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Is the value of an environmental public good sensitive to the providing institution?

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  • Remoundou, Kyriaki
  • Kountouris, Yiannis
  • Koundouri, Phoebe

Abstract

In this paper we examine whether stated preferences and Willingness To Pay estimates, obtained in a choice experiment, are sensitive to the institutional context in which the good under evaluation is provided. Specifically, we examine the effects on valuation from employing two different institutions, an authority under the supervision of the National government and an authority under the supervision of an international body, the European Commission, as responsible for the design and implementation of a forest restoration project following a split sample approach. We find that coefficients of the utility model and Willingness To Pay estimates for all attributes are not statistically different between the two treatments. This is so despite the significant differences in the trust levels reported for the two institutions. We speculate that our results reflect the significance of the environmental good to the citizens given its local nature and the sheer size of the fire disaster.

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  • Remoundou, Kyriaki & Kountouris, Yiannis & Koundouri, Phoebe, 2012. "Is the value of an environmental public good sensitive to the providing institution?," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 381-395.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:resene:v:34:y:2012:i:3:p:381-395
    DOI: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2012.03.002
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    2. Sagebiel, Julian & Müller, Jakob R. & Rommel, Jens, 2013. "Are Consumers Willing to Pay More for Electricity from Cooperatives? Results from an Online Choice Experiment in Germany," MPRA Paper 52385, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Malte Oehlmann & Jürgen Meyerhoff, 2017. "Stated preferences towards renewable energy alternatives in Germany – do the consequentiality of the survey and trust in institutions matter?," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 1-16, January.
    4. Misal, Haleema & Varela, Elsa & Voulgarakis, Apostolos & Rovithakis, Anastasios & Grillakis, Manolis & Kountouris, Yiannis, 2023. "Assessing public preferences for a wildfire mitigation policy in Crete, Greece," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    5. De Ayala Bilbao, Amaya & Hoyos Ramos, David & Mariel Chladkova, Petr, 2012. "Landscape valuation through discrete choice experiments: Current practice and future research reflections," BILTOKI 1134-8984, Universidad del País Vasco - Departamento de Economía Aplicada III (Econometría y Estadística).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Choice experiment; Forest resources; Forest fires; Institutional context;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods

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