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A Comparison of Induced Value and Home-Grown Value Experiments to Test for Hypothetical Bias in Contingent Valuation

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Author Info

  • James J. Murphy

    () (Department of Economics, University of Alaska Anchorage)

  • Thomas H. Stevens

    () (Department of Resource Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst)

  • Lava Yadav

    (Department of Resource Economics, University of Massachusetts Amherst)

Abstract

This study tests the hypothesis that hypothetical bias may not be related to value elicitation; rather it may be a value formation problem. When participants are asked to indicate their willingness to pay for an induced value good, we find no evidence of hypothetical bias for three different commodity types (public good, private good, and publicly provided private good). However, when these same subjects are asked to value homegrown goods with no pre-assigned induced value using the same elicitation mechanism, hypothetical values are roughly double actual payments in all three cases. These results support the hypothesis that the process of forming values in a homegrown setting may be a key contributor to hypothetical bias.

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File URL: http://www.econpapers.uaa.alaska.edu/RePEC/ala/wpaper/ALA201006.pdf
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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by University of Alaska Anchorage, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 2010-06.

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Date of creation: Mar 2010
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Publication status: Published in Environmental and Resource Economics, 47(1):111-123
Handle: RePEc:ala:wpaper:2010-06

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Web page: http://www.cbpp.uaa.alaska.edu/CBPPHome/DepartmentsandMajors/Economics.aspx
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Related research

Keywords: contingent valuation; hypothetical bias; experiments; induced values; home-grown values;

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References

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  1. Robin Gregory & Sarah Lichtenstein & Thomas C. Brown & George L. Peterson & Paul Slovic, 1995. "How Precise Are Monetary Representations of Environmental Improvements?," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 71(4), pages 462-473.
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  8. Aadland, David & Caplan, Arthur J., 2006. "Cheap talk reconsidered: New evidence from CVM," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 562-578, August.
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  14. Ethier, Robert G. & Poe, Gregory L. & Schulze, William D. & 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.
  15. 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.
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Cited by:
  1. Eriksson, Stefan & Johansson, Per & Langenskiöld, Sophie, 2012. "What is the right profile for getting a job? A stated choice experiment of the recruitment process," Working Paper Series, Center for Labor Studies 2012:16, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
  2. Dominique Ami & Frédéric Aprahamian & Olivier Chanel & Stephane Luchini, 2009. "A Test Of Cheap Talk In Different Hypothetical Contexts: The Case Of Air Pollution," Working Papers halshs-00382511, HAL.
  3. Jacquemet, Nicolas & Joule, Robert-Vincent & Luchini, Stéphane & Shogren, Jason F., 2011. "Do People Always Pay Less Than They Say? Testbed Laboratory Experiments With IV and HG Values," Open Access publications from Université Paris-Dauphine urn:hdl:123456789/9717, Université Paris-Dauphine.
  4. Kling, Catherine Louise, 2012. "From Exxon to BP: Has Some Number Become Better than No Number?," Staff General Research Papers 35577, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.

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