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Temporal insensitivity of willingness to pay and implied discount rates

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  • Kim, Soo-Il
  • Haab, Timothy C.

Abstract

A number of studies have defined and tested the temporal sensitivity of willingness to pay to payment schemes and the resulting implied discount rates for environmental projects. We demonstrate that those studies have imposed restrictive assumptions on the structure of the willingness to pay function and the underlying decision process. We investigate the temporal sensitivity of willingness to pay using a new temporal willingness to pay function applied to a proposed oyster reef restoration program. We find that (1) holding the length of the project constant, the temporal willingness to pay for the project is the same across different payment schemes, (2) temporal willingness to pay does not vary significantly across projects of varying lengths, and (3) estimated discount rates are low relative to previous studies, but vary significantly across payment schemes and project lengths.

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  • Kim, Soo-Il & Haab, Timothy C., 2009. "Temporal insensitivity of willingness to pay and implied discount rates," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 89-102, May.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:resene:v:31:y:2009:i:2:p:89-102
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    9. Lewis, David J. & Kling, David M. & Dundas, Steven J. & Lew, Daniel K., 2022. "Estimating the value of threatened species abundance dynamics," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    10. Brouwer, Roy & van Beukering, Pieter & Sultanian, Elena, 2008. "The impact of the bird flu on public willingness to pay for the protection of migratory birds," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 575-585, January.
    11. Vásquez-Lavín, Felipe & Carrasco, Moisés & Barrientos, Manuel & Gelcich, Stefan & Ponce Oliva, Roberto D., 2021. "Estimating discount rates for environmental goods: Are People’s responses inadequate to frequency of payments?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    12. Henrik Andersson & James Hammitt & Gunnar Lindberg & Kristian Sundström, 2013. "Willingness to Pay and Sensitivity to Time Framing: A Theoretical Analysis and an Application on Car Safety," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 56(3), pages 437-456, November.
    13. Roy Brouwer, 2009. "Multi-Attribute Choice Modeling of Australia’s Rivers and Wetlands: A Meta-Analysis of Ten Years of Research," Socio-Economics and the Environment in Discussion (SEED) Working Paper Series 2009-05, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems.
    14. Howard, Gregory & Whitehead, John C. & Hochard, Jacob, 2021. "Estimating discount rates using referendum-style choice experiments: An analysis of multiple methodologies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    15. Peter A. Groothuis & Tanga M. Mohr & John C. Whitehead & Kristan Cockerill & William P. Anderson, Jr. & Chuanhui Gu, 2020. "Measuring the Direct and Indirect Effect of Scientific Information On Valuing Stormwater Management Programs: A Hybrid Choice Model," Working Papers 20-02, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    16. Egan, Kevin J. & Corrigan, Jay R. & Dwyer, Daryl F., 2015. "Three reasons to use annual payments in contingent valuation surveys: Convergent validity, discount rates, and mental accounting," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 123-136.
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