Armchairers, You might want to check out the extensive literature on so-called "direct techniques" such as contingent valuation and conjoint analysis that is used in environmental economics to elicit quantitative estimates of willingness-to-pay for non-market, non-use goods. Quantitative results are generally comparable (although higher) than those obtained from "indirect" methods such as travel cost models and they are now accepted in courts of law.
They did, however, get a bad name in the Exxon Valdeze case, where the products of sleepy academics suddenly took on enormous importance in terms of dollars changing hands. Even Solow and Arrow and Paul Portney at RFF have looked at this subject and said the WTP (or Willingness-to-accept) estimates pass muster with the academic community, if the estimates are cut in half. Rodney Weiher NOAA Chief Economist Alex Tabarrok wrote: > Here is another reason, that just occured to me, why survey > questions may not help us as much as we would like even on those > questions where they are relevant. In economics we are typically > interested in what matters at the margin and this may be difficult to > discover in a survey question. > Take Robin's question about why people go to school. The answer > could truthfully be because my friends are going/because my father said > I should etc. while at the same time it could be also be true that an > increase in the wage rate reduces the number of people going to school. > It seems to me that this may be difficult to pick up in survey questions > though I suppose we could ask questions like - What factors would raise > the probability that you would attend/not attend school? - this sort of > counter-factual, however, is a more difficult question to answer than > the factual about why you did what you did but the answer to the latter > question is an average while we are interested in the marginal. > > Alex > > P.S. Yes, economists are inconsistent. > > -- > Dr. Alexander Tabarrok > Vice President and Director of Research > The Independent Institute > 100 Swan Way > Oakland, CA, 94621-1428 > Tel. 510-632-1366, FAX: 510-568-6040 > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
