Measuring demand for sanitation in developing countries: A new theoretical and methodological framework for contingent valuation surveys

Abstract

A review shows that contingent valuation (CV) studies implemented in developing countries are generally used to measure demands (for water, sanitation or health services) and neglect the valuation of nonmarket goods (like ecosystems, biodiversity, or environmental amenities). These studies also make few references to the standard theoretical framework, because that framework, which reflects the much debated source of welfare economics, is useless for surveys that focus on people's demand. Yet paradoxically, it continues to influence survey design and data interpretation. This article therefore aims to complete, theoretically, the construction of an autonomous research program to establish demand measurement guidelines in developing countries and show, through a survey implemented in Moshi (Tanzania) about demand for sanitation, some methodological changes that would result from a new theoretical perspective built on recent results from behavioral economics and economic psychology.demand; sanitation; contingent valuation; Tanzania, behavioral economics