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Revisiting money and labor for valuing environmental goods and services in developing countries

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  • Kassahun, Habtamu Tilahun
  • Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl
  • Nicholson, Charles F.

Abstract

Many Stated Preference studies conducted in developing countries provide estimates of a low willingness to pay (WTP) for a wide range of goods and services. However, recent studies in these countries indicate that this may partly be a result of the choice of payment vehicle, not the preference for the good. Thus, low WTP may not indicate a low welfare effect for public projects in developing countries. We argue that in a setting where 1) there is imperfect substitutability between money and other measures of wealth (e.g., labor), and 2) institutions are perceived to be corrupt, including payment vehicles that are currently available to the individuals and less prone to corruption may be needed to obtain valid welfare estimates. Otherwise, we risk underestimating the welfare benefit of projects. We demonstrate this through a rural household contingent valuation (CV) survey designed to elicit the value of access to reliable irrigation water in Ethiopia. Of the total average annual WTP for access to reliable irrigation service, cash contribution comprises only 24.41%. The implication is that socially desirable projects might be rejected based on cost-benefit analysis as a result of welfare gain underestimation due to mismatch of payment vehicles choice in valuation studies.

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  • Kassahun, Habtamu Tilahun & Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl & Nicholson, Charles F., 2020. "Revisiting money and labor for valuing environmental goods and services in developing countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:177:y:2020:i:c:s092180092030121x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106771
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    2. Diriba Abdeta, 2022. "Households' willingness to pay for forest conservation in Ethiopia: A review," Journal of Forest Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 68(11), pages 437-451.
    3. Victor Champonnois & Olivier Chanel, 2023. "Accounting for subsistence needs in non-market valuation: a simple proposal," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 66(5), pages 1037-1060, April.
    4. Manhique, Henrique & Wätzold, Frank, 2023. "Effects of Institutional Setting on Value Estimates of Stated Preference Surveys in Developing Economies: A Discrete Choice Experiment on Conserving Biodiversity in The Cape Floristic Region," MPRA Paper 118750, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Kassahun, Habtamu Tilahun & Swait, Joffre & Jacobsen, Jette Bredahl, 2021. "Distortions in willingness-to-pay for public goods induced by endemic distrust in institutions," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 39(C).
    6. Tensay Hadush Meles & Razack Lokina & Erica Louis Mtenga & Julieth Julius Tibanywana, 2023. "Stated Preferences with Survey Consequentiality and Outcome Uncertainty: A Split Sample Discrete Choice Experiment," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(4), pages 717-754, December.
    7. Wanek, Eva & Bartkowski, Bartosz & Bourgeois-Gironde, Sacha & Schaafsma, Marije, 2023. "Deliberately vague or vaguely deliberative: A review of motivation and design choices in deliberative monetary valuation studies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).

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