Using Internet in Stated Preference Surveys: A Review and Comparison of Survey Modes

Internet is quickly becoming the survey mode of choice for stated preference (SP) surveys in environmental economics. However, this choice is being made with relatively little consideration of its potential influence on survey results. This paper reviews the theory and emerging evidence of mode effects in the survey methodology and SP literatures, summarizes the findings, and points out implications for Internet SP practice and research. The SP studies that compare Internet with other modes do generally not find substantial difference. The majority of welfare estimates are equal; or somewhat lower for the Internet surveys. Further, there is no clear evidence of substantially lower quality or validity of Internet responses. However, the degree of experimental control is often low in comparative studies across survey modes, and they often confound measurement and sample composition effects. Internet offers a huge potential for experimentation and innovation in SP research, but when used to derive reliable welfare estimates for policy assessment, issues like representation and nonresponse bias for different Internet panels should receive more attention.Internet; survey mode; contingent valuation; stated preferences

Benefit Transfer – The Quick, the Dirty, and the Ugly?

Environmental Economics and Policy,

Using Internet in Stated Preference Surveys: A Review and Comparison of Survey Modes

Internet is quickly becoming the survey mode of choice for stated preference (SP) surveys in environmental economics. However, this choice is being made with relatively little consideration of its potential influence on survey results. This paper reviews the theory and emerging evidence of mode effects in the survey methodology and SP literatures, summarizes the findings, and points out implications for Internet SP practice and research. The SP studies that compare Internet with other modes do generally not find substantial difference. The majority of welfare estimates are equal; or somewhat lower for the Internet surveys. Further, there is no clear evidence of substantially lower quality or validity of Internet responses. However, the degree of experimental control is often low in comparative studies across survey modes, and they often confound measurement and sample composition effects. Internet offers a huge potential for experimentation and innovation in SP research, but when used to derive reliable welfare estimates for policy assessment, issues like representation and nonresponse bias for different Internet panels should receive more attention

What Do Respondents Bring to Contingent Valuation? A Comparison of Monetary and Labor Payment Vehicles

With contingent valuation, both the goods being valued and the payment vehicles used to value them are mostly hypothetical. However, although numerous studies have examined the impact of experience with the good on willingness to pay, less attention has been given to experience with payment vehicles. This paper examines how this influences responses to a contingent valuation scenario of maintenance for irrigation canals. Specifically, the paper uses a split-sample survey to investigate the effects of experience with monetary and labor payment vehicles on the acceptance of a contingent valuation scenario and protest bids. Using convergent validity tests, we found that experience acquired from using both monetary and labor payment vehicles reduces the asymmetries in acceptance rates. These findings suggest that experience with payment vehicles reduces time/money response asymmetries in the contingent valuation method.contingent valuation, payment vehicles, numéraires, experience

Using Internet in Stated Preference Surveys: A Review and Comparison of Survey Modes

Internet is quickly becoming the survey mode of choice for stated preference (SP) surveys in environmental economics. However, this choice is being made with relatively little consideration of its potential influence on survey results. This paper reviews the theory and emerging evidence of mode effects in the survey methodology and SP literatures, summarizes the findings, and points out implications for Internet SP practice and research. The SP studies that compare Internet with other modes do generally not find substantial difference. The majority of welfare estimates are equal; or somewhat lower for the Internet surveys. Further, there is no clear evidence of substantially lower quality or validity of Internet responses. However, the degree of experimental control is often low in comparative studies across survey modes, and they often confound measurement and sample composition effects. Internet offers a huge potential for experimentation and innovation in SP research, but when used to derive reliable welfare estimates for policy assessment, issues like representation and nonresponse bias for different Internet panels should receive more attention

Comparing cultural heritage values in South East Asia : possibilities and difficulties in cross-country transfers of economic values

Article in pressBenefit transfer refers to the transfer of economic values from a primary valuation study (study site) to a site where we need to conduct policy analysis (policy site). Due to the considerable costs and time required to conduct primary valuation studies, using benefit transfers to estimate the values for sites not yet valued is likely to attract policy interest. While benefit transfer is being increasingly applied in studies on environmental goods, its application in the field of cultural heritage resources is rare. The unique nature of these public goods, and differences in the size and demographic characteristics of the affected populations lead to a significant risk of benefit transfer providing irrelevant estimates for cultural heritage. In this study, we compared the results of two contingent valuation (CV) studies involving historic temples in Thailand and Vietnam, tested the validity and reliability of benefit transfers between the two sites, and explored the possibilities and difficulties in such transfers. We found that the error in transferring unadjusted mean willingness-to-pay (WTP) ranged from 46% to 129%. Adjustments for differences in purchasing power parity (PPP), income level and income elasticity between the sites substantially increased rather than decreased transfer errors in many instances. Function transfers did not perform better than unadjusted unit transfers. These results suggest that there are other important factors - possibly physical, cultural and institutional variables - that need to be taken into account in explaining the differences in WTP for cultural heritage aside from the usual income and socio-economic variables captured in CV studies. Until we are able to identify these other factors and measure their impacts, the potential policy use of benefit transfer in the case of cultural heritage goods remains limited

The economic costs, management and regulation of biological invasions in the Nordic countries

A collective understanding of economic impacts and in particular of monetary costs of biological invasions is lacking for the Nordic region. This paper synthesizes findings from the literature on costs of invasions in the Nordic countries together with expert elicitation. The analysis of cost data has been made possible through the InvaCost database, a globally open repository of monetary costs that allows for the use of temporal, spatial, and taxonomic descriptors facilitating a better understanding of how costs are distributed. The total reported costs of invasive species across the Nordic countries were estimated at $8.35 billion (in 2017 US$ values) with damage costs significantly outweighing management costs. Norway incurred the highest costs ($3.23 billion), followed by Denmark ($2.20 billion), Sweden ($1.45 billion), Finland ($1.11 billion) and Iceland ($25.45 million). Costs from invasions in the Nordics appear to be largely underestimated. We conclude by highlighting such knowledge gaps, including gaps in policies and regulation stemming from expert judgment as well as avenues for an improved understanding of invasion costs and needs for future research

The economic costs, management and regulation of biological invasions in the Nordic countries

A collective understanding of economic impacts and in particular of monetary costs of biological invasions is lacking for the Nordic region. This paper synthesizes findings from the literature on costs of invasions in the Nordic countries together with expert elicitation. The analysis of cost data has been made possible through the InvaCost database, a globally open repository of monetary costs that allows for the use of temporal, spatial, and taxonomic descriptors facilitating a better understanding of how costs are distributed. The total reported costs of invasive species across the Nordic countries were estimated at $8.35 billion (in 2017 US$ values) with damage costs significantly outweighing management costs. Norway incurred the highest costs ($3.23 billion), followed by Denmark ($2.20 billion), Sweden ($1.45 billion), Finland ($1.11 billion) and Iceland ($25.45 million). Costs from invasions in the Nordics appear to be largely underestimated. We conclude by highlighting such knowledge gaps, including gaps in policies and regulation stemming from expert judgment as well as avenues for an improved understanding of invasion costs and needs for future research.</p