This study compares an ordered probit model and a Tobit model with selection to take into account both true zero and protest zero bids while estimating the willingness to pay (WTP) for coi~servation easements in Macon County, NC. By comparing the two models, the ordere~Uunordered selection issue of the protest responses is analyzed to demonstrate how the treatment of protest responses can signi...

Estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) for health, environmental, and other goods obtained using contingent valuation (CV) have been criticized as inadequately sensitive to the scope or magnitude of the good. We investigate the sensitivity of WTP to variation in the magnitude of reductions in health risk using survey data collected in two countries, Taiwan and the United States, that differ dram...

This study is an attempt to overcome the lack of reliable estimates on the willingness of Malaysian users to pay for public transportation (particularly buses) through a combined analysis of a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (F-AHP) and the Taguchi method. This is a ground-breaking study in the attempt to evaluate the bus users’ satisfaction factors based on the F-AHP, and find the pattern f...

This paper examines the determinants of the decision of low-income renters to move out of their current dwelling. Maximum score estimation is shown t be superior to ordinary discrete choice estimation techniques (probit, logit) for this problem, ad for similar discrete choices that require revering a previously optimal decision. The estimation reveals psychological costs f moving for typical lo...

Cultural ecosystem service (CES) constitutes a growing field of researches in integrated land planning, among which is how to optimize the provision to nearby neighborhoods. Thus an understanding of the value of CES appreciated by residents needs to be developed. Stated preference methods are popular in valuing CES, among which, willingness to pay (WTP) is the most widely used way. But still, i...

The paper studies a class of games, “All-Pay Contests”, which captures general asymmetries and sunk investments inherent in scenarios such as lobbying, competition for market power, labor-market tournaments, and R&D races. Players compete for one of several identical prizes by choosing a score. Conditional on winning or losing, it is weakly better to do so with a lower score. This formulation a...

Rapid growth of rural communities in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Macon County, North Carolina has been giving rise to concerns over declining environmental quality and increasing need for land-use policy. This paper examines willingness to pay (WTP) for hypothetical conservation easements as an alternative land-use policy for the county. Despite the fact that Macon County has struggled to adopt...

Protest bids are often excluded during analysis of contingent valuation method data. It is suggested that this procedure might introduce significant bias. Protest bids are often registered by respondents who may actually place a higheror lower-than-average value on the commodity in question but refuse to pay on the basis of ethical or other reasons, Exclusion of protest bids may therefore bias ...