Proportionality of Willingness to Pay to Small Risk Changes – The Impact of Attitudinal Factors in Scope Tests

Sensitivity (proportionality) of willingness to pay to (small) risk changes is often used as a criterion to test for valid measures of economic preferences. In a contingent valuation (CV) study conducted in Austria in February 2005 1,005 respondents were asked their willingness to pay (WTP) for preventing an increase in risk by 1/42,500 and 3/42,500, respectively. WTP for the higher risk variation is significantly higher than WTP for the lower risk change. We find evidence that those respondents who have personal experience with avalanches combine the information about future risk increase, provided in the survey, with the observed number of mortal avalanche accidents in the past. The proportionality of WTP holds if such prior experiences are taken into account and the influence of attitudinal factors in scope tests are controlled for.Contingent Valuation, Willingness to Pay, Scope Test, Sensitivity of WTP

Dying in an Avalanche: Current Risks and Valuation

This paper examines the influence of implicit information associated with the occurrence of avalanches on willingness to pay (WTP) values for a risk prevention of dying in an avalanche. We present results of a contingent valuation (CV) study carried out in Austria in two different periods (fall 2004 and winter 2005). The comparison of WTP results between the two waves allows the identification whether the immediate occurrence of avalanches and their attendant deathly accidents affect individual risk evaluations. Surprisingly, individuals state a lower WTP in winter although avalanche accidents are predominant at that time. Personal responsibility of risk exposure and its associated voluntariness are main reasons for the decrease in WTP over time. Preferences for alternative protective measures (e.g. against car accidents or food poisoning) also lead to a decrease of WTP while a higher risk perception and personal experience with avalanches show a positive influence. We conclude that the change in WTP across seasons is not arbitrary but can be explained by specific risk characteristics. It follows that WTP is more robust as previously assumed and therefore represents a proper measure for the elicitation of individual risk reduction preferences.Contingent valuation, willingness to pay, risk prevention, risk perception

Dying in an Avalanche: Current risks and Valuation

This paper examines the influence of implicit information associated with the occurrence of avalanches on willingness to pay (WTP) values for a risk prevention of dying in an avalanche. We present results of a contingent valuation (CV) study carried out in Austria in two different periods (fall 2004 and winter 2005). The comparison of WTP results between the two waves allows the identification whether the immediate occurrence of avalanches and their attendant deathly accidents affect individual risk evaluations. Surprisingly, individuals state a lower WTP in winter although avalanche accidents are predominant at that time. Personal responsibility of risk exposure and its associated voluntariness are main reasons for the decrease in WTP over time. Preferences for alternative protective measures (e.g. against car accidents or food poisoning) also lead to a decrease of WTP while a higher risk perception and personal experience with avalanches show a positive influence. We conclude that the change in WTP across seasons is not arbitrary but can be explained by specific risk characteristics. It follows that WTP is more robust as previously assumed and therefore represents a proper measure for the elicitation of individual risk reduction preferences.D81, J17, Q51Contingent valuation, willingness to pay, risk prevention, risk perception

Risky Sports and the Value of Information

We develop a theoretical account of how athletes engaged in risky sports value riskreducing information and use stated-preference data from a sample of backcountry skiers to empirically challenge the predictions of our model. Risk taking in this specific context depends on the athlete’s personal attitudes toward risky activities and his strategies to control the risk. Usage of specific information is one strategy of risk control. We estimate the demand value for avalanche information. Caution is however warranted because unobserved factors may jointly affect the athlete’s perception of risk and his willingness-to-pay for obtaining the information. We use a recursive two stage estimation approach to account for endogeneity concerns. Our results indicate that the demand value of information increases with wealth and perceived risk and tends to decrease with better skills to control risk and more information about the prevailing field conditions. These results support our theoretical predictions and suggest that variation in athletes’ WTP can be explained by their beliefs about the usefulness of information

Risky Sports and the Value of Information

We develop a theoretical account of how athletes engaged in risky sports value riskreducing information and use stated-preference data from a sample of backcountry skiers to empirically challenge the predictions of our model. Risk taking in this specific context depends on the athlete’s personal attitudes toward risky activities and his strategies to control the risk. Usage of specific information is one strategy of risk control. We estimate the demand value for avalanche information. Caution is however warranted because unobserved factors may jointly affect the athlete’s perception of risk and his willingness-to-pay for obtaining the information. We use a recursive two stage estimation approach to account for endogeneity concerns. Our results indicate that the demand value of information increases with wealth and perceived risk and tends to decrease with better skills to control risk and more information about the prevailing field conditions. These results support our theoretical predictions and suggest that variation in athletes’ WTP can be explained by their beliefs about the usefulness of information