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Bridging the gap between laboratory experiments and naturally occurring markets: An inferred valuation method

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  • Lusk, Jayson L.
  • Norwood, F. Bailey

Abstract

Several recent studies have found important differences between behavior in the laboratory and the field. We explore two possible causes for the divergence: social concerns and unfamiliarity with the traded good. Consistent with our conceptual model, we find that people overstated their preferences for relatively familiar goods with normative attributes and understated their preferences for a relatively unfamiliar good with low normative motivations in the laboratory as compared to the field. We also find that for goods with a normative dimension, a new method we refer to as inferred valuation has the potential to narrow the lab-field gap. In some cases, willingness-to-pay obtained from a conventional valuation elicitation method is more than twice the value from the new inferred valuation approach.

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Bibliographic Info

Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.

Volume (Year): 58 (2009)
Issue (Month): 2 (September)
Pages: 236-250

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Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:58:y:2009:i:2:p:236-250

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Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622870

Related research

Keywords: Laboratory experiment External validity Field experiment Indirect questioning Inferred valuation Organic Willingness-to-pay;

References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Jayson Lusk & F. Norwood, 2010. "Direct Versus Indirect Questioning: An Application to the Well-Being of Farm Animals," Social Indicators Research, Springer, vol. 96(3), pages 551-565, May.
  2. Stachtiaris, Spiros & Drichoutis, Andreas & Klonaris, Stathis, 2011. "The “more is less” phenomenon in Contingent and Inferred valuation," MPRA Paper 29456, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  3. Stéphan Marette & Jutta Roosen & Sandrine Blanchemanche, 2011. "The Combination of Lab and Field Experiments for Benefit-Cost Analysis," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, De Gruyter, vol. 2(3), pages 2.

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