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Can Hypothetical Questions Reveal True Values? A Laboratory Comparison of Dichotomous Choice and Open-Ended Contingent Values with Auction Values

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Author Info
Edward Balistreri
Gary McClelland
Gregory Poe
William Schulze

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Abstract

Can hypothetical questions reveal true values? An examination of thelaboratory experimental literature examining contingent valuation (CV)lends some support for using open-ended hypothetical willingness to payquestions. However, experimental studies examining dichotomous choicehave found that hypothetical answers overstate demand. Consistent withthe experimental literature, published CV studies comparing open-ended todichotomous choice questions have shown that values from the dichotomouschoice method equal or exceed those of the open-ended method in everycase. This paper presents a series of experiments employing more than 800subjects to test this hypothesis for CV and compares the CV results toactual auction values in a single controlled experimental environment. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2001

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1023/A:1011130018891
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Publisher Info
Article provided by European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists in its journal Environmental and Resource Economics.

Volume (Year): 18 (2001)
Issue (Month): 3 (March)
Pages: 275-292
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Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:18:y:2001:i:3:p:275-292

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Web page: http://www.springerlink.com/link.asp?id=100263

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Related research
Keywords: contingent valuation; elicitation methods; validity; experimental economics; OEQ (open-ended questions); DCQ (dichotomous choice questions); WTP (willingness to pay);

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Joseph Cooper & John Loomis, 1992. "Sensitivity of Willingness-to-Pay Estimates to Bid Design in Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation Models," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 68(2), pages 211-224. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Trudy Ann Cameron, 1991. "Interval Estimates of Non-Market Resource Values from Referendum Contingent Valuation Surveys," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 67(4), pages 413-421. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. McClelland, Gary H & Schulze, William D & Coursey, Don L, 1993. " Insurance for Low-Probability Hazards: A Bimodal Response to Unlikely Events," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 95-116, August.
  4. Barbara J. Kanninen, 1993. "Optimal Experimental Design for Double-Bounded Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 69(2), pages 138-146. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Shogren, Jason F. & Seung Y. Shin & Dermot J. Hayes & James B. Kliebenstein, 1994. "Resolving Differences in Willingness to Pay and Willingness to Accept," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(1), pages 255-70, March.
  6. John Loomis & Thomas Brown & Beatrice Lucero & George Peterson, 1997. "Evaluating the Validity of the Dichotomous Choice Question Format in Contingent Valuation," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(2), pages 109-123, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Smith, Vernon L & Walker, James M, 1993. "Rewards, Experience and Decision Costs in First Price Auctions," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 31(2), pages 237-45, April.
  8. Smith, Vernon L & Walker, James M, 1993. "Monetary Rewards and Decision Cost in Experimental Economics," Economic Inquiry, Oxford University Press, vol. 31(2), pages 245-61, April.
  9. Cummings, Ronald G, et al, 1997. "Are Hypothetical Referenda Incentive Compatible?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(3), pages 609-21, June.
  10. Levin, Dan & Kagel, John H & Richard, Jean-Francois, 1996. "Revenue Effects and Information Processing in English Common Value Auctions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 442-60, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Fox, J. & Shogren, J. & Hayes, Dermot J. & Kliebenstein, James, 2004. "CVM-X: Calibrating Contingent Values with Experimental Auction Markets," Staff General Research Papers 11935, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
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  12. Kanninen Barbara J., 1995. "Bias in Discrete Response Contingent Valuation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 114-125, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Timothy Park & John B. Loomis & Michael Creel, 1991. "Confidence Intervals for Evaluating Benefits Estimates from Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation Studies," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 67(1), pages 64-73. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Smith, Vernon L, 1982. "Microeconomic Systems as an Experimental Science," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(5), pages 923-55, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Kagel, John H & Harstad, Ronald M & Levin, Dan, 1987. "Information Impact and Allocation Rules in Auctions with Affiliated Private Values: A Laboratory Study," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(6), pages 1275-1304, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Cummings, Ronald G & Harrison, Glenn W & Rutstrom, E Elisabet, 1995. "Homegrown Values and Hypothetical Surveys: Is the Dichotomous Choice Approach Incentive-Compatible?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(1), pages 260-66, March.
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Nick Hanley & Mandy Ryan & Robert Wright, 2003. "Estimating the monetary value of health care: lessons from environmental economics," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(1), pages 3-16. [Downloadable!]
  2. Evans, Jason R. & Brown, Cheryl & Collins, Alan R. & D'Souza, Gerard E. & Rayburn, Edward B. & Sperow, Mark, 2008. "Determining Consumer Perceptions of and Willingness to Pay or Appalachian Grass-fed Beef: An Experimental Economics Approach," 2008 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2008, Orlando, Florida 6209, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
  3. John A. List & Jay Shogren, 2002. "Calibration of Willingness-to-Accept," Framed Field Experiments 0054, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Mikael Svensson, 2009. "Precautionary behavior and willingness to pay for a mortality risk reduction: Searching for the expected relationship," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 65-85, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Lybbert, Travis J., 2005. "Indian Farmers' Valuation of Crop Yield Distributions: Will poor farmers value 'pro-poor' seeds?," 2005 Annual meeting, July 24-27, Providence, RI 19160, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
  6. Travis Lybbert, 2006. "Indian Farmers' Valuation of Yield Distributions: Will poor farmers value 'pro-poor' seeds?," Framed Field Experiments 0059, The Field Experiments Website. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Sund, Björn, 2009. "Certainty calibration in contingent valuation - exploring the within-difference between dichotomous choice and open-ended answers as a certainty measure," Working Papers 2009:1, Örebro University, Swedish Business School. [Downloadable!]
  8. John List & Craig Gallet, 2001. "What Experimental Protocol Influence Disparities Between Actual and Hypothetical Stated Values?," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 20(3), pages 241-254, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Gregory Poe & Jeremy Clark & Daniel Rondeau & William Schulze, 2002. "Provision Point Mechanisms and Field Validity Tests of Contingent Valuation," Environmental & Resource Economics, European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 23(1), pages 105-131, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Gubanova, Tatiana & Adamowicz, W.L. & McMillan, Melville, 2009. "‘Pocket and Pot’: Hypothetical Bias in a No-Free-Riding Public Contribution Game," 2009 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, 2009, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 49318, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association. [Downloadable!]
  11. Lybbert, Travis J. & Just, David R., 2006. "Is Risk Aversion Really Correlated with Wealth? How estimated probabilities introduce spurious correlation," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21167, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association). [Downloadable!]
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  12. Minhaj Mahmud, 2006. "Contingent Valuation of Mortality Risk Reduction in Developing Countries: A Mission Impossible?," Keele Economics Research Papers KERP 2006/01, Centre for Economic Research, Keele University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. Ethier, Robert & Poe, Gregory & Schulze, William & Clark, Jeremy, 1997. "A Comparison Of Hypothetical Phone And Mail Contingent Valuation Responses For Green Pricing Electricity Programs," Working Papers 7245, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Pamela Kaval & Mavra Stithou & Riccardo Scarpa, 2007. "Social Values of Biodiversity Conservation for the Endangered Loggerhead Turtle and Monk Seal," Working Papers in Economics 07/15, University of Waikato, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  15. Knut Veisten & Ståle Navrud, 2006. "Contingent valuation and actual payment for voluntarily provided passive-use values: Assessing the effect of an induced truth-telling mechanism and elicitation formats," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 38(7), pages 735-756, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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