permitted separation of the contingency learning effect into 2 components: a cost due to low contingency and a benefit due to high contingency. Both cost and benefit were quick to acquire, quick to extinguish, and quick to reacquire. The color-word contingency task provides a simple way to directly study the learning of associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Breaking the Myth of Flexible Work: Contingent Work in Toronto. A Study Conducted by the Contingent Workers Project.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

de Wolff, Alice

A survey of 205 people, 4 group interviews with approximately 30 people, and 6 design and analysis meetings involving approximately 40 people were conducted in a 1999 participatory study of contingent workers in Toronto. (Contingent work was defined to be lower-waged forms of non-permanent work arrangements that include contracting, employment…

Total economic value of wetlands products and services in Uganda.

PubMed

Kakuru, Willy; Turyahabwe, Nelson; Mugisha, Johnny

2013-01-01

Wetlands provide food and non-food products that contribute to income and food security in Uganda. This study determined the economic value of wetland resources and their contribution to food security in the three agroecological zones of Uganda. The values of wetland resources were estimated using primary and secondary data. Market price, Productivity, and Contingent valuation methods were used to estimate the value of wetland resources. The per capita value of fish was approximately US$ 0.49 person⁻¹. Fish spawning was valued at approximately US$ 363,815 year⁻¹, livestock pastures at US$ 4.24 million, domestic water use at US$ 34 million year⁻¹, and the gross annual value added by wetlands to milk production at US$ 1.22 million. Flood control was valued at approximately US$ 1,702,934,880 hectare⁻¹ year⁻¹ and water regulation and recharge at US$ 7,056,360 hectare⁻¹ year⁻¹. Through provision of grass for mulching, wetlands were estimated to contribute to US$ 8.65 million annually. The annual contribution of non-use values was estimated in the range of US$ 7.1 million for water recharge and regulation and to US$ 1.7 billion for flood control. Thus, resource investment for wetlands conservation is economically justified to create incentives for continued benefits.

Willingness to pay for the maintenance of equity in a local ivermectin distribution scheme in Toro, Northern Nigeria.

PubMed

Onwujekwe, O E; Shu, E N; Okonkwo, P O

1999-07-01

The willingness to pay (WTP) for the maintenance of equity in a local ivermectin distribution scheme in the context of a community financing framework was determined in Toro, Northern Nigeria, using 214 randomly selected heads of households, or their representatives. Though WTP of the respondents for their own households was elicited, the focus of this paper is on WTP to maintain equity in a community financing scheme. Contingent valuation was used for the exercise, and WTP was elicited using an open-ended question. 97.2% of the respondents were in favour of allowing those that lack the ability to pay, to benefit from the scheme and the maximum WTP amounts they were willing to contribute annually so that those who lack the ability to pay could benefit from the scheme ranged from 5 Naira ($0. 06) to 100 Naira ($1.25). The mean WTP to maintain equity was 29.00 Naira ($0.36) while the median was 20.00 Naira ($0.25). This study shows that a community financing scheme for local ivermectin distribution will not be inequitable, since enough funds will be realised from well-to-do community members to cover the costs for those who are unable to pay.

Total Economic Value of Wetlands Products and Services in Uganda

PubMed Central

Kakuru, Willy; Turyahabwe, Nelson; Mugisha, Johnny

2013-01-01

Wetlands provide food and non-food products that contribute to income and food security in Uganda. This study determined the economic value of wetland resources and their contribution to food security in the three agroecological zones of Uganda. The values of wetland resources were estimated using primary and secondary data. Market price, Productivity, and Contingent valuation methods were used to estimate the value of wetland resources. The per capita value of fish was approximately US$ 0.49 person−1. Fish spawning was valued at approximately US$ 363,815 year−1, livestock pastures at US$ 4.24 million, domestic water use at US$ 34 million year−1, and the gross annual value added by wetlands to milk production at US$ 1.22 million. Flood control was valued at approximately US$ 1,702,934,880 hectare−1 year−1 and water regulation and recharge at US$ 7,056,360 hectare−1 year−1. Through provision of grass for mulching, wetlands were estimated to contribute to US$ 8.65 million annually. The annual contribution of non-use values was estimated in the range of US$ 7.1 million for water recharge and regulation and to US$ 1.7 billion for flood control. Thus, resource investment for wetlands conservation is economically justified to create incentives for continued benefits. PMID:24163614

A scientometric review of emerging trends and new developments in agricultural ecological compensation.

PubMed

He, Ke; Zhang, Junbiao; Wang, Xueting; Zeng, Yangmei; Zhang, Lu

2018-05-08

Agricultural ecological compensation has drawn an increasingly broad range of interest since early 1990s. In recent years, the volume of the literature grows rapidly. As a result, a systematic review of the diverse research field and its current trends becomes essential. This paper surveys the literature of agricultural ecological compensation between 1990 and 2016. Specifically, by employing CiteSpace information visualization software, we firstly identified the research hotspots and evolution path and then illustrated the frontier and developing trend of the domain in core and broader perspectives. It is found that the focus of the academic community has always been researches on the theoretical policy and application of the payment for agro-ecosystem services, agricultural ecological compensation based on contingent valuation method, and ecological compensation of farmland landscape and organic food production as well as willingness to accept/pay for land use and ecological protection. Meanwhile, we also found that, in recent years, qualitative research has received more and more attention in the field of agricultural ecological compensation, since global warming, agricultural carbon emissions, and other emerging environmental issues have aroused widespread concern of the people around the world. Moreover, we believed that more and more scholars will employ case study methodology to analyze agricultural ecological compensation in specific systems, regions, or circumstances in the future.

Willingness to pay, borrow, and work for rural water service improvements in developing countries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abramson, Adam; Becker, Nir; Garb, Yaakov; Lazarovitch, Naftali

2011-11-01

In many least developed countries, inadequate user willingness to pay (WTP) to achieve cost recovery for improvements to substandard rural water services is a major barrier to reaching targets such as the Millennium Development Goals. A meta-analysis of 21 contingent valuation studies conducted in least developed countries reveals that cost recovery from user demand is infeasible in most cases, and that rural areas are especially unwilling to pay enough to finance water service improvements. We argue that this is largely due to inability to pay cash rather than an absence of demand and propose two alternative financing approaches that may enable capital deficient communities to afford improvements. A discrete choice experiment, conducted in a rural catchment of Zambia, compares conventional cash-based WTP for different water service attributes with two alternative measures. (1) Willingness to borrow: Monthly payments in cash, with a no-interest loan given to the user. (2) Willingness to work: Instead of cash, payment in the form of contributing time devoted to unskilled labor. To different degrees, these alternatives elicit higher demand and enable cost recovery, providing evidence that demand-driven, economically sustainable water development efforts, as described here for Simango, Zambia, may be implemented for rural, resource-poor communities.

Willingness to pay for avoiding infection of climate change diseases, in particular tsutsugamushi disease.

PubMed

Rhee, Hae-Chun

2013-02-01

As the prevalence of tsutsugamushi disease has tripled over the past decade to affect 8307 people in October 2012, this study is conducted to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) to avoid infection of tsutsugamushi disease in order to analyze the loss of value caused by climate change diseases. The double-bounded dichotomous choice of contingent valuation method was used to estimate the WTP to avoid infection of tsutsugamushi disease, through surveys conducted in the patient group (n = 120) and the control group (n = 240). More young people in the family, higher level of awareness of risks caused by climate change, more male members (as opposed to female), higher income, lower suggested bid, and greater WTP, is better positioned to avoid infection of disease. The mean of the amount of WTP has been estimated to be 3689 Kwon per month. As people have become increasingly aware of climate change diseases, WTP to avoid infection of tsutsugamushi disease has increased accordingly. The implicit loss of value due to climate change diseases is becoming increasingly higher. Therefore, there should be stronger and more aggressive promotional activities to prevent people from being infected with tsutsugamushi disease and to build a healthier society free from climate change diseases.

Outpatient imaging center valuations: do you need a fair-market value analysis?

PubMed

Koonsman, G S

2001-01-01

Typically, outpatient diagnostic imaging centers are formed as partnerships between radiologists, radiologists and hospitals, and/or radiologists and diagnostic imaging center management companies. As a result of these partnership structures, the question of equity valuation frequently arises. It is not only important to understand when an independent valuation would be required, but also what "type" of valuation needs to be performed. The type of valuation may vary based upon the use of the valuation. In partnerships that involve hospitals and physicians, the federal anti-kickback statutes (fraud and abuse laws) require that all transactions between referring physicians and hospitals be consummated at fair-market value. In addition, tax-exempt hospitals that enter into partnerships with physicians are required to enter into those transactions at fair-market value or risk losing their tax-exempt status. Fair-market value is also typically the standard of value that all partnerships strive to conduct equity transactions with shareholders. Qualifications required by those who perform independent fair-market value opinions include: Proper business valuation training and focus on valuations as a primary business Focus on the healthcare industry and specifically on the valuation of diagnostic imaging centers In order to perform a reasonable business valuation analysis, the appraiser must have access to a significant amount of financial, operational and legal information. The analyst must be able to understand the history of the imaging center as well as the projected future of the center. Ultimately, a valuation is a measurement of the estimated future cash flows of the center--risk adjusted--in order to quantify the present value of those cash flows.

Revisiting the relation between contingency awareness and attention: evaluative conditioning relies on a contingency focus.

PubMed

Kattner, Florian

2012-01-01

Although evaluative conditioning has occasionally been demonstrated in the absence of contingency awareness, many recent studies imply that its acquisition depends on the availability of attentional resources during conditioning. In previous experiments attention has typically been manipulated in a general way rather than looking at the particular focus of attention. The present study investigated the role of a focus on the CS-US contingency. Two separate distraction tasks were designed that either diverted attention from the stimuli or directed it to the stimuli while drawing attention away from the contingency between the stimuli. Both types of distraction were shown to eliminate evaluative conditioning. Significant evaluative conditioning was observed in a third group of participants who were required to attend the contingencies. A mediation analysis showed that the observed discrepancy in evaluative conditioning effects between groups was mediated by contingency awareness. The results imply that attention in terms of a stimulus focus is not sufficient for evaluative conditioning to occur. Rather, attention to the contingencies between stimuli appears to be crucial in evaluative conditioning, because it is supposed to foster the acquisition of contingency awareness.

Supervisory Styles: A Contingency Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Boehe, Dirk Michael

2016-01-01

While the contingent nature of doctoral supervision has been acknowledged, the literature on supervisory styles has yet to deliver a theory-based contingency framework. A contingency framework can assist supervisors and research students in identifying appropriate supervisory styles under varying circumstances. The conceptual study reported here…

7 CFR 4290.503 - RBIC's adoption of an approved valuation policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... close of the quarter. (e) Review of valuations by independent public accountant. (1) For valuations performed as of the end of your fiscal year, your independent public accountant must review your valuation... independent public accountant's report on your audited annual financial statements (SBA Form 468) must include...

13 CFR 107.503 - Licensee's adoption of an approved valuation policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... of the quarter. (e) Review of valuations by independent public accountant. (1) For valuations performed as of the end of your fiscal year, your independent public accountant must review your valuation... independent public accountant's report on your audited annual financial statements (SBA Form 468) must include...

46 CFR 309.3 - Stated valuation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 46 Shipping 8 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Stated valuation. 309.3 Section 309.3 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS VALUES FOR WAR RISK INSURANCE § 309.3 Stated valuation. A stated valuation represents just compensation for the vessel to which it applies computed by...

46 CFR 309.3 - Stated valuation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 46 Shipping 8 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Stated valuation. 309.3 Section 309.3 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS VALUES FOR WAR RISK INSURANCE § 309.3 Stated valuation. A stated valuation represents just compensation for the vessel to which it applies computed by...

46 CFR 309.3 - Stated valuation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 8 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Stated valuation. 309.3 Section 309.3 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS VALUES FOR WAR RISK INSURANCE § 309.3 Stated valuation. A stated valuation represents just compensation for the vessel to which it applies computed by...

46 CFR 309.3 - Stated valuation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 46 Shipping 8 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Stated valuation. 309.3 Section 309.3 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS VALUES FOR WAR RISK INSURANCE § 309.3 Stated valuation. A stated valuation represents just compensation for the vessel to which it applies computed by...

46 CFR 309.3 - Stated valuation.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 46 Shipping 8 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Stated valuation. 309.3 Section 309.3 Shipping MARITIME ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION EMERGENCY OPERATIONS VALUES FOR WAR RISK INSURANCE § 309.3 Stated valuation. A stated valuation represents just compensation for the vessel to which it applies computed by...

Valuation of Property.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bodley, Joanne H.; Goodenough, Linda

This report describes property tax revenues and assessment rates for all 50 States during 1966. The following information is summarized by State and by class of property: (1) The total valuation and the taxable valuation of property subject to local general property taxation and the percent distribution of total valuation by class of property; (2)…

7 CFR 4290.503 - RBIC's adoption of an approved valuation policy.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... close of the quarter. (e) Review of valuations by independent public accountant. (1) For valuations performed as of the end of your fiscal year, your independent public accountant must review your valuation... independent public accountant's report on your audited annual financial statements (SBA Form 468) must include...

Valuation and Presentation Conventions in News Communication: A Formula for Measurement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Corrigan, Dennis M.

To increase knowledge about the nature of news (particularly its valuation and presentation conventions), to enrich understanding of communication conventions in our society through the study of news communication, and to fashion a tool that can be used to charge and change such conventions, a study examined the content of all news articles…

Congruence or discrepancy? Comparing patients' health valuations and physicians' treatment goals for rehabilitation for patients with chronic conditions.

PubMed

Nagl, Michaela; Farin, Erik

2012-03-01

The aim of this study was to test the congruence of patients' health valuations and physicians' treatment goals for the rehabilitation of chronically ill patients. In addition, patient characteristics associated with greater or less congruence were to be determined. In a questionnaire study, patients' health valuations and physicians' goals were assessed in three chronic conditions [breast cancer (BC), chronic ischemic heart disease (CIHD), and chronic back pain (CBP)] using a ranking method. Sociodemographic variables and health-related quality of life were assessed as patient-related factors that influence congruence. Congruence was determined at the group (Spearman's ρ) and individual levels (percentage of congruence). Patient-related influencing factors were calculated after a simple imputation using multiple logistic regression analysis. At the group level, there were often only low correlations. The mean percentage of congruence was 34.7% (BC), 48.5% (CIHD), and 31.9% (CBP). Patients with BC or CIHD who have a higher level of education showed greater congruence. Our results indicate some high discrepancy rates between physicians' treatment goals and patients' health valuations. It is possible that patients have preferences that do not correspond well with realistic rehabilitation goals or that physicians do not take patients' individual health valuations sufficiently into consideration when setting goals.

Varying the valuating function and the presentable bank in computerized adaptive testing.

PubMed

Barrada, Juan Ramón; Abad, Francisco José; Olea, Julio

2011-05-01

In computerized adaptive testing, the most commonly used valuating function is the Fisher information function. When the goal is to keep item bank security at a maximum, the valuating function that seems most convenient is the matching criterion, valuating the distance between the estimated trait level and the point where the maximum of the information function is located. Recently, it has been proposed not to keep the same valuating function constant for all the items in the test. In this study we expand the idea of combining the matching criterion with the Fisher information function. We also manipulate the number of strata into which the bank is divided. We find that the manipulation of the number of items administered with each function makes it possible to move from the pole of high accuracy and low security to the opposite pole. It is possible to greatly improve item bank security with much fewer losses in accuracy by selecting several items with the matching criterion. In general, it seems more appropriate not to stratify the bank.

Posterior resting state EEG asymmetries are associated with hedonic valuation of food.

PubMed

van Bochove, Marlies E; Ketel, Eva; Wischnewski, Miles; Wegman, Joost; Aarts, Esther; de Jonge, Benjamin; Medendorp, W Pieter; Schutter, Dennis J L G

2016-12-01

Research on the hedonic value of food has been important in understanding the motivational and emotional correlates of normal and abnormal eating behaviour. The aim of the present study was to explore associations between hemispheric asymmetries recorded during resting state electroencephalogram (EEG) and hedonic valuation of food. Healthy adult volunteers were recruited and four minutes of resting state EEG were recorded from the scalp. Hedonic food valuation and reward sensitivity were assessed with the hedonic attitude to food and behavioural activation scale. Results showed that parieto-occipital resting state EEG asymmetries in the alpha (8-12Hz) and beta (13-30Hz) frequency range correlate with the hedonic valuation of food. Our findings suggest that self-reported sensory-related attitude towards food is associated with interhemispheric asymmetries in resting state oscillatory activity. Our findings contribute to understanding the electrophysiological correlates of hedonic valuation, and may provide an opportunity to modulate the cortical imbalance by using non-invasive brain stimulation methods to change food consumption. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Normalized value coding explains dynamic adaptation in the human valuation process.

PubMed

Khaw, Mel W; Glimcher, Paul W; Louie, Kenway

2017-11-28

The notion of subjective value is central to choice theories in ecology, economics, and psychology, serving as an integrated decision variable by which options are compared. Subjective value is often assumed to be an absolute quantity, determined in a static manner by the properties of an individual option. Recent neurobiological studies, however, have shown that neural value coding dynamically adapts to the statistics of the recent reward environment, introducing an intrinsic temporal context dependence into the neural representation of value. Whether valuation exhibits this kind of dynamic adaptation at the behavioral level is unknown. Here, we show that the valuation process in human subjects adapts to the history of previous values, with current valuations varying inversely with the average value of recently observed items. The dynamics of this adaptive valuation are captured by divisive normalization, linking these temporal context effects to spatial context effects in decision making as well as spatial and temporal context effects in perception. These findings suggest that adaptation is a universal feature of neural information processing and offer a unifying explanation for contextual phenomena in fields ranging from visual psychophysics to economic choice.

Heart Rate Reactivity during Contingency Learning in 5- to 10-Month-Old at-Risk and Non-Risk Babies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Millar, W. S.; Weir, C. G.

2007-01-01

The study investigated the dynamic relation between contingency learning and heart rate with risk and non-risk babies 5- to 10-months-old. Four groups were compared in a two contingency treatments (contingent, yoked) x two risk status design. Concurrent heart rate was monitored during three phases of a contingency learning task (baseline,…

Valuing EQ-5D-5L health states 'in context' using a discrete choice experiment.

PubMed

Cole, Amanda; Shah, Koonal; Mulhern, Brendan; Feng, Yan; Devlin, Nancy

2018-05-01

In health state valuation studies, health states are typically presented as a series of sentences, each describing a health dimension and severity 'level'. Differences in the severity levels can be subtle, and confusion about which is 'worse' can lead to logically inconsistent valuation data. A solution could be to mimic the way patients self-report health, where the ordinal structure of levels is clear. We develop and test the feasibility of presenting EQ-5D-5L health states in the 'context' of the entire EQ-5D-5L descriptive system. An online two-arm discrete choice experiment was conducted in the UK (n = 993). Respondents were randomly allocated to a control (standard presentation) or 'context' arm. Each respondent completed 16 paired comparison tasks and feedback questions about the tasks. Differences across arms were assessed using regression analyses. Presenting health states 'in context' can significantly reduce the selection of logically dominated health states, particularly for labels 'severe' and 'extreme' (χ 2  = 46.02, p < 0.001). Preferences differ significantly between arms (likelihood ratio statistic = 42.00, p < 0.05). Comparing conditional logit modeling results, coefficients are ordered as expected for both arms, but the magnitude of decrements between levels is larger for the context arm. Health state presentation is a key consideration in the design of valuation studies. Presenting health states 'in context' affects valuation data and reduces logical inconsistencies. Our results could have implications for other valuation tasks such as time trade-off, and for the valuation of other preference-based measures.

Differences between individual and societal health state valuations: any link with personality?

PubMed

Chapman, Benjamin P; Franks, Peter; Duberstein, Paul R; Jerant, Anthony

2009-08-01

The concept of "adaptation" has been proposed to account for differences between individual and societal valuations of specific health states in patients with chronic diseases. Little is known about psychological indices of adaptational capacity, which may predict differences in individual and societal valuations of health states. We investigated whether such differences were partially explained by personality traits in chronic disease patients. Analysis of baseline data of randomized controlled trial. Three hundred seventy patients with chronic disease. The NEO-five factor inventory measure of personality, EuroQoL-5D (EQ-5D) societal-based, and the EQ visual analogue scale individually-based measures of health valuation. Regression analyses modeled Dev, a measure of difference between the EQ-Visual Analogue Scale and EQ-5D, as a function of personality traits, sociodemographic factors, and chronic diseases. Individual valuations were significantly and clinically higher than societal valuations among patients in the second and third quartile of conscientiousness (Dev = 0.08, P = 0.01); among covariates, only depression (Dev = -0.04, P = 0.046) was also associated with Dev. Compared with societal valuations of a given health state, persons at higher quartiles of conscientiousness report less disutility associated with poor health. The effect is roughly twice that of some estimates of minimally important clinical differences on the EQ-5D and of depression. Although useful at the aggregate level, societal preference measures may systematically undervalue the health states of more conscientious individuals. Future work should examine the impact this has on individual patient outcome evaluation in clinical studies.

Differences Between Individual and Societal Health State Valuations

PubMed Central

Chapman, Benjamin P.; Franks, Peter; Duberstein, Paul R.; Jerant, Anthony

2009-01-01

Objective The concept of “adaptation” has been proposed to account for differences between individual and societal valuations of specific health states in patients with chronic diseases. Little is known about psychological indices of adaptational capacity, which may predict differences in individual and societal valuations of health states. We investigated whether such differences were partially explained by personality traits in chronic disease patients. Research Design Analysis of baseline data of randomized controlled trial. Subjects Three hundred seventy patients with chronic disease. Measures The NEO-five factor inventory measure of personality, EuroQoL-5D (EQ-5D) societal-based, and the EQ visual analogue scale individually-based measures of health valuation. Results Regression analyses modeled Dev, a measure of difference between the EQ-Visual Analogue Scale and EQ-5D, as a function of personality traits, sociodemographic factors, and chronic diseases. Individual valuations were significantly and clinically higher than societal valuations among patients in the second and third quartile of conscientiousness (Dev = 0.08, P = 0.01); among covariates, only depression (Dev = -0.04, P = 0.046) was also associated with Dev. Conclusion Compared with societal valuations of a given health state, persons at higher quartiles of conscientiousness report less disutility associated with poor health. The effect is roughly twice that of some estimates of minimally important clinical differences on the EQ-5D and of depression. Although useful at the aggregate level, societal preference measures may systematically undervalue the health states of more conscientious individuals. Future work should examine the impact this has on individual patient outcome evaluation in clinical studies. PMID:19543121

[Perception and attitude of rural community to the construction of Asian elephant conservation corridors in Xishuangbanna].

PubMed

Li, Zheng-Ling; Chen, Ming-Yong; Wu, Zhao-Lu; Wang, Qian; Dong, Yong-Hua

2009-06-01

By using contingent valuation method (CVM), an investigation was made from November 2007 to March 2008 on the perception and attitude of 196 households in 5 villages within 2 planned Asian elephant conservation corridors in Xishuangbanna to the construction of the corridors. 80.61% of the interviewees conditionally supported the corridors construction. The main factors affecting the interviewees' support willingness included their education level, per capita income, and perceptions to Asian elephant protection, human-elephant relations, and corridor utilization patterns and its beneficiaries, among which, the interviewees' awareness of Asian elephant conservation, corridor utilization patterns, and corridor beneficiaries had strong influence on the support willingness, with the correlation coefficient being 0.231, 0.236, and -0.304, respectively. The rural community holding the land tenure played a key role in the corridors construction. To effectively design and planning the construction of biological conservation corridor, it is necessary to have a deep understanding on the perceptions and attitudes of rural community to the construction of the corridor and to obtain their support and participation for this construction.

Lake Powell management alternatives and values: CVM estimates of recreation benefits

USGS Publications Warehouse

Douglas, A.J.; Harpman, D.A.

2004-01-01

This paper presents data analyses based on information gathered from a recreation survey distributed during the spring of 1997 at Lake Powell. Recreation-linked management issues are the foci of the survey and this discussion. Survey responses to contingent valuation method (CVM) queries included in the questionnaire quantify visitor recreation values. The CVM estimates of the benefits provided by potential resource improvements are compared with the costs of the improvements in a benefit-cost analysis. The CVM questions covered three resources management issues including water quality improvement, sport fish harvest enhancement, and archeological site protection and restoration. The estimated benefits are remarkably high relative to the costs and range from $6 to $60 million per year. The dichotomous choice format was used in each of three resource CVM question scenarios. There were two levels of enhancement for each resource. There are, therefore, several consistency requirements—some of them unique to the dichotomous choice format—that the data and benefit estimates must satisfy. These consistency tests are presented in detail in the ensuing analysis.

"If you have the flu symptoms, your asymptomatic spouse may better answer the willingness-to-pay question". Evidence from a double-bounded dichotomous choice model with heterogeneous anchoring.

PubMed

Schwarzinger, Michaël; Carrat, Fabrice; Luchini, Stéphane

2009-07-01

The small sample size of contingent valuation (CV) surveys conducted in patients may have limited the use of the single-bounded (SB) dichotomous choice format which is recommended in environmental economics. In this paper, we explore two ways to increase the statistical efficiency of the SB format: (1) by the inclusion of proxies in addition to patients; (2) by the addition of a follow-up dichotomous question, i.e. the double-bounded (DB) dichotomous choice format. We found that patients (n=223) and spouses (n=64) answering on behalf of the patient had on average a similar willingness-to-pay for earlier alleviation of flu symptoms. However, a patient was significantly more likely to anchor his/her answer on the first bid as compared to a spouse. Finally, our original DB model with shift effect and heterogeneous anchoring reconciled the discrepancies found in willingness-to-pay statistics between SB and DB models in keeping with increased statistical efficiency.

Valuation of climate-change effects on Mediterranean shrublands.

PubMed

Riera, Pere; Peñuelas, Josep; Farreras, Verónica; Estiarte, Marc

2007-01-01

In general, the socioeconomic analysis of natural systems does not enter into the realms of natural science. This paper, however, estimates the human-welfare effects of possible physicochemical and biological impacts of climate change on Mediterranean shrublands over the coming 50 years. The contingent choice method was applied to elicit the trade-offs in perceived values for three climate-sensitive attributes of shrubland (plant cover, fire risk, and soil erosion) and for the costs of programs designed to mitigate changes. Soil erosion was found to be the attribute of shrubland that most concerned the population, followed by fire risk and then plant cover. An increase of 1% in the shrubland area affected by erosion was estimated to cost each person on average 2.9 euros per year in terms of lost welfare, a figure that is equivalent in terms of perceptions of social welfare to an increase of 0.24% in the shrub area burned annually and a decrease of 3.19% in the area of plant cover. These trade-off values may help ecologists, policy makers, and land managers to take social preferences into account.

Willingness to Pay for Complementary Health Care Insurance in Iran.

PubMed

Nosratnejad, Shirin; Rashidian, Arash; Akbari Sari, Ali; Moradi, Najme

2017-09-01

Complementary health insurance is increasingly used to remedy the limitations and shortcomings of the basic health insurance benefit packages. Hence, it is essential to gather reliable information about the amount of Willingness to Pay (WTP) for health insurance. We assessed the WTP for health insurance in Iran in order to suggest an affordable complementary health insurance. The study sample consisted of 300 household heads all over provinces of Iran in 2013. The method applied was double bounded dichotomous choice and open-ended question approach of contingent valuation. The average WTP for complementary health insurance per person per month by double bounded dichotomous choice and open-ended question method respectively was 199000 and 115300 Rials (8 and 4.6 USD, respectively). Household's heads with higher levels of income and those who worked had more WTP for the health insurance. Besides, the WTP increased in direct proportion to the number of insured members of each household and in inverse proportion to the family size. The WTP value can be used as a premium in a society. As an important finding, the study indicated that the households were willing to pay higher premiums than currently collected for the complementary health insurance coverage in Iran. This offers the policy makers the opportunity to increase the premium and provide good benefits package for insured people of country then better risk pooling.

Knowledge about Human Papillomavirus and Cervical Cancer: Predictors of HPV Vaccination among Dental Students

PubMed

Rajiah, Kingston; Maharajan, Mari Kannan; Fang Num, Kelly Sze; How Koh, Raymond Chee

2017-06-25

Background: The objective of this study is to determine the influence of dental students’ knowledge and attitude regarding human papillomavirus infection of cervical cancer on willingness to pay for vaccination. Basic research design: A convenience sampling method was used. The minimal sample size of 136 was calculated using the Raosoft calculator with a 5 % margin of error and 95% confidence level. Participants: The study population were all final year dental students from the School of Dentistry. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was used to measure knowledge levels and attitudes regarding human papillomavirus vaccination. Contingent valuation was conducted for willingness to pay for vaccination. Main outcome measures: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that human papillomavirus are associated with oropharynx cancer and the American Dental Association insist on expanding public awareness of the oncogenic potential of some HPV infections. Thus, as future dental practitioners, dental students should be aware of human papillomavirus and their links with cancer and the benefits of vaccination. Results: Knowledge on HPV and cervical cancer did not impact on attitudes towards vaccines. However, significant correlation existed between knowledge and willingness to pay for vaccination. Conclusions: Dental students’ knowledge on HPV and cervical cancer has no influence on their attitude towards HPV vaccines. However, their willingness to pay for HPV vaccination is influenced by their knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV vaccination. Creative Commons Attribution License

Risk perception and public acceptance toward a highly protested Waste-to-Energy facility.

PubMed

Ren, Xiangyu; Che, Yue; Yang, Kai; Tao, Yun

2016-02-01

The application of Waste-to-Energy treatment in Municipal Solid Waste faces strong protest by local communities, especially in cities with high population densities. This study introduces insight into the public awareness, acceptance and risk perception toward Waste-to-Energy through a structured questionnaire survey around a Waste-to-Energy facility in Shanghai, China. The Dichotomous-Choice contingent valuation method was applied to study the willingness to accept of residents as an indicator of risk perception and tolerance. The factors influencing risk perception and the protest response choice were analyzed. The geographical distributions of the acceptance of Waste-to-Energy facility and protest response were explored using geographical information systems. The findings of the research indicated an encouraging vision of promoting Waste-to-Energy, considering its benefits of renewable energy and the conservation of land. A high percentage of protest willingness to accept (50.94%) was highlighted with the effect of income, opinion about Waste-to-Energy, gender and perceived impact. The fuzzy classification among people with different opinions on compensation (valid 0, positive or protest willingness to accept) revealed the existing yet rejected demand of compensation among protesters. Geographical distribution in the public attitude can also be observed. Finally significant statistical relation between knowledge and risk perception indicates the need of risk communication, as well as involving public into whole management process. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Skype me! Socially Contingent Interactions Help Toddlers Learn Language

PubMed Central

Roseberry, Sarah; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Golinkoff, Roberta Michnick

2013-01-01

Language learning takes place in the context of social interactions, yet the mechanisms that render social interactions useful for learning language remain unclear. This paper focuses on whether social contingency might support word learning. Toddlers aged 24- to 30-months (N=36) were exposed to novel verbs in one of three conditions: live interaction training, socially contingent video training over video chat, and non-contingent video training (yoked video). Results suggest that children only learned novel verbs in socially contingent interactions (live interactions and video chat). The current study highlights the importance of social contingency in interactions for language learning and informs the literature on learning through screen media as the first study to examine word learning through video chat technology. PMID:24112079

Is economic valuation of ecosystem services useful to decision-makers? Lessons learned from Australian coastal and marine management.

PubMed

Marre, Jean-Baptiste; Thébaud, Olivier; Pascoe, Sean; Jennings, Sarah; Boncoeur, Jean; Coglan, Louisa

2016-08-01

Economic valuation of ecosystem services is widely advocated as being useful to support ecosystem management decision-making. However, the extent to which it is actually used or considered useful in decision-making is poorly documented. This literature blindspot is explored with an application to coastal and marine ecosystems management in Australia. Based on a nation-wide survey of eighty-eight decision-makers representing a diversity of management organizations, the perceived usefulness and level of use of economic valuation of ecosystem services, in support of coastal and marine management, are examined. A large majority of decision-makers are found to be familiar with economic valuation and consider it useful - even necessary - in decision-making, although this varies across groups of decision-makers. However, most decision-makers never or rarely use economic valuation. The perceived level of importance and trust in estimated dollar values differ across ecosystem services, and are especially high for values that relate to commercial activities. A number of factors are also found to influence respondent's use of economic valuation. Such findings concur with conclusions from other studies on the usefulness and use of ESV in environmental management decision-making. They also demonstrate the strength of the survey-based approach developed in this application to examine this issue in a variety of contexts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Effects of Non-Contingent Reinforcement on Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tramill, James L.; Kleinhammer, P. Jeannie

Typical learned helplessness research has involved the presentation of non-contingent, aversive events followed by measures of performance on subsequent tasks; recent investigations have focused on the effect of non-contingent rewards. To examine the effects of non-contingent rewards on children, two studies were conducted, in which children were…

Effects of Individual and Group Contingency Interventions on Attendance in Adolescent Part-Time Employees

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berkovits, Shira Melody; Sturmey, Peter; Alvero, Alicia M.

2012-01-01

This study examined the effects of individual and group monetary contingencies on the attendance of adolescent part-time employees. Attendance increased in both individual and group contingency phases; however staff questionnaire responses indicated a preference for the individual contingencies. Future research should consider staff acceptability…

Direct and Indirect Effects of Religiosity on Valuation of Life through Forgiveness and Social Provisions among Older Incarcerated Males

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Randall, G. K.; Bishop, Alex J.

2013-01-01

Purpose of the study: Few studies have investigated the influence of religiosity (REL), forgiveness, and social resources on incarcerated individuals' attachment to their lives, or valuation of life (VOL). We tested a model linking REL to VOL through 3 subscales of the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Self, Others, and Situations) and social…

Benefit transfer of outdoor recreation use values: A technical document supporting the Forest Service Strategic Plan (2000 revision)

Treesearch

Randall S. Rosenberger; John B. Loomis

2001-01-01

We present an annotated bibliography that provides information on and reference to the literature on outdoor recreation use valuation studies. This information is presented by study source, benefit measures, recreation activity, valuation methodology, and USDA Forest Service region. Tables are provided that reference the bibliography for each activity, enabling easy...

Survey data on factors affecting negotiation of professional fees between Estate Valuers and their clients when the mortgage is financed by bank loan: A case study of mortgage valuations in Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria.

PubMed

Iroham, Chukwuemeka O; Okagbue, Hilary I; Ogunkoya, Olalekan A; Owolabi, James D

2017-06-01

In this article, two sets of questionnaires were administered to professionals and clients (commercial banks) on their willingness to negotiate the professional fees charged by the Estate Valuers assuming that the mortgage in valuation was financed by bank loan. A range of fees options were provided. Other factors such as the business environment and mortgage valuation can influence the negotiated fees when the data obtained from the survey data is analyzed.

Forgetting the Past: Individual Differences in Recency in Subjective Valuations from Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ashby, Nathaniel J. S.; Rakow, Tim

2014-01-01

Recent research investigating decisions from experience suggests that not all information is treated equally in the decision process, with more recently encountered information having a greater impact. We report 2 studies investigating how this differential treatment of sequentially encountered information affects subjective valuations of risky…

Neural Correlates of Affective Influence on Choice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piech, Richard M.; Lewis, Jade; Parkinson, Caroline H.; Owen, Adrian M.; Roberts, Angela C.; Downing, Paul E.; Parkinson, John A.

2010-01-01

Making the right choice depends crucially on the accurate valuation of the available options in the light of current needs and goals of an individual. Thus, the valuation of identical options can vary considerably with motivational context. The present study investigated the neural structures underlying context dependent evaluation. We instructed…

Valuation Challenges of Riparian Restoration in a Dynamic Decision Support Context: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

EPA Science Inventory

A dynamic simulation model is constructed to compare benefit-cost ratios of riparian restoration options for the Middle Rio Grande riparian corridor in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. The model is built from original choice experiment valuation data, regional benefit-transfer studi...

Non-monetary valuation using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis: Sensitivity of additive aggregation methods to scaling and compensation assumptions

EPA Science Inventory

Analytical methods for Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) support the non-monetary valuation of ecosystem services for environmental decision making. Many published case studies transform ecosystem service outcomes into a common metric and aggregate the outcomes to set land ...

Benefit-based tree valuation

Treesearch

E.G. McPherson

2007-01-01

Benefit-based tree valuation provides alternative estimates of the fair and reasonable value of trees while illustrating the relative contribution of different benefit types. This study compared estimates of tree value obtained using cost- and benefit-based approaches. The cost-based approach used the Council of Landscape and Tree Appraisers trunk formula method, and...

Voter-Weighted Environmental Preferences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bell, Jason; Huber, Joel; Viscusi, W. Kip

2009-01-01

This article examines the political economy of preferences with respect to the environment using a new stated preference survey that presents the first benefit values for national water quality levels. The mean valuation greatly exceeds the median value, as the distribution of valuations is highly skewed. The study couples the survey valuations…

30 CFR 1206.59 - May I ask ONRR for valuation guidance?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false May I ask ONRR for valuation guidance? 1206.59 Section 1206.59 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Indian Oil § 1206.59 May I ask ONRR for valuation guidance? You may ask...

30 CFR 1206.59 - May I ask ONRR for valuation guidance?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false May I ask ONRR for valuation guidance? 1206.59 Section 1206.59 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Indian Oil § 1206.59 May I ask ONRR for valuation guidance? You may ask...

30 CFR 1206.59 - May I ask ONRR for valuation guidance?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false May I ask ONRR for valuation guidance? 1206.59 Section 1206.59 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Indian Oil § 1206.59 May I ask ONRR for valuation guidance? You may ask...

43 CFR 30.152 - May the parties to an agreement waive valuation of trust property?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... valuation of trust property? 30.152 Section 30.152 Public Lands: Interior Office of the Secretary of the... parties to an agreement waive valuation of trust property? The parties to a settlement agreement or a consolidation agreement may waive valuation of trust property otherwise required by regulation or the Secretary...

The role of feedback contingency in perceptual category learning.

PubMed

Ashby, F Gregory; Vucovich, Lauren E

2016-11-01

Feedback is highly contingent on behavior if it eventually becomes easy to predict, and weakly contingent on behavior if it remains difficult or impossible to predict even after learning is complete. Many studies have demonstrated that humans and nonhuman animals are highly sensitive to feedback contingency, but no known studies have examined how feedback contingency affects category learning, and current theories assign little or no importance to this variable. Two experiments examined the effects of contingency degradation on rule-based and information-integration category learning. In rule-based tasks, optimal accuracy is possible with a simple explicit rule, whereas optimal accuracy in information-integration tasks requires integrating information from 2 or more incommensurable perceptual dimensions. In both experiments, participants each learned rule-based or information-integration categories under either high or low levels of feedback contingency. The exact same stimuli were used in all 4 conditions, and optimal accuracy was identical in every condition. Learning was good in both high-contingency conditions, but most participants showed little or no evidence of learning in either low-contingency condition. Possible causes of these effects, as well as their theoretical implications, are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The Role of Feedback Contingency in Perceptual Category Learning

PubMed Central

Ashby, F. Gregory; Vucovich, Lauren E.

2016-01-01

Feedback is highly contingent on behavior if it eventually becomes easy to predict, and weakly contingent on behavior if it remains difficult or impossible to predict even after learning is complete. Many studies have demonstrated that humans and nonhuman animals are highly sensitive to feedback contingency, but no known studies have examined how feedback contingency affects category learning, and current theories assign little or no importance to this variable. Two experiments examined the effects of contingency degradation on rule-based and information-integration category learning. In rule-based tasks, optimal accuracy is possible with a simple explicit rule, whereas optimal accuracy in information-integration tasks requires integrating information from two or more incommensurable perceptual dimensions. In both experiments, participants each learned rule-based or information-integration categories under either high or low levels of feedback contingency. The exact same stimuli were used in all four conditions and optimal accuracy was identical in every condition. Learning was good in both high-contingency conditions, but most participants showed little or no evidence of learning in either low-contingency condition. Possible causes of these effects are discussed, as well as their theoretical implications. PMID:27149393

Contingent Imitation Increases Verbal Interaction in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ishizuka, Yuka; Yamamoto, Jun-ichi

2016-01-01

Several studies have suggested that contingent adult imitation increase nonverbal communication, such as attention and proximity to adults, in children with autism spectrum disorders. However, few studies have shown the effect of contingent imitation on verbal communication. This study examined whether children with autism were able to promote…

Hierarchical competitions subserving multi-attribute choice

PubMed Central

Hunt, Laurence T; Dolan, Raymond J; Behrens, Timothy EJ

2015-01-01

Valuation is a key tenet of decision neuroscience, where it is generally assumed that different attributes of competing options are assimilated into unitary values. Such values are central to current neural models of choice. By contrast, psychological studies emphasize complex interactions between choice and valuation. Principles of neuronal selection also suggest competitive inhibition may occur in early valuation stages, before option selection. Here, we show behavior in multi-attribute choice is best explained by a model involving competition at multiple levels of representation. This hierarchical model also explains neural signals in human brain regions previously linked to valuation, including striatum, parietal and prefrontal cortex, where activity represents competition within-attribute, competition between attributes, and option selection. This multi-layered inhibition framework challenges the assumption that option values are computed before choice. Instead our results indicate a canonical competition mechanism throughout all stages of a processing hierarchy, not simply at a final choice stage. PMID:25306549

Evaluation of Counter-Based Dynamic Load Balancing Schemes for Massive Contingency Analysis on Over 10,000 Cores

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chen, Yousu; Huang, Zhenyu; Rice, Mark J.

Contingency analysis studies are necessary to assess the impact of possible power system component failures. The results of the contingency analysis are used to ensure the grid reliability, and in power market operation for the feasibility test of market solutions. Currently, these studies are performed in real time based on the current operating conditions of the grid with a set of pre-selected contingency list, which might result in overlooking some critical contingencies caused by variable system status. To have a complete picture of a power grid, more contingencies need to be studied to improve grid reliability. High-performance computing techniques holdmore » the promise of being able to perform the analysis for more contingency cases within a much shorter time frame. This paper evaluates the performance of counter-based dynamic load balancing schemes for a massive contingency analysis program on 10,000+ cores. One million N-2 contingency analysis cases with a Western Electricity Coordinating Council power grid model have been used to demonstrate the performance. The speedup of 3964 with 4096 cores and 7877 with 10240 cores are obtained. This paper reports the performance of the load balancing scheme with a single counter and two counters, describes disk I/O issues, and discusses other potential techniques for further improving the performance.« less

Early Child Contingency Learning and Detection: Research Evidence and Implications for Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunst, Carl J.; Trivette, Carol M.; Raab, Melinda; Masiello, Tracy L.

2008-01-01

The types of contingency experiences infants and young children are typically exposed to are examined with a focus on the implications for early childhood intervention with young children who have developmental disabilities and delays. Studies of response-contingent child learning, the manner in which contingencies are not under direct child…

How dead is dead? Qualitative findings from participants of combined traditional and lead-time time trade-off valuations.

PubMed

Al Sayah, Fatima; Mladenovic, Ana; Gaebel, Kathryn; Xie, Feng; Johnson, Jeffrey A

2016-01-01

The EuroQol Valuation Technology (EQ-VT) uses traditional time trade-off (tTTO) for health states better than dead and lead-time TTO (LT-TTO) for states worse than dead to elicit a value (-1.0 to +1.0) for each health state. In the Canadian EQ-5D-5L Valuation study which used the EQVT platform, we observed an unexpected peak in frequency of "0" values and few negative values, particularly in the range of 0 to -0.5. To better understand this finding, we sought to explore respondents' thought processes while valuing a health state, and their understanding of the tTTO and LT-TTO exercises. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with EQVT task respondents. Questions focused on valuations of health states as: (a) Same as dead in tTTO, (b) Worse than dead in tTTO but changed to same as dead in LT-TTO, (c) Worse than dead in LT-TTO, and (d) Worse than dead in LT-TTO with trading off all 10 years. Data were analyzed using content and thematic analysis. Mean age of participants (N = 70) was 40 ± 18.1 years, 60% female, and 76% Caucasian. Participants provided similar reasons for valuing a health state same as or worse than dead. Many participants expressed confusion about worse than dead valuations, distinction between same as and worse than dead, and the transition from tTTO to LT-TTO. A few indicated that the addition of 10 years of full health in the LT-TTO influenced their valuations. The transition from tTTO to LT-TTO in the EQVT was confusing to participants, whereby some health state valuations around this transition appeared to be arbitrary.

Serious child and adolescent behaviour disorders; a valuation study by professionals, youth and parents.

PubMed

Vermeulen, Karin M; Jansen, Daniëlle E M C; Buskens, Erik; Knorth, Erik J; Reijneveld, Sijmen A

2017-06-02

In child and youth care, quantitative estimates of the impact of serious behaviour problems have not yet been made. Such input is needed to support decision making on investments in treatment. The aim of this paper was to elicit valuations of social and conduct disorders in children and adolescents from three different perspectives: professionals, youth, and parents. We obtained valuations from 25 youth care professionals, 50 children (age 9-10) without serious behaviour problems and 36 adolescents (age 16-17) with and without serious behaviour disorders, and 46 parents with children in the aforementioned age categories. Valuations were estimated from 18 descriptions of behaviour disorders in youth aged 9 and 15 years. Descriptions included Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Conduct Disorder (CD), and Disruptive Behaviour Disorder (DBD). Comorbid conditions were Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and substance abuse. Valuations were obtained with the EuroQol questionnaire (EQ-5D-3 L) and a visual analogue scale (VAS). Valuations were generally severe; problems were by and large reported to worsen quality of life by 50% compared to being fully healthy. Professionals regarded DBD with substance abuse as most severe (VAS values 0.41 for children, and 0.43 for adolescents, i.e. less than half of normal). They rated ODD as least severe (VAS values 0.58 for children, 0.59 for adolescents). Children, adolescents and parents gave lower valuations than professionals, and had a wider range of scores, particularly at the lower end of the scale. Behaviour disorders pose a formidable burden from the perspectives of professionals as well as children, adolescents and parents. These results may support medical decision making to set priorities with regard to prevention and treatment based on perceived severity.

Uncertainty of Monetary Valued Ecosystem Services – Value Transfer Functions for Global Mapping

PubMed Central

Schmidt, Stefan; Manceur, Ameur M.; Seppelt, Ralf

2016-01-01

Growing demand of resources increases pressure on ecosystem services (ES) and biodiversity. Monetary valuation of ES is frequently seen as a decision-support tool by providing explicit values for unconsidered, non-market goods and services. Here we present global value transfer functions by using a meta-analytic framework for the synthesis of 194 case studies capturing 839 monetary values of ES. For 12 ES the variance of monetary values could be explained with a subset of 93 study- and site-specific variables by utilizing boosted regression trees. This provides the first global quantification of uncertainties and transferability of monetary valuations. Models explain from 18% (water provision) to 44% (food provision) of variance and provide statistically reliable extrapolations for 70% (water provision) to 91% (food provision) of the terrestrial earth surface. Although the application of different valuation methods is a source of uncertainty, we found evidence that assuming homogeneity of ecosystems is a major error in value transfer function models. Food provision is positively correlated with better life domains and variables indicating positive conditions for human well-being. Water provision and recreation service show that weak ownerships affect valuation of other common goods negatively (e.g. non-privately owned forests). Furthermore, we found support for the shifting baseline hypothesis in valuing climate regulation. Ecological conditions and societal vulnerability determine valuation of extreme event prevention. Valuation of habitat services is negatively correlated with indicators characterizing less favorable areas. Our analysis represents a stepping stone to establish a standardized integration of and reporting on uncertainties for reliable and valid benefit transfer as an important component for decision support. PMID:26938447

[Crisis in the valuation, emotional labor and occupational burnout among teachers of religion].

PubMed

Lachowska, Bogusława; Starczewski, Karol

2015-01-01

This article presents an analysis of the relationship between the crisis of values and in the valuation, the strategy of emotional labor, and occupational burnout in the group of lay teachers of religion. In addition, the role of emotional labor as a mediator of the relationship between the crisis of values and burnout was analyzed. Three strategies of emotional labor were considered in the study: surface acting, deep acting, and expression of naturally felt emotions. The study was conducted in a group of 169 lay teachers of religion (males - 24%, females - 76%), using the Questionnaire for Investigating Crisis in Valuation developed by Oleś, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Emotional Labour Scale developed by Diefendorff, Croyle and Gosserand. The crisis of values and in the valuation is an important factor responsible for occupational burnout in the group of lay teachers of religion. Surface acting and expression of naturally felt emotions mediate the relationship between crisis in the valuation and emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and lack of personal accomplishment. Surface acting increases, while the expression of naturally felt emotions decreases occupational burnout. Deep acting is not related with occupational burnout. It is justified to seek factors favoring the expression of naturally felt emotions, and also those reducing surface acting. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Voucher-Based Contingent Reinforcement of Smoking Abstinence among Methadone-Maintained Patients: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, Kelly E.; Sigmon, Stacey C.; Thomas, Colleen S.; Heil, Sarah H.; Higgins, Stephen T.

2008-01-01

This study evaluated the efficacy of a contingency management (CM) intervention to promote smoking cessation in methadone-maintained patients. Twenty participants, randomized into contingent (n = 10) or noncontingent (n = 10) experimental conditions, completed the 14-day study. Abstinence was determined using breath carbon monoxide and urine…

Investigating habitat value to inform contaminant remediation options: approach

Treesearch

Rebecca A. Efroymson; Mark J. Peterson; Christopher J. Welsh; Daniel L. Druckenbrod; Michael G. Ryon; John G. Smith; William W. Hargrove; Neil R. Giffen; W. Kelly Roy; Harry D. Quarles

2008-01-01

Habitat valuation methods are most often developed and used to prioritize candidate lands for conservation. In this study the intent of habitat valuation was to inform the decision-making process for remediation of chemical contaminants on specific lands or surface water bodies. Methods were developed to summarize dimensions of habitat value for six representative...

An American Dilemma. The Negro problem and Modern Democracy. Volume II.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Myrdal, Gunnar

This study, originally commissioned by the Carnegie Corporation in 1938, makes it clear that the root of the "Negro problem" is the conflict between American moral valuations preserved in the American ideal and the valuations existing on specific planes of individual and group living. There is a jarring discrepancy between the professed…

How much would you be willing to pay for preventing a new dangerous infectious disease: a willingness-to-pay study in medical personnel working in the emergency department.

PubMed

Yen, Zui-Shen; Chang, Chee-Jen; Chen, Shey-Ying; Lee, Chien-Chang; Hsu, Chiung-Yuan; Chen, Shyr-Chyr; Chen, Wen-Jone

2007-10-01

The risk of developing nosocomial infectious diseases among medical personnel in the emergency department (ED) can result in tremendous psychologic stress. The objective of this study was to estimate the median amount of money ED personnel would be willing to pay for preventing nosocomial severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). A contingent valuation approach with close-ended format was used. During the study period from June 15, 2003 through June 30, 2003, a convenience sample of all medical personnel working in the ED of National Taiwan University Hospital was carried out. Participants were interviewed by a standard questionnaire and were asked to choose whether or not they would pay at a specified price to purchase a hypothetical SARS vaccine. A logistic regression model was created to evaluate the relationship between willingness-to-pay and the log of the price offered in the bid questions. The median and mean amounts of willingness-to-pay were calculated. A total of 115 subjects were interviewed and most were nurses (68.7%). The median and mean amount subjects reported being willing to pay for a SARS vaccine was US $1762 and US $720, respectively. Subject responses were significantly related to the price of vaccination and their type of job. Medical personnel in the ED reported that they would be willing to pay substantial monetary amounts for preventing nosocomial SARS.

A project of reuse of reclaimed wastewater in the Po Valley, Italy: Polishing sequence and cost benefit analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verlicchi, P.; Al Aukidy, M.; Galletti, A.; Zambello, E.; Zanni, G.; Masotti, L.

2012-04-01

SummaryThe paper presents a study carried out in the environmentally sensitive area of the Po Valley in northern Italy, with the aim of evaluating, from technical and economic perspectives, a project to reuse part of the final effluent from the Ferrara wastewater treatment plant for irrigation and to develop the site for recreational purposes. Although this area features plentiful supplies of surface water, the Ministry of the Environment has declared it to be at risk of environmental crises due to eutrophication and the drought recurring over the last decade. Thus the availability of fresh water, particularly for agricultural purposes, is threatened, and prompt water saving and protection measures are required. Hence, the possibility of reusing reclaimed wastewater from this plant was investigated, with the aim of exploiting the space around the WWTP, situated within a large urban park, to install natural polishing treatment systems and create green spaces for recreational use. Based on experimental investigation on a pilot plant (featuring both natural and conventional treatments), the study outlines the rationale behind the treatment train selected for the project, details the initial and ongoing costs involved, evaluates the benefits deriving from the project, and assesses public acceptance of the project by the contingent valuation method. A cost-benefit analysis completes the study, and various economic indicators (net present value, benefit-cost ratio, pay-back period, and internal rate of return) revealed that the proposed project was financially feasible.

Individual decision making in relation to participation in cardiovascular screening: a study of revealed and stated preferences.

PubMed

Søgaard, Rikke; Lindholt, Jes; Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte

2013-02-01

The (cost-)effectiveness of a screening programme may be strongly influenced by the participation rate. The objective of this study was to compare participants' and non-participants' motives for the attendance decision as well as their overall preferences for participation in cardiovascular disease screening. This study sampled 1053 participants and 1006 non-participants from a screening trial and randomly allocated the participants to receive different levels of additional information about the screening programme. An ad hoc survey questionnaire about doubt and arguments in relation to the participation decision was given to participants and non-participants along with a contingent valuation task. Among participants, 5% had doubt about participation and the most frequent argument was that they did not want the test result. Among non-participants, 40% would reconsider their non-participation decision after having received additional information while the remainder 60% stood by their decision and provided explicit arguments for it. After having received additional information the participants still valued the programme significantly higher than non-participants, but the difference was relatively small. Participants and non-participants in cardiovascular screening programmes seem to have different strengths of preferences, which signals that their behavioural choice is founded in rational thinking. Furthermore, it appears that additional information and a second reflection about the participation decision may affect a substantial proportion of non-participants to reverse their decision, a finding that should receive policy interest.

Public evaluation of open space in Illinois: citizen support for natural area acquisition.

PubMed

Backlund, Erik A; Stewart, William P; McDonald, Cary; Miller, Craig

2004-11-01

Numerous studies have indicated a broad-based support for open space preservation and protection. Research also has characterized the public values and rationale that underlie the widespread support for open space. In recognition of the widespread public support for open space, various levels of government have implemented programs to provide public access to open space. There are many different types of open space, ranging from golf courses, ball parks, wildlife areas, and prairies, to name a few. This paper addresses questions related to the types of open space that should be prioritized by planners and natural resource managers. The results of this study are based on a stratified random sample of 5000 households in Illinois that were sent a questionnaire related to their support for various types of open space. Through a comparatively simple action grid analysis, the open space types that should be prioritized for public access include forest areas, stream corridors, wildlife habitat, and lakes/ponds. These were the open space types rated of the highest importance, yet were also the open space types rated the lowest in respondent satisfaction. This kind of analysis does not require the technical expertise of other options for land-use prioritizations (e.g., conjoint analysis, contingent valuation), yet provides important policy directives for planners. Although open space funds often allow for purchase of developed sites such as golf courses, ball parks, and community parks, this study indicates that undeveloped (or nature-based) open space lands are most needed in Illinois.

A randomized study of contingency management and spirometric lung age for motivating smoking cessation among injection drug users.

PubMed

Drummond, Michael B; Astemborski, Jacquie; Lambert, Allison A; Goldberg, Scott; Stitzer, Maxine L; Merlo, Christian A; Rand, Cynthia S; Wise, Robert A; Kirk, Gregory D

2014-07-28

Even after quitting illicit drugs, tobacco abuse remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in former injection drug users. An important unmet need in this population is to have effective interventions that can be used in the context of community based care. Contingency management, where a patient receives a monetary incentive for healthy behavior choices, and incorporation of individual counseling regarding spirometric "lung age" (the age of an average healthy individual with similar spirometry) have been shown to improve cessation rates in some populations. The efficacy of these interventions on improving smoking cessation rates has not been studied among current and former injection drug users. In a randomized, factorial design study, we recruited 100 active smokers from an ongoing cohort study of current and former injection drug users to assess the impact of contingency management and spirometric lung age on smoking cessation. The primary outcome was 6-month biologically-confirmed smoking cessation comparing contingency management, spirometric lung age or both to usual care. Secondary outcomes included differences in self-reported and biologically-confirmed cessation at interim visits, number of visits attended and quit attempts, smoking rates at interim visits, and changes in Fagerstrom score and self-efficacy. Six-month biologically-confirmed smoking cessations rates were 4% usual care, 0% lung age, 14% contingency management and 0% for combined lung age and contingency management (p = 0.13). There were no differences in secondary endpoints comparing the four interventions or when pooling the lung age groups. Comparing contingency management to non-contingency management, 6-month cessation rates were not different (7% vs. 2%; p = 0.36), but total number of visits with exhaled carbon monoxide-confirmed abstinence were higher for contingency management than non-contingency management participants (0.38 vs. 0.06; p = 0.03), and more contingency management participants showed reduction in their Fagerstrom score from baseline to follow-up (39% vs. 18%; p = 0.03). While lung age appeared ineffective, contingency management was associated with more short-term abstinence and lowered nicotine addiction. Contingency management may be a useful tool in development of effective tobacco cessation strategies among current and former injection drug users. Clinicaltrials.gov NCT01334736 (April 12, 2011).

Better Off Jobless? Scarring Effects of Contingent Employment in Japan

PubMed Central

Yu, Wei-hsin

2011-01-01

Previous research fails to address whether contingent employment benefits individuals’ careers more than the alternative they often face: being without a job. Using work history data from Japan, this study shows that accepting a contingent job delays individuals’ transition to standard employment more than remaining jobless. Moreover, having a contingent job, rather than having no job, leads Japanese men to have lower occupational status after they transition back to standard employment. I argue that in a highly segmented labor market like Japan’s, the strict separation of labor pools for standard and contingent jobs makes being labeled as a contingent worker particularly detrimental. Meanwhile, the legacy of Japan’s welfare corporatism alleviates the stigma of unemployment, making individuals better off jobless than having a contingent job. This research thus demonstrates the importance of labor-market contexts in shaping the scarring effects of contingent work arrangements. PMID:22859864

Pesticides and health: a review of evidence on health effects, valuation of risks, and benefit-cost analysis.

PubMed

Tago, Damian; Andersson, Henrik; Treich, Nicolas

2014-01-01

This study presents literature reviews for the period 2000-2013 on (i) the health effects of pesticides and on (ii) preference valuation of health risks related to pesticides, as well as a discussion of the role of benefit-cost analysis applied to pesticide regulatory measures. This study indicates that the health literature has focused on individuals with direct exposure to pesticides, i.e. farmers, while the literature on preference valuation has focused on those with indirect exposure, i.e. consumers. The discussion highlights the need to clarify the rationale for regulating pesticides, the role of risk perceptions in benefit-cost analysis, and the importance of inter-disciplinary research in this area. This study relates findings of different disciplines (health, economics, public policy) regarding pesticides, and identifies gaps for future research.

Frequency, Contingency and Online Processing of Multiword Sequences: An Eye-Tracking Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yi, Wei; Lu, Shiyi; Ma, Guojie

2017-01-01

Frequency and contingency are two primary statistical factors that drive the acquisition and processing of language. This study explores the role of phrasal frequency and contingency (the co-occurrence probability/statistical association of the constituent words in multiword sequences) during online processing of multiword sequences. Meanwhile, it…

Economic valuation for sustainable development in the Swedish coastal zone.

PubMed

Söderqvist, Tore; Eggert, Håkan; Olsson, Björn; Soutukorva, Asa

2005-03-01

The Swedish coastal zone is a scene of conflicting interests about various goods and services provided by nature. Open-access conditions and the public nature of many services increase the difficulty in resolving these conflicts. "Sustainability" is a vague but widely accepted guideline for finding reasonable trade-offs between different interests. The UN view of sustainable development suggests that coastal zone management should aim at a sustainable ecological, economic, and social-cultural development. Looking closer at economic sustainability, it is observed that economic analyses about whether changes in society imply a gain or a loss should take into account the economic value of the environment. Methods used for making such economic valuation in the context of the Swedish coastal zone are briefly reviewed. It is noted that the property rights context matters for the results of a valuation study. This general background is followed by a concise presentation of the design and results of four valuation studies on Swedish coastal zone issues. One study is on the economic value of an improved bathing water quality in the Stockholm archipelago. The other studies are a travel cost study about the economic value of improved recreational fisheries in the Stockholm archipelago, a replacement cost study on the value of restoring habitats for sea trout, and a choice experiment study on the economic value of improved water quality along the Swedish westcoast.

Environmental Justice Challengers for Ecosystem Service Valuation

EPA Science Inventory

In pursuing improved ecosystem services management, there is also an opportunity to work towards environmental justice. The practice of environmental valuation can assist with both goals, but as typically employed obscures distributional analysis. Furthermore, valuation technique...

Effects of leader contingent and noncontingent reward and punishment behaviors on subordinate performance and satisfaction.

PubMed

Podsakoff, P M; Todor, W D; Skov, R

1982-12-01

This study investigated the nature of the relationships between leader reward and punishment behaviors and subordinate performance and satisfaction. Only performance-contingent reward behavior was found to affect subordinate performance significantly. Positive relationships were found between leader contingent reward behavior and employee satisfaction. Contingent punishment had no effects on subordinate performance or satisfaction.

Use of continuous transdermal alcohol monitoring during a contingency management procedure to reduce excessive alcohol use.

PubMed

Dougherty, Donald M; Hill-Kapturczak, Nathalie; Liang, Yuanyuan; Karns, Tara E; Cates, Sharon E; Lake, Sarah L; Mullen, Jillian; Roache, John D

2014-09-01

Research on contingency management to treat excessive alcohol use is limited due to feasibility issues with monitoring adherence. This study examined the effectiveness of using transdermal alcohol monitoring as a continuous measure of alcohol use to implement financial contingencies to reduce heavy drinking. Twenty-six male and female drinkers (from 21 to 39 years old) were recruited from the community. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two treatment sequences. Sequence 1 received 4 weeks of no financial contingency (i.e., $0) drinking followed by 4 weeks each of $25 and then $50 contingency management; Sequence 2 received 4 weeks of $25 contingency management followed by 4 weeks each of no contingency (i.e., $0) and then $50 contingency management. During the $25 and $50 contingency management conditions, participants were paid each week when the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor (SCRAM-II™) identified no heavy drinking days. Participants in both contingency management conditions had fewer drinking episodes and reduced frequencies of heavy drinking compared to the $0 condition. Participants randomized to Sequence 2 (receiving $25 contingency before the $0 condition) exhibited less frequent drinking and less heavy drinking in the $0 condition compared to participants from Sequence 1. Transdermal alcohol monitoring can be used to implement contingency management programs to reduce excessive alcohol consumption. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Use of Continuous Transdermal Alcohol Monitoring during a Contingency Management Procedure to Reduce Excessive Alcohol Use

PubMed Central

Dougherty, Donald M.; Hill-Kapturczak, Nathalie; Liang, Yuanyuan; Karns, Tara E.; Cates, Sharon E.; Lake, Sarah L.; Mullen, Jillian; Roache, John D.

2014-01-01

Background Research on contingency management to treat excessive alcohol use is limited due to feasibility issues with monitoring adherence. This study examined the effectiveness of using transdermal alcohol monitoring as a continuous measure of alcohol use to implement financial contingencies to reduce heavy drinking. Methods Twenty-six male and female drinkers (from 21–39 years old) were recruited from the community. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two treatment sequences. Sequence 1 received 4 weeks of no financial contingency (i.e., $0) drinking followed by 4 weeks each of $25 and then $50 contingency management; Sequence 2 received 4 weeks of $25 contingency management followed by 4 weeks each of no contingency (i.e., $0) and then $50 contingency management. During the $25 and $50 contingency management conditions, participants were paid each week when the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor (SCRAM-II™) identified no heavy drinking days. Results Participants in both contingency management conditions had fewer drinking episodes and reduced frequencies of heavy drinking compared to the $0 condition. Participants randomized to Sequence 2 (receiving $25 contingency before the $0 condition) exhibited less frequent drinking and less heavy drinking in the $0 condition compared to participants from Sequence 1. Conclusions Transdermal alcohol monitoring can be used to implement contingency management programs to reduce excessive alcohol consumption. PMID:25064019

Resource management and nonmarket valuation research

USGS Publications Warehouse

Douglas, A.J.; Taylor, J.G.

1999-01-01

Survey based nonmarket valuation research is often regarded as economics research. However, resource economists need to be aware of and acknowledge the manifold information sources that they employ in order to enhance the policy credibility of their studies. Communication between resource economists and practitioners of allied disciplines including chemistry, civil engineering, sociology, and anthropology are often neglected. Recent resource allocation policy debates have given rise to an extensive discussion of methodological issues that narrow the scope of the subject. The present paper provides a format for the presentation of nonmarket valuation research results that emphasizes the manifold links between economics studies that employ different methodologies to estimate nonmarket resource values. A more robust emphasis on the interlocking features of the different approaches for estimating nonmarket benefits should foster appreciation of the transdisciplinary aspects of the subject.

Skype me! Socially contingent interactions help toddlers learn language.

PubMed

Roseberry, Sarah; Hirsh-Pasek, Kathy; Golinkoff, Roberta M

2014-01-01

Language learning takes place in the context of social interactions, yet the mechanisms that render social interactions useful for learning language remain unclear. This study focuses on whether social contingency might support word learning. Toddlers aged 24-30 months (N = 36) were exposed to novel verbs in one of three conditions: live interaction training, socially contingent video training over video chat, and noncontingent video training (yoked video). Results suggest that children only learned novel verbs in socially contingent interactions (live interactions and video chat). This study highlights the importance of social contingency in interactions for language learning and informs the literature on learning through screen media as the first study to examine word learning through video chat technology. © 2013 The Authors. Child Development © 2013 Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.

Prospective Primary Teachers' Prior Experiences, Conceptions, and Pedagogical Valuations of Experimental Activities in Science Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

García-Carmona, Antonio; Criado, Ana M.; Cruz-Guzmán, Marta

2018-01-01

A diagnostic study is presented of the prior experiences, conceptions, and pedagogical valuations of prospective primary teachers (PPTs) about experimental activities (ExA's) in science education. The participants were 121 PPTs who, in small teams, responded to various questions related to ExA. Their responses were analysed interpretively with…

Hedonic valuation with translating amenities: Mountain Pine Beetles and host trees in the Colorado Front Range

Treesearch

Jed Cohen; Christine E. Blinn; Kevin J. Boyle; Tom Holmes; Klaus Moeltner

2016-01-01

In hedonic valuation studies the policy-relevant environmental quality attribute of interest is often costly to measure, especially under pronounced spatial and temporal variability. However, in many cases this attribute affects home prices and consumer preferences solely through its impact on a readily observable, spatially delineated, and time-invariant feature of...

Efficacy and Maintenance of an Education Program for a Consumer Cooperative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Altus, Deborah E.; And Others

1993-01-01

This study examined the effects of contingency management on participation in an education program by new members of a student housing cooperative. With credit and fine contingencies in place, the percentage of participants completing study guides was five times higher than without the contingencies. Members continued to implement the program for…

Task-Contingent Conscientiousness as a Unit of Personality at Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minbashian, Amirali; Wood, Robert E.; Beckmann, Nadin

2010-01-01

The present study examined the viability of incorporating task-contingent units into the study of personality at work, using conscientiousness as an illustrative example. We used experience-sampling data from 123 managers to show that (a) momentary conscientiousness at work is contingent on the difficulty and urgency demands of the tasks people…

Modification of Personal Hygiene and Grooming Behaviors with Contingency Contracting: A Brief Review and Case Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Sarah J.; Kramer, Jack J.

1990-01-01

Presents discussion of basic components and characteristics of contingency contracts. Includes case study in which contingency contracting procedures were integrated within a behavioral consultation model used by a school psychologist consulting with a classroom teacher to modify personal hygiene of 12-year-old male. (Author/ABL)

When the Relationship becomes Her: Revisiting Women's Body Concerns from a Relationship Contingency Perspective

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanchez, Diana T.; Kwang, Tracy

2007-01-01

Given women's communally oriented socialization and social pressures to find romantic partners, many heterosexual women may derive self-worth from having romantic relationships (relationship contingency). Across two studies, we explored whether relationship contingency heightens women's body shame. Studies 1A and 1B found that relationship…

Defense Infrastructure: Actions Needed to Enhance Oversight of Construction Projects Supporting Military Contingency Operations

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

unneeded to support U.S. forces in the CENTCOM area of responsibility and in future contingencies worldwide. View GAO-16-406. For more information...DEFENSE INFRASTRUCTURE Actions Needed to Enhance Oversight of Construction Projects Supporting Military Contingency ...Actions Needed to Enhance Oversight of Construction Projects Supporting Military Contingency Operations Why GAO Did This Study For about 15 years, DOD

Using Contingency Management Procedures to Reduce At-Risk Drinking in Heavy Drinkers

PubMed Central

Dougherty, Donald M.; Lake, Sarah L.; Hill-Kapturczak, Nathalie; Liang, Yuanyuan; Karns, Tara E.; Mullen, Jillian; Roache, John D.

2017-01-01

Background Treatments for alcohol use disorders typically have been abstinence-based, but harm reduction approaches that encourage drinkers to alter their drinking behavior to reduce the probability of alcohol-related consequences, have gained in popularity. The current study used a contingency management procedure to determine its effectiveness in reducing alcohol consumption among heavy drinkers. Methods Eighty non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers (ages 21–54, M = 30.20) who did not meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence participated in the study. The study had three phases: 1) an Observation phase (4 weeks) where participants drank normally; 2) a Contingency Management phase (12 weeks) where participants were paid $50 weekly for not exceeding low levels of alcohol consumption as measured by transdermal alcohol concentrations, < 0.03 g/dL; and 3) a Follow-up phase (12 weeks) where participants (n = 66) returned monthly for 3 months to self-report drinking after the contingencies were removed. Transdermal alcohol monitors were used to verify meeting contingency requirements; all other analyses were conducted on self-reported alcohol use. Results On average 42.3% of participants met the contingency criteria and were paid an average of $222 during the Contingency Management phase, with an average $1998 in total compensation throughout the study. Compared to the Observation phase, the percent of any self-reported drinking days significantly decreased from 59.9% to 40.0% in the Contingency Management and 32.0% in the Follow-up phases. The percent of self-reported heavy drinking days reported also significantly decreased from 42.4% in the Observation phase to 19.7% in the Contingency Management phase, which was accompanied by a significant increase in percent days of self-reported no (from 40.1% to 60.0%) and low level drinking (from 9.9% to 15.4%). Self-reported reductions in drinking either persisted, or became more pronounced, during the Follow-up phase. Conclusions Contingency management was associated with a reduction in self-reported episodes of heavy drinking among non-treatment-seeking heavy drinkers. These effects persisted even after incentives were removed, indicating the potential utility of contingency management as a therapeutic intervention to reduce harmful patterns of drinking. PMID:25833033

Considerations on patent valuation based on patent classification and citation in biotechnological field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mihara, Kenji

Regarding innovation measurement utilizing patent information, a number of researchers are making great efforts to measure a "patent value (patent quality)." For patent valuation, patent classification and citation are often utilized as patent information. Also, biotechnological field is attracting attention from the viewpoint of application to environmental or medical study, and considerable researches on patent valuation are ongoing in this technical field. However, it is not enough recognized that researchers cannot be too careful when they deal with classification information in the biotech field because patent classification structure in this field is not well-established. And also, it is not known enough that citation patterns of both academic papers and patent documents are so complicated that the patterns cannot be easily generalized. In this article, the issues above were verified from a position based on working experiences of biotech patent examiner at Japan Patent Office, and considerations and implications were given on what patent valuation should be.

Contingency learning is reduced for high conflict stimuli.

PubMed

Whitehead, Peter S; Brewer, Gene A; Patwary, Nowed; Blais, Chris

2016-09-16

Recent theories have proposed that contingency learning occurs independent of control processes. These parallel processing accounts propose that behavioral effects originally thought to be products of control processes are in fact products solely of contingency learning. This view runs contrary to conflict-mediated Hebbian-learning models that posit control and contingency learning are parts of an interactive system. In this study we replicate the contingency learning effect and modify it to further test the veracity of the parallel processing accounts in comparison to conflict-mediated Hebbian-learning models. This is accomplished by manipulating conflict to test for an interaction, or lack thereof, between conflict and contingency learning. The results are consistent with conflict-mediated Hebbian-learning in that the addition of conflict reduces the magnitude of the contingency learning effect. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The improved business valuation model for RFID company based on the community mining method.

PubMed

Li, Shugang; Yu, Zhaoxu

2017-01-01

Nowadays, the appetite for the investment and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in RFID companies is growing rapidly. Although the huge number of papers have addressed the topic of business valuation models based on statistical methods or neural network methods, only a few are dedicated to constructing a general framework for business valuation that improves the performance with network graph (NG) and the corresponding community mining (CM) method. In this study, an NG based business valuation model is proposed, where real options approach (ROA) integrating CM method is designed to predict the company's net profit as well as estimate the company value. Three improvements are made in the proposed valuation model: Firstly, our model figures out the credibility of the node belonging to each community and clusters the network according to the evolutionary Bayesian method. Secondly, the improved bacterial foraging optimization algorithm (IBFOA) is adopted to calculate the optimized Bayesian posterior probability function. Finally, in IBFOA, bi-objective method is used to assess the accuracy of prediction, and these two objectives are combined into one objective function using a new Pareto boundary method. The proposed method returns lower forecasting error than 10 well-known forecasting models on 3 different time interval valuing tasks for the real-life simulation of RFID companies.

The improved business valuation model for RFID company based on the community mining method

PubMed Central

Li, Shugang; Yu, Zhaoxu

2017-01-01

Nowadays, the appetite for the investment and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in RFID companies is growing rapidly. Although the huge number of papers have addressed the topic of business valuation models based on statistical methods or neural network methods, only a few are dedicated to constructing a general framework for business valuation that improves the performance with network graph (NG) and the corresponding community mining (CM) method. In this study, an NG based business valuation model is proposed, where real options approach (ROA) integrating CM method is designed to predict the company’s net profit as well as estimate the company value. Three improvements are made in the proposed valuation model: Firstly, our model figures out the credibility of the node belonging to each community and clusters the network according to the evolutionary Bayesian method. Secondly, the improved bacterial foraging optimization algorithm (IBFOA) is adopted to calculate the optimized Bayesian posterior probability function. Finally, in IBFOA, bi-objective method is used to assess the accuracy of prediction, and these two objectives are combined into one objective function using a new Pareto boundary method. The proposed method returns lower forecasting error than 10 well-known forecasting models on 3 different time interval valuing tasks for the real-life simulation of RFID companies. PMID:28459815

Temporal Dynamics of Sensorimotor Networks in Effort-Based Cost-Benefit Valuation: Early Emergence and Late Net Value Integration.

PubMed

Harris, Alison; Lim, Seung-Lark

2016-07-06

Although physical effort can impose significant costs on decision-making, when and how effort cost information is incorporated into choice remains contested, reflecting a larger debate over the role of sensorimotor networks in specifying behavior. Serial information processing models, in which motor circuits simply implement the output of cognitive systems, hypothesize that effort cost factors into decisions relatively late, via integration with stimulus values into net (combined) value signals in dorsomedial frontal cortex (dmFC). In contrast, ethology-inspired approaches suggest a more active role for the dorsal sensorimotor stream, with effort cost signals emerging rapidly after stimulus onset. Here we investigated the time course of effort cost integration using event-related potentials in hungry human subjects while they made decisions about expending physical effort for appetitive foods. Consistent with the ethological perspective, we found that effort cost was represented from as early as 100-250 ms after stimulus onset, localized to dorsal sensorimotor regions including middle cingulate, somatosensory, and motor/premotor cortices. However, examining the same data time-locked to motor output revealed net value signals combining stimulus value and effort cost approximately -400 ms before response, originating from sensorimotor areas including dmFC, precuneus, and posterior parietal cortex. Granger causal connectivity analysis of the motor effector signal in the time leading to response showed interactions between these sensorimotor regions and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, a structure associated with adjusting behavior-response mappings. These results suggest that rapid activation of sensorimotor regions interacts with cognitive valuation systems, producing a net value signal reflecting both physical effort and reward contingencies. Although physical effort imposes a cost on choice, when and how effort cost influences neural correlates of decision-making remains contested. This dispute reflects a larger disagreement between cognitive neuroscience and ethology over the role of sensorimotor systems in behavior: are sensorimotor circuits merely implementing the late-stage output of cognitive systems, or engaged rapidly and interactively from early in decision-making? We find that, although early representation of effort cost is associated with sensorimotor regions, these signals are also integrated with cognitive stimulus value representations in the time leading up to motor response. These data suggest that sensorimotor networks interact dynamically with cognitive systems to guide decision-making, providing a first step toward reconciling differing perspectives on sensorimotor roles in valuation and choice. Copyright © 2016 the authors 0270-6474/16/367167-17$15.00/0.

Instream flow assessment and economic valuation: a survey of nonmarket benefits research

USGS Publications Warehouse

Douglas, Aaron J.; Johnson, Richard L.

1993-01-01

Instream flow benefits for United States streams and rivers have recently been investigated by a number of resource economists. These valuation efforts differ in scope, method, and quantitative results. An assessment and review of these valuation efforts is presented. The various sources of differences in non‐market values produced by these studies are explored in some detail. The considerable difficulty of producing estimates of instream flow benefits values that consider all of the pertinent policy and technical issues is delineated in various policy contexts. Evidence is presented that indicates that the considerable policy impact of recent research on this topic is justified despite considerable variation in the magnitude of the estimates.

Transactive Systems Simulation and Valuation Platform Trial Analysis

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Widergren, Steven E.; Hammerstrom, Donald J.; Huang, Qiuhua

Transactive energy systems use principles of value to coordinate responsive supply and demand in energy systems. Work continues within the Transactive Systems Program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, to understand the value of, understand the theory behind, and simulate the behaviors of transactive energy systems. This report summarizes recent advances made by this program. The main capability advances include a more comprehensive valuation model, including recommended documentation that should make valuation studies of all sorts more transparent, definition of economic metrics with which transactive mechanisms can be evaluated, and multiple improvementsmore » to the time-simulation environment that is being used to evaluate transactive scenarios.« less

Individualism and the Extended-Self: Cross-Cultural Differences in the Valuation of Authentic Objects

PubMed Central

Gjersoe, Nathalia L.; Newman, George E.; Chituc, Vladimir; Hood, Bruce

2014-01-01

The current studies examine how valuation of authentic items varies as a function of culture. We find that U.S. respondents value authentic items associated with individual persons (a sweater or an artwork) more than Indian respondents, but that both cultures value authentic objects not associated with persons (a dinosaur bone or a moon rock) equally. These differences cannot be attributed to more general cultural differences in the value assigned to authenticity. Rather, the results support the hypothesis that individualistic cultures place a greater value on objects associated with unique persons and in so doing, offer the first evidence for how valuation of certain authentic items may vary cross-culturally. PMID:24658437

Individualism and the extended-self: cross-cultural differences in the valuation of authentic objects.

PubMed

Gjersoe, Nathalia L; Newman, George E; Chituc, Vladimir; Hood, Bruce

2014-01-01

The current studies examine how valuation of authentic items varies as a function of culture. We find that U.S. respondents value authentic items associated with individual persons (a sweater or an artwork) more than Indian respondents, but that both cultures value authentic objects not associated with persons (a dinosaur bone or a moon rock) equally. These differences cannot be attributed to more general cultural differences in the value assigned to authenticity. Rather, the results support the hypothesis that individualistic cultures place a greater value on objects associated with unique persons and in so doing, offer the first evidence for how valuation of certain authentic items may vary cross-culturally.

Dissociating contingency awareness and conditioned attitudes: evidence of contingency-unaware evaluative conditioning.

PubMed

Hütter, Mandy; Sweldens, Steven; Stahl, Christoph; Unkelbach, Christian; Klauer, Karl Christoph

2012-08-01

Whether human evaluative conditioning can occur without contingency awareness has been the subject of an intense and ongoing debate for decades, troubled by a wide array of methodological difficulties. Following recent methodological innovations, the available evidence currently points to the conclusion that evaluative conditioning effects do not occur without contingency awareness. In a simulation, we demonstrate, however, that these innovations are strongly biased toward the conclusion that evaluative conditioning requires contingency awareness, confounding the measurement of contingency memory with conditioned attitudes. We adopt a process-dissociation procedure to separate the memory and attitude components. In 4 studies, the attitude parameter is validated using existing attitudes and applied to probe for contingency-unaware evaluative conditioning. A fifth experiment incorporates a time-delay manipulation confirming the dissociability of the attitude and memory components. The results indicate that evaluative conditioning can produce attitudes without conscious awareness of the contingencies. Implications for theories of evaluative conditioning and associative learning are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of Behavioral Contingencies on Adolescent Active Videogame Play and Overall Activity: A Randomized Trial.

PubMed

Norman, Gregory J; Adams, Marc A; Ramirez, Ernesto R; Carlson, Jordan A; Kerr, Jacqueline; Godbole, Suneeta; Dillon, Lindsay; Marshall, Simon J

2013-06-01

This study evaluated the effect of four active videogames (AVGs) varying in behavioral contingencies (behavior-consequence relations) on adolescent AVG play and overall activity levels over 4 weeks. Each AVG, manufactured by SSD/Xavix(®) (Shiseido Co. of Japan, Tokyo, Japan), was coded and scored for the number of positive and aversive behavioral contingencies within the games. "Bowling" and "Tennis" were classified as having "higher contingency scores," and "Boxing" and aerobic fitness training were classified as having "lower contingency scores." Adolescents (n=63; 11-15 years old; 62% male; 38% Hispanic; 44% overweight or obese) were randomized to play one of the four AVGs at home and recorded game play sessions in a paper log. Baseline and week 4 assessments were completed at home; week 1, 2, and 3 assessments were completed by telephone. Accelerometers were worn during baseline and weeks 1 and 4. Accelerometer-measured sedentary and light activity hours/day were stable over time, whereas moderate-vigorous physical activity minutes/day increased in the higher contingency group and decreased in the lower contingency group (interaction effect, 6.43, P=0.024). Reported game play minutes decreased in both groups from week 1 to week 4 (-29.42 minutes, P=0.001). There was some support for the hypothesis that AVGs with more behavioral contingencies, compared with AVGs with fewer behavioral contingencies, result in more physical activity. However, overall AVG play decreased substantially after the first week. Further study is needed to better understand how behavioral contingencies can be used in AVGs to enhance their potential to provide health benefits to game players.

Teacher Valuation and Use of Posters to Promote Sustainability of Wetlands in Kenya

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ndaruga, Ayub Macharia

2009-01-01

Posters have a long history of use as tools to promote awareness on diverse issues including environmental conservation. A study was done using 39 primary school teachers in Kenya to explore their valuation and use of a wetlands poster during their teaching at school and within the community. The teachers were sampled using a non-purposive,…

Valuation of Drug Abuse: A Review of Current Methodologies and Implications for Policy Making

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schori, Maayan

2011-01-01

This article reviews the use of several valuation methods as they relate to drug abuse and places them within the context of U.S. policy. First, cost-of-illness (COI) studies are reviewed and their limitations discussed. Second, three additional economic methods of valuing drug abuse are reviewed, including cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA),…

Investigating habitat value to inform contaminant remediation options: case study

Treesearch

Rebecca A. Efroymson; Mark J. Peterson; Neil R. Giffen; Michael G. Ryon; John G. Smith; William W. Hargrove; W. Kelly Roy; Christopher J. Welsh; Daniel L. Druckenbrod; Harry D. Quarles

2008-01-01

Habitat valuation methods were implemented to support remedial decisions for aquatic and terrestrial contaminated sites at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) on the US Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Reservation in Oak Ridge, TN, USA. The habitat valuation was undertaken for six contaminated sites: Contractor’s Spoil Area, K-901-N Disposal Area, K-770...

Residential Property Composition of School Districts: Its Effect on Tax Rate and Per Pupil Revenue.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lundeen, Virginia; And Others

This study related tax rate and per pupil revenue to residential assessed valuation, percent residential of total assessed valuation, and selected socioeconomic independent variables for school districts in Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, and Lake counties in Illinois. Findings suggest that for homeowners and the students of these counties in 1976,…

Willingness to pay for ovulation induction treatment in case of WHO II anovulation: a study using the contingent valuation method.

PubMed

Poder, Thomas G; He, Jie; Simard, Catherine; Pasquier, Jean-Charles

2014-01-01

To measure the willingness to pay (WTP) of women aged 18-45 years to receive drug treatment for ovulation induction (ie, the social value of normal cycles of ovulation for a woman of childbearing age) in order to feed the debate about the funding of fertility cares. An anonymous questionnaire was used over the general population of Quebec. A total of 136 subjects were recruited in three medical clinics, and 191 subjects through an online questionnaire. THE QUESTIONNAIRE CONSISTED OF THREE PARTS: introduction to the problematic, socioeconomic data collection to determine factors influencing the formation of WTP, and a WTP question using the simple bid price dichotomous choice elicitation technique. The econometric estimation method is based on the "random utility theory." Each subject responding to our questionnaire could express her uncertainty about the answer to our WTP question by choosing the answer "I do not know." The WTP in Canadian dollars of women aged 18-45 years to receive drug treatment for ovulation induction. Results are positive and indicate an average WTP exceeding 4,800 CAD, which is much more than the drug treatment cost. There is no evidence of sample frame bias or avidity bias across the two survey modes that cannot be controlled in econometric estimates. Medical treatment for ovulation induction is highly socially desirable in Quebec.

Cost-benefit analysis of riparian protection in an eastern Canadian watershed.

PubMed

Trenholm, Ryan; Lantz, Van; Martínez-Espiñeira, Roberto; Little, Shawn

2013-02-15

Forested riparian buffers have proved to be an effective management practice that helps maintain ecological goods and services in watersheds. In this study, we assessed the non-market benefits and opportunity costs associated with implementing these buffers in an eastern Canadian watershed using contingent valuation and wood supply modeling methods, respectively. A number of buffer scenarios were considered, including 30 and 60 m buffers on woodlots and on all land (including woodlots, agricultural, and residential lands) in the watershed. Household annual WTP estimates ranged from -$6.80 to $42.85, and total present value benefits ranged from -$11.7 to $121.7 million (CDN 2007), depending on the buffer scenario, affected population, time horizon, and econometric modeling assumptions considered. Opportunity cost estimates range from $1.3 to $10.4 million in present value terms, depending on silvicultural and agriculture land rental rate assumptions. Overall, we found that the net present value of riparian buffers was positive for the majority of scenarios and assumptions. Some exceptions were found under more conservative benefit, and higher unit cost, assumptions. These results provide decision makers with data on stated benefits and opportunity costs of riparian buffers, as well as insight into the importance of modeling assumptions when using this framework of analysis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Determination of Cost-Effectiveness Threshold for Health Care Interventions in Malaysia.

PubMed

Lim, Yen Wei; Shafie, Asrul Akmal; Chua, Gin Nie; Ahmad Hassali, Mohammed Azmi

2017-09-01

One major challenge in prioritizing health care using cost-effectiveness (CE) information is when alternatives are more expensive but more effective than existing technology. In such a situation, an external criterion in the form of a CE threshold that reflects the willingness to pay (WTP) per quality-adjusted life-year is necessary. To determine a CE threshold for health care interventions in Malaysia. A cross-sectional, contingent valuation study was conducted using a stratified multistage cluster random sampling technique in four states in Malaysia. One thousand thirteen respondents were interviewed in person for their socioeconomic background, quality of life, and WTP for a hypothetical scenario. The CE thresholds established using the nonparametric Turnbull method ranged from MYR12,810 to MYR22,840 (~US $4,000-US $7,000), whereas those estimated with the parametric interval regression model were between MYR19,929 and MYR28,470 (~US $6,200-US $8,900). Key factors that affected the CE thresholds were education level, estimated monthly household income, and the description of health state scenarios. These findings suggest that there is no single WTP value for a quality-adjusted life-year. The CE threshold estimated for Malaysia was found to be lower than the threshold value recommended by the World Health Organization. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Willingness to pay for health care services in common cold, retinal detachment, and myocardiac infarction: an internet survey in Japan.

PubMed

Yasunaga, Hideo; Ide, Hiroo; Imamura, Tomoaki; Ohe, Kazuhiko

2006-02-20

The application of Willingness To Pay (WTP) measurement with Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to medical services is gradually increasing. Knowing what influences WTP is an important matter because validity of CVM in medical services remains controversial. The objective of this survey is to measure WTP for the treatment of typical acute illnesses and to analyze the factors affecting WTP. A questionnaire survey was conducted over the Internet, in which 795 men and women between 40 and 59 years old responded to questions about WTP for medical expenses in three hypothetical scenarios: common cold (CC), retinal detachment (RD) and myocardiac infarction (MI). Mean WTP was $29.9 for CC, $2,233 for RD, and $8,976 for MI. WTP for RD and MI was lower in the low-income group. While WTP for CC did not vary with income, WTP was higher in groups whose current subjective fitness levels were low. Although WTP measurements are criticized frequently for their validity and reliability, they are still useful for determining the economic value of medical services. Based on the results of this study, it is deemed necessary to enhance safety nets for low-income earners in regards to serious illnesses that incur high medical expenses. Further, it is recommended that the rate of co-payments be set relatively high with respect to mild illnesses for which alternative services are available.

Blowing in the (social) wind: implications of extrinsic esteem contingencies for terror management and health.

PubMed

Arndt, Jamie; Cox, Cathy R; Goldenberg, Jamie L; Vess, Matthew; Routledge, Clay; Cooper, Douglas P; Cohen, Florette

2009-06-01

In 4 studies, the role of extrinsic esteem contingencies in adjusting to shifting health-relevant standards when managing existential fears was examined. Study 1 demonstrated that after reminders of death, higher dispositional focus on extrinsic self-esteem contingencies predicted greater interest in tanning. Using a more domain-specific approach, Study 2 showed that, after being reminded of death, the more individuals smoke for social esteem reasons, the more compelling they find an antismoking commercial that exposes adverse social consequences of smoking. Study 3 explored how situational factors (i.e., priming a contingent relational schema) that implicate extrinsic contingencies facilitated the impact of shifting standard primes on tanning intentions after mortality salience. Finally, Study 4 found that mortality salience led to increased endorsement of exercise as a basis of self-worth when participants who derive self-esteem from extrinsic sources visualized someone who exercises. Together, these studies demonstrate that reminders of death interact with prevalent social standards to influence everyday health decisions.

The Relative Contribution of Economic Valence to Contingency Management Efficacy: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roll, John M.; Howard, Joni T.

2008-01-01

We investigated the extent to which a contingency management (CM) procedure that deducted money from a grand total available at the end of the study compared to a procedure in which money accumulated with continued abstinence from cigarette smoking. Results suggested that the procedure in which money increased contingent on abstinence resulted in…

Contingency Management to Increase Grade Point Average among Fraternity Members: A Feasibility Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Patten, Ryan A.; Irons, Jessica G.; Apple, Kevin J.

2015-01-01

Contingency management is an incentive-based intervention strategy that has been demonstrated to be effective for inducing behavior change among a variety of populations and for a variety of behaviors. The current study examined whether contingency management techniques can help students change behaviors in an effort to raise their grade point…

Contingency Mapping: Use of a Novel Visual Support Strategy as an Adjunct to Functional Equivalence Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Kenneth E.; Mirenda, Pat

2006-01-01

This study evaluated the effectiveness of contingency mapping, a new visual support strategy designed to enhance clients' understanding of the contingencies associated with functional equivalence training (FET). The study was conducted in a general education classroom with an adolescent boy with autism who engaged in prompt dependent behavior. A…

The role of interdisciplinary collaboration for stated preference methods to value marine environmental goods and ecosystem services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Börger, Tobias; Böhnke-Henrichs, Anne; Hattam, Caroline; Piwowarczyk, Joanna; Schasfoort, Femke; Austen, Melanie C.

2018-02-01

With the increasing use of environmental valuation methods in coastal, marine and deep-sea settings, there is a growing need for the collaboration of natural scientists and environmental economists. Stated preference valuation methods in particular need to be based on sound natural science information and translate such information to be used in social surveys. This paper uses three applications to make explicit the flow of information between different disciplines in the preparation and implementation of stated preference studies. One approach for facilitating this flow is to increase knowledge and understanding of natural scientists on these methods. To address this, this paper highlights key opportunities and pitfalls and demonstrates those in the context of three case studies. It therefore provides guidance on stated preference valuation for natural scientists rather than for economists.

Willingness to pay for health insurance among the elderly population in Germany.

PubMed

Bock, Jens-Oliver; Heider, Dirk; Matschinger, Herbert; Brenner, Hermann; Saum, Kai-Uwe; Haefeli, Walter E; König, Hans-Helmut

2016-03-01

All elderly Germans are legally obliged to have health insurance. About 90 % of this population are members of social health insurances (SHI) whose premiums are generally income-related and independent of health status. For most of these members, holding social health insurance is mandatory. As a consequence, genuine information about preferences for health insurance is not available. The aim of this study was therefore to determine and analyze the willingness to pay (WTP) for health insurance among elderly Germans. Data from a population-based 8-year follow-up of a large cohort study conducted in the Saarland, Germany was used. Participants aged 57-84 years passed a geriatric assessment and responded to a health economic questionnaire. Individuals' WTP was elicited based on a contingent valuation method with a payment card. Mean monthly WTP per capita for health insurance amounted to €260. This corresponded to about 20% of individual disposable income. Regression analyses showed that WTP increased significantly with higher income, male gender, higher educational level, and privately insured status. In contrast, neither increasing morbidity level nor higher individual health care costs influenced WTP significantly. The relatively large extent of average WTP for health insurance indicates that the elderly would probably accept higher contributions to SHI rather than policy efforts to reduce contributions. The identified determinants of WTP might indicate that elderly generally approve the principle of solidarity of the SHI with contributions depending on income rather than morbidity.

Electrophysiological brain indices of risk behavior modification induced by contingent feedback.

PubMed

Megías, Alberto; Torres, Miguel Angel; Catena, Andrés; Cándido, Antonio; Maldonado, Antonio

2018-02-01

The main aim of this research was to study the effects of response feedback on risk behavior and the neural and cognitive mechanisms involved, as a function of the feedback contingency. Sixty drivers were randomly assigned to one of three feedback groups: contingent, non-contingent and no feedback. The participants' task consisted of braking or not when confronted with a set of risky driving situations, while their electroencephalographic activity was continuously recorded. We observed that contingent feedback, as opposed to non-contingent feedback, promoted changes in the response bias towards safer decisions. This behavioral modification implied a higher demand on cognitive control, reflected in a larger amplitude of the N400 component. Moreover, the contingent feedback, being predictable and entailing more informative value, gave rise to smaller SPN and larger FRN scores when compared with non-contingent feedback. Taken together, these findings provide a new and complex insight into the neurophysiological basis of the influence of feedback contingency on the processing of decision-making under risk. We suggest that response feedback, when contingent upon the risky behavior, appears to improve the functionality of the brain mechanisms involved in decision-making and can be a powerful tool for reducing the tendency to choose risky options in risk-prone individuals. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

I spy with my little eye - the detection of intentional contingency in early psychosis.

PubMed

Fett, Anne-Kathrin J; González Berdugo, Clara Isabel; Hanssen, Esther; Lemmers-Jansen, Imke; Shergill, Sukhi S; Krabbendam, Lydia

2015-01-01

Paranoid delusions have been associated with a tendency to over-attribute intentionality and contingency to others' actions and incidental events in individuals with chronic psychosis. However, this hyper-associative perception bias has not been investigated in the early illness stages of psychosis, during which it may play a particularly crucial role in the formation of symptoms. We used an experimental paradigm with 20 short film clips of simple animate and inanimate shapes that either moved in a contingent or non-contingent manner to investigate the perception of contingency in 38 adolescents with early psychosis and 93 healthy control adolescents. Participants rated the contingency between the shapes' movements on a scale from 0 to 10. The data were analysed with multilevel regression analyses to account for repeated measures within subjects. There were no significant differences between patients and controls; both perceived the contingency of the shapes' movements similarly across all conditions and patients' contingency perception was unrelated to their levels of paranoid delusions. Contingency perception was unimpaired in patients with early psychosis, suggesting that it might still be intact in the early illness stages. Future studies should set out to determine whether the early illness stages could offer a window for interventions that counteract the development of hyper-associative perceptions of contingency.

Counterfactual reasoning for regretted situations involving controllable versus uncontrollable events: the modulating role of contingent self-esteem.

PubMed

Wilkinson, Meredith R; Ball, Linden J; Alford, David

2015-01-01

We report a study that examined the modulating impact of contingent self-esteem on regret intensity for regretted outcomes associated with controllable versus uncontrollable events. The Contingent Self-Esteem Scale (e.g., Kernis & Goldman, 2006) was used to assess the extent to which a person's sense of self-worth is based on self and others' expectations. We found that there was an influence of self-esteem contingency for controllable but not for uncontrollable regret types. For controllable regret types individuals with a high contingent (i.e., unstable) self-esteem reported greater regret intensity than those with a low contingent (i.e., stable) self-esteem. We interpret this finding as reflecting a functional and adaptive role of high contingent self-esteem in terms of mobilizing the application of counterfactual reasoning and planning mechanisms that can enable personal expectations to be achieved in the future.

Counterfactual Reasoning for Regretted Situations Involving Controllable Versus Uncontrollable Events: The Modulating Role of Contingent Self-Esteem

PubMed Central

Wilkinson, Meredith R.; Ball, Linden J.; Alford, David

2015-01-01

We report a study that examined the modulating impact of contingent self-esteem on regret intensity for regretted outcomes associated with controllable versus uncontrollable events. The Contingent Self-Esteem Scale (e.g., Kernis & Goldman, 2006) was used to assess the extent to which a person’s sense of self-worth is based on self and others’ expectations. We found that there was an influence of self-esteem contingency for controllable but not for uncontrollable regret types. For controllable regret types individuals with a high contingent (i.e., unstable) self-esteem reported greater regret intensity than those with a low contingent (i.e., stable) self-esteem. We interpret this finding as reflecting a functional and adaptive role of high contingent self-esteem in terms of mobilizing the application of counterfactual reasoning and planning mechanisms that can enable personal expectations to be achieved in the future. PMID:25883697

Does the Introduction of the Ranking Task in Valuation Studies Improve Data Quality and Reduce Inconsistencies? The Case of the EQ-5D-5L.

PubMed

Ramos-Goñi, Juan M; Rand-Hendriksen, Kim; Pinto-Prades, Jose Luis

2016-06-01

Time trade-off (TTO)-based valuation studies for the three-level version of the EuroQol five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D) typically started off with a ranking task (ordering the health states by preference). This was not included in the protocol for the five-level EQ-5D (EQ-5D-5L) valuation study. To test whether reintroducing a ranking task before the composite TTO (C-TTO) could help to reduce inconsistencies in C-TTO responses and improve the data quality. Respondents were randomly assigned to three study arms. The control arm was the present EQ-5D-5L study protocol, without ranking. The second arm (ranking without sorting) preceded the present protocol by asking respondents to rank the target health states using physical cards. The states were then valued in random order using C-TTO. In the third arm (ranking and sorting), the ranked states remained visible through the C-TTO tasks and the order of valuation was determined by the ranking. The study used only 10 EQ-5D-5L health states. We compared the C-TTO-based inconsistent pairs of health states and ties. The final sample size was 196 in the control arm, 205 in the ranking without sorting arm, and 199 in the ranking and sorting arm. The percentages of ties by respondents were 15.1%, 12.5%, and 12.6% for the control arm, the ranking without sorting arm, and the ranking and sorting arm, respectively. The extra cost for adding the ranking task was about 15%. The benefit does not justify the effort involved in the ranking task. For this reason, the addition of the ranking task to the present EQ-5D-5L valuation protocol is not an attractive option. Copyright © 2016 International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The roles of valuation and reward processing in cognitive function and psychiatric disorders

PubMed Central

Hélie, Sébastien; Shamloo, Farzin; Novak, Keisha; Foti, Dan

2017-01-01

In neuroeconomics, valuation refers to the process of assigning values to states and actions based on the animal’s current representation of the environment while reward processing corresponds to processing the feedback received from the environment to update the values of states and actions. In this article, we review the brain circuits associated with valuation and reward processing and argue that these are fundamental processes critical in many cognitive functions. Specifically, we focus on the role of valuation and reward processing in attention, memory, decision–making, and learning. Next, the extant neuroimaging literature on a number of psychiatric disorders is reviewed (i.e., addiction, pathological gambling, schizophrenia, and mood disorders), and an argument is made that associated deficits in cognitive functions can be explained in terms of abnormal valuation and reward processing. The review concludes with the impact of this framework in clinical settings and prescriptions for future research, in particular with regards to the conversions of qualitatively different valuation systems into a system of common currency. PMID:28415138

Contingency management: perspectives of Australian service providers.

PubMed

Cameron, Jacqui; Ritter, Alison

2007-03-01

Given the very positive and extensive research evidence demonstrating efficacy and effectiveness of contingency management, it is important that Australia explore whether contingency management has a role to play in our own treatment context. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 30 experienced alcohol and drug practitioners, service managers and policy-makers in Victoria. Interviewees were selected to represent the range of drug treatment services types and included rural representation. A semi-structured interview schedule, covering their perceptions and practices of contingency management was used. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using N2 qualitative data analysis program. The majority of key informants were positively inclined toward contingency management, notwithstanding some concerns about the philosophical underpinnings. Concerns were raised in relation to the use of monetary rewards. Examples of the use of contingency management provided by key informants demonstrated an over-inclusive definition: all the examples did not adhere to the key principles of contingency management. This may create problems if a structured contingency management were to be introduced in Australia. Contingency management is an important adjunctive treatment intervention and its use in Australia has the potential to enhance treatment outcomes. No unmanageable barriers were identified in this study.

Resiliency and affordability of housing design, Kampong Cieunteung-Bale Endah in Bandung Regency as a case study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nurdini, Allis; Yovita, Wanda; Negri, Patriot

2017-12-01

Recently the discussion about resiliency and housing design has been fast developed, including design for housing on riverfront as marginal area that usually occupied by low income people. The low income people generally will be the worst affected community in flood disaster situation, because of their un-affordability to achieve quality housing design. In other side, the funding support capacity especially from the local government is limited, so that the resilient environment also need to be supported by the community itself. In this context, the study about low income people's affordability to achieve resilient housing design is essential. This study was conducted to identify two important points: the design choice and the affordability level of resilient housing from the community viewpoints. Kampong Cieunteung, in Bale Endah Area, Bandung Regency is chosen as a case study, because this area annually experience severe flood from overflow of the Citarum River branch. In preliminary research phase, approximately 60% of the Kampong Cieunteung's resident need to stay and become indication that the community need resilient housing design to accommodate their live hood. The next phase, the contingent valuation method was implemented to gain resilient design choice and affordability perspective from the community. It is concluded that the community have ability to choose the resilient housing design based on their aspiration and based on their ability to pay. The result indicates that resilient housing design should have character of optional, module co-operational, and incremental to be afforded by the low income people.

Group Contingencies to Increase School and Project Attendance in At-Risk Adolescents: A Pilot Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Costello, Karen M.; Smyth, Sinéad

2017-01-01

The current study employed a group contingency in order to increase school and project attendance in a group of 10 at-risk male adolescents. The participants were already attending a youth diversion project designed to reduce criminal and antisocial behaviors. The group contingency was based on the fantasy football model (an interactive, virtual…

A Group Contingency for Electricity Conservation in Master Metered Apartments. Report No. 242.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slavin, Robert E.; And Others

This paper reports the results of two studies designed to evaluate the effects of a group contingency for conservation on use of electricity. Residents of 166 apartment units in three towers participated in the first study. The group contingency consisted of biweekly payments to residents of the value of the electricity they saved, as compared to…

Valuing the non-market benefits of estuarine ecosystem services in a river basin context: Testing sensitivity to scope and scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinto, R.; Brouwer, R.; Patrício, J.; Abreu, P.; Marta-Pedroso, C.; Baeta, A.; Franco, J. N.; Domingos, T.; Marques, J. C.

2016-02-01

A large scale contingent valuation survey is conducted among residents in one of the largest river basins in Portugal to estimate the non-market benefits of the ecosystem services associated with implementation of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). Statistical tests of public willingness to pay's sensitivity to scope and scale are carried out. Decreasing marginal willingness to pay (WTP) is found when asking respondents to value two water quality improvement scenarios (within sample comparison), from current moderate water quality conditions to good and subsequently excellent ecological status. However, insensitivity to scale is found when asking half of the respondents to value water quality improvements in the estuary only and the other half in the whole basin (between sample comparison). Although respondents living outside the river basin value water quality improvements significantly less than respondents inside the basin, no spatial heterogeneity can be detected within the basin between upstream and downstream residents. This finding has important implications for spatial aggregation procedures across the population of beneficiaries living in the river basin to estimate its total economic value based on public WTP for the implementation of the WFD.

Who wants to work in a rural health post? The role of intrinsic motivation, rural background and faith-based institutions in Ethiopia and Rwanda.

PubMed

Serneels, Pieter; Montalvo, Jose G; Pettersson, Gunilla; Lievens, Tomas; Butera, Jean Damascene; Kidanu, Aklilu

2010-05-01

To understand the factors influencing health workers' choice to work in rural areas as a basis for designing policies to redress geographic imbalances in health worker distribution. A cohort survey of 412 nursing and medical students in Rwanda provided unique contingent valuation data. Using these data, we performed a regression analysis to examine the determinants of future health workers' willingness to work in rural areas as measured by rural reservation wages. These data were also combined with those from an identical survey in Ethiopia to enable a two-country analysis. Health workers with higher intrinsic motivation - measured as the importance attached to helping the poor - as well as those who had grown up in a rural area and Adventists who had participated in a local bonding scheme were all significantly more willing to work in a rural area. The main result for intrinsic motivation in Rwanda was strikingly similar to the result obtained for Ethiopia and Rwanda combined. Intrinsic motivation and rural origin play an important role in health workers' decisions to work in a rural area, in addition to economic incentives, while faith-based institutions can also influence the decision.

Economic evaluation of environmental epidemiological projects in national industrial complexes.

PubMed

Shin, Youngchul

2017-01-01

In this economic evaluation of environmental epidemiological monitoring projects, we analyzed the economic feasibility of these projects by determining the social cost and benefit of these projects and conducting a cost/benefit analysis. Here, the social cost was evaluated by converting annual budgets for these research and survey projects into present values. Meanwhile, the societal benefit of these projects was evaluated by using the contingent valuation method to estimate the willingness-to-pay of residents living in or near industrial complexes. In addition, the extent to which these projects reduced negative health effects (i.e., excess disease and premature death) was evaluated through expert surveys, and the analysis was conducted to reflect the unit of economic value, based on the cost of illness and benefit transfer method. The results were then used to calculate the benefit of these projects in terms of the decrease in negative health effects. For residents living near industrial complexes, the benefit/cost ratio was 1.44 in the analysis based on resident surveys and 5.17 in the analysis based on expert surveys. Thus, whichever method was used for the economic analysis, the economic feasibility of these projects was confirmed.

The effect of sequential information on consumers' willingness to pay for credence food attributes.

PubMed

Botelho, A; Dinis, I; Lourenço-Gomes, L; Moreira, J; Costa Pinto, L; Simões, O

2017-11-01

The use of experimental methods to determine consumers' willingness to pay for "quality" food has been gaining importance in scientific research. In most of the empirical literature on this issue the experimental design starts with blind tasting, after which information is introduced. It is assumed that this approach allows consumers to elicit the real value that they attach to each of the features added through specific information. In this paper, the starting hypothesis is that this technique overestimates the weight of the features introduced by information in consumers' willingness to pay when compared to a real market situation, in which consumers are confronted with all the information at once. The data obtained through contingent valuation in an in-store setting was used to estimate a hedonic model aiming at assessing consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) for the feature "geographical origin of the variety" of pears and apples in different information scenarios: i) blind tasting followed by extrinsic information and ii) full information provided at once. The results show that, in fact, features are more valued when gradually added to background information than when consumers receive all the information from the beginning. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

76 FR 30881 - Federal and Indian Coal Valuation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-27

... No. ONRR-2011-0004] RIN 1012-AA00 Federal and Indian Coal Valuation AGENCY: Office of Natural... interested public before proposing changes to the existing regulations governing the valuation of coal produced from Federal and Indian leases, for royalty purposes. The existing Federal and Indian coal...

26 CFR 1.475(a)-4 - Valuation safe harbor.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...(a)-4 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY (CONTINUED) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES Inventories § 1.475(a)-4 Valuation safe harbor. (a) Overview—(1) Purpose. This... portions of the payments have been recognized for tax purposes before the valuation and appropriate...

Actuarial Valuation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana, Baton Rouge.

This report presents the results of the actuarial valuation of assets and liabilities as well as funding requirements for the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana as of June 30, 1996. Data reported include current funding, actuarial assets and valuation assets. These include the Louisiana State University Agriculture and Extension Service Fund,…

30 CFR 1206.257 - Valuation standards for ad valorem leases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Federal Coal § 1206.257 Valuation standards for ad valorem leases. (a) This section is applicable to coal leases on Federal lands which provide for the... is inconsistent with the requirements of these regulations. (2) Any Federal lessee will make...

30 CFR 1206.257 - Valuation standards for ad valorem leases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Federal Coal § 1206.257 Valuation standards for ad valorem leases. (a) This section is applicable to coal leases on Federal lands which provide for the... is inconsistent with the requirements of these regulations. (2) Any Federal lessee will make...

30 CFR 1206.257 - Valuation standards for ad valorem leases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... NATURAL RESOURCES REVENUE PRODUCT VALUATION Federal Coal § 1206.257 Valuation standards for ad valorem leases. (a) This section is applicable to coal leases on Federal lands which provide for the... is inconsistent with the requirements of these regulations. (2) Any Federal lessee will make...

Applying Q-methodology to select and define attributes for non-market valuation: A case study from Northwest Wyoming, United States

Treesearch

Christopher A. Armatas; Tyron J. Venn; Alan E. Watson

2014-01-01

The underlying validity of stated preference non-market valuation methods relies on the analyst's ability to identify, select, define, and articulate the goods being valued in a way that is relevant and understandable to the respondent, which requires detailed understanding of the respondents' experiences and points of view. Poor articulation of the good...

Financial methods in competitive electricity markets

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Shijie

The restructuring of electric power industry has become a global trend. As reforms to the electricity supply industry spread rapidly across countries and states, many political and economical issues arise as a result of people debating over which approach to adopt in restructuring the vertically integrated electricity industry. This dissertation addresses issues of transmission pricing, electricity spot price modeling, as well as risk management and asset valuation in a competitive electricity industry. A major concern in the restructuring of the electricity industries is the design of a transmission pricing scheme that will ensure open-access to the transmission networks. I propose a priority-pricing scheme for zonal access to the electric power grid that is uniform across all buses in each zone. The Independent System Operator (ISO) charges bulk power traders a per unit ex ante transmission access fee based on the expected option value of the generated power with respect to the random zonal spot prices. The zonal access fee depends on the injection zone and a self-selected strike price determining the scheduling priority of the transaction. Inter zonal transactions are charged (or credited) with an additional ex post congestion fee that equals the zonal spot price difference. The unit access fee entitles a bulk power trader to either physical injection of one unit of energy or a compensation payment that equals to the difference between the realized zonal spot price and the selected strike price. The ISO manages congestion so as to minimize net compensation payments and thus, curtailment probabilities corresponding to a particular strike price may vary by bus. The rest of the dissertation deals with the issues of modeling electricity spot prices, pricing electricity financial instruments and the corresponding risk management applications. Modeling the spot prices of electricity is important for the market participants who need to understand the risk factors in pricing electricity financial instruments such as electricity forwards, options and cross-commodity derivatives. It is also essential for the analysis of financial risk management, asset valuation, and project financing. In the setting of diffusion processes with multiple types of jumps, I examine three mean-reversion models for modeling the electricity spot prices. I impose some structure on the coefficients of the diffusion processes, which allows me to easily compute the prices of contingent claims (or, financial instruments) on electricity by Fourier methods. I derive the pricing formulas for various electricity derivatives and examine how the prices vary with different modeling assumptions. I demonstrate a couple of risk management applications of the electricity financial instruments. I also construct a real options approach to value electric power generation and transmission assets both with and without accounting for the operating characteristics of the assets. The implications of the mean-reversion jump-diffusion models on financial risk management and real asset valuation in competitive electricity markets are illustrated. With a discrete trinomial lattice modeling the underlying commodity prices, I estimate the effects of operational characteristics on the asset valuation by means of numerical examples that incorporate these aspects using stochastic dynamic programming. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Rapid extraction of auditory feature contingencies.

PubMed

Bendixen, Alexandra; Prinz, Wolfgang; Horváth, János; Trujillo-Barreto, Nelson J; Schröger, Erich

2008-07-01

Contingent relations between sensory events render the environment predictable and thus facilitate adaptive behavior. The human capacity to detect such relations has been comprehensively demonstrated in paradigms in which contingency rules were task-relevant or in which they applied to motor behavior. The extent to which contingencies can also be extracted from events that are unrelated to the current goals of the organism has remained largely unclear. The present study addressed the emergence of contingency-related effects for behaviorally irrelevant auditory stimuli and the cortical areas involved in the processing of such contingency rules. Contingent relations between different features of temporally separate events were embedded in a new dynamic protocol. Participants were presented with the auditory stimulus sequences while their attention was captured by a video. The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of the event-related brain potential (ERP) was employed as an electrophysiological correlate of contingency detection. MMN generators were localized by means of scalp current density (SCD) and primary current density (PCD) analyses with variable resolution electromagnetic tomography (VARETA). Results show that task-irrelevant contingencies can be extracted from about fifteen to twenty successive events conforming to the contingent relation. Topographic and tomographic analyses reveal the involvement of the auditory cortex in the processing of contingency violations. The present data provide evidence for the rapid encoding of complex extrapolative relations in sensory areas. This capacity is of fundamental importance for the organism in its attempt to model the sensory environment outside the focus of attention.

Fuzzy net present valuation based on risk assessment of Malaysian infrastructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaffie, Siti Salihah; Jaaman, Saiful Hafizah; Mohamad, Daud

2017-04-01

In recent years, built-operate-transfer (BOT) projects have profoundly been accepted under project financing for infrastructure developments in many countries. It requires high financing and involves complex mutual risk. The assessment of the risks is vital to avert huge financial loss. Net present value is widely applied to BOT project where the uncertainties in cash flows are deemed to be deterministic values. This study proposed a fuzzy net present value model taking consideration the assessment of risks from the BOT project. The proposed model is adopted to provide more flexible net present valuation of the project. It is shown and proven that the improved fuzzy cash flow model will provide a valuation that is closed to the real value of the project.

Factors affecting the valuation of physician practices.

PubMed

Cleverley, W O

1997-12-01

Valuation of physician practices provides physicians with a benchmark of their business success and helps purchasers negotiate a purchase price. The Center for Healthcare Industry Performance Studies (CHIPS) recently conducted a survey of physician practice acquisitions. The survey collected data on salaries and benefits paid to physicians after practice acquisition, historical profitability of the acquired practice, and specific values assigned to both tangible and intangible assets in the practice. Some of the survey's critical conclusions include: hospitals tend to acquire unprofitable practices, value is based on historical revenues rather than historical profits, the importance of valuation methodology and payer mix is underestimated, tangible assets represent a large part of the purchase price, and hospitals tend to pay higher physician compensation than do other purchasers.

Appearance-related social comparisons: the role of contingent self-esteem and self-perceptions of attractiveness.

PubMed

Patrick, Heather; Neighbors, Clayton; Knee, C Raymond

2004-04-01

Two studies examined contingent self-esteem (CSE) and responses to appearance-related social comparisons. Study 1 was an experimental study in which women rated a series of advertisements from popular women's magazines. Study 2 employed an event-contingent diary recording procedure. In Study 1, women who were higher in CSE and lower in self-perceptions of attractiveness (SPA) experienced greater decreases in positive affect and greater increases in negative affect following the ad-rating task. Study 2 results supported a mediation model in which women who were higher in CSE felt worse after social comparisons because they made primarily upward comparisons. Overall, results suggest that appearance-related comparisons are more distressing for those who base their self-worth on contingencies and have lower self-perceived attractiveness.

Contingent self-worth moderates the relationship between school stressors and psychological stress responses.

PubMed

Ishizu, Kenichiro

2017-04-01

This study examined the moderating role of contingent self-worth on the relationships between school stressors and psychological stress responses among Japanese adolescents. A total of 371 Japanese junior high school students (184 boys and 187 girls, M age  = 12.79 years, SD = 0.71) completed the Japanese version of the Self-Worth Contingency Questionnaire and a mental health checklist at two points separated by a two-month interval. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were then used to determine whether contingent self-worth moderated the relationship between school stressors and psychological stress responses. The results indicated that, when psychological stress responses were controlled for at Time 1, contingent self-worth did not predict the psychological stress responses at Time 2. However, a two-way interaction between contingent self-worth and stressors was found to significantly influence psychological stress responses, thus indicating that stressors had a stronger impact on psychological stress responses among those with high contingent self-worth compared to those with low contingent self-worth. Copyright © 2017 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using contingency management procedures to reduce at-risk drinking in heavy drinkers.

PubMed

Dougherty, Donald M; Lake, Sarah L; Hill-Kapturczak, Nathalie; Liang, Yuanyuan; Karns, Tara E; Mullen, Jillian; Roache, John D

2015-04-01

Treatments for alcohol use disorders typically have been abstinence based, but harm reduction approaches that encourage drinkers to alter their drinking behavior to reduce the probability of alcohol-related consequences, have gained in popularity. This study used a contingency management procedure to determine its effectiveness in reducing alcohol consumption among heavy drinkers. Eighty-two nontreatment-seeking heavy drinkers (ages 21 to 54, M = 30.20) who did not meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence participated in the study. The study had 3 phases: (i) an Observation phase (4 weeks) where participants drank normally; (ii) a Contingency Management phase (12 weeks) where participants were paid $50 weekly for not exceeding low levels of alcohol consumption as measured by transdermal alcohol concentrations, <0.03 g/dl; and (iii) a Follow-up phase (12 weeks) where participants (n = 66) returned monthly for 3 months to self-report drinking after the contingencies were removed. Transdermal alcohol monitors were used to verify meeting contingency requirements; all other analyses were conducted on self-reported alcohol use. On average 42.3% of participants met the contingency criteria and were paid an average of $222 during the Contingency Management phase, with an average $1,998 in total compensation throughout the study. Compared to the Observation phase, the percent of any self-reported drinking days significantly decreased from 59.9 to 40.0% in the Contingency Management and 32.0% in the Follow-up phases. The percent of self-reported heavy drinking days reported also significantly decreased from 42.4% in the Observation phase to 19.7% in the Contingency Management phase, which was accompanied by a significant increase in percent days of self-reported no (from 40.1 to 60.0%) and low-level drinking (from 9.9 to 15.4%). Self-reported reductions in drinking either persisted, or became more pronounced, during the Follow-up phase. Contingency management was associated with a reduction in self-reported episodes of heavy drinking among nontreatment-seeking heavy drinkers. These effects persisted even after incentives were removed, indicating the potential utility of contingency management as a therapeutic intervention to reduce harmful patterns of drinking. Copyright © 2015 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.

19 CFR 10.18 - Valuation of assembled articles.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Valuation of assembled articles. 10.18 Section 10... THE TREASURY ARTICLES CONDITIONALLY FREE, SUBJECT TO A REDUCED RATE, ETC. General Provisions Articles Assembled Abroad with United States Components § 10.18 Valuation of assembled articles. As in the case of...

19 CFR 10.18 - Valuation of assembled articles.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Valuation of assembled articles. 10.18 Section 10... THE TREASURY ARTICLES CONDITIONALLY FREE, SUBJECT TO A REDUCED RATE, ETC. General Provisions Articles Assembled Abroad with United States Components § 10.18 Valuation of assembled articles. As in the case of...

19 CFR 10.18 - Valuation of assembled articles.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Valuation of assembled articles. 10.18 Section 10... THE TREASURY ARTICLES CONDITIONALLY FREE, SUBJECT TO A REDUCED RATE, ETC. General Provisions Articles Assembled Abroad with United States Components § 10.18 Valuation of assembled articles. As in the case of...

19 CFR 10.18 - Valuation of assembled articles.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Valuation of assembled articles. 10.18 Section 10... THE TREASURY ARTICLES CONDITIONALLY FREE, SUBJECT TO A REDUCED RATE, ETC. General Provisions Articles Assembled Abroad with United States Components § 10.18 Valuation of assembled articles. As in the case of...

19 CFR 10.18 - Valuation of assembled articles.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 19 Customs Duties 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Valuation of assembled articles. 10.18 Section 10... THE TREASURY ARTICLES CONDITIONALLY FREE, SUBJECT TO A REDUCED RATE, ETC. General Provisions Articles Assembled Abroad with United States Components § 10.18 Valuation of assembled articles. As in the case of...

78 FR 25008 - Indian Oil Valuation Negotiated Rulemaking Committee; Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-29

...; DS63610300 DR2PS0000.CH7000 134D0102R2] 30 CFR Part 1206 Indian Oil Valuation Negotiated Rulemaking Committee... Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) announces additional meetings for the Indian Oil Valuation Negotiated Rulemaking Committee (Committee). The Committee membership includes representatives from Indian tribes...

48 CFR 31.205-52 - Asset valuations resulting from business combinations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Asset valuations resulting from business combinations. 31.205-52 Section 31.205-52 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL... Commercial Organizations 31.205-52 Asset valuations resulting from business combinations. (a) For tangible...

48 CFR 31.205-52 - Asset valuations resulting from business combinations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Asset valuations resulting from business combinations. 31.205-52 Section 31.205-52 Federal Acquisition Regulations System FEDERAL... Commercial Organizations 31.205-52 Asset valuations resulting from business combinations. (a) For tangible...