Abstract
In support of natural resource and ecosystem service policy, monetary value estimates are often presented to decision makers along with other types of information. There is some evidence that, presented with such ‘mixed’ information, people prioritise monetary over non-monetary information. We conduct a discrete choice experiment among New Zealand decision makers in which we manipulate the information presented to participants. We find that providing explicit monetary information strengthens the pursuit of economic benefits as well as the avoidance of environmental damage. Cultural impacts, of which we provided only qualitative descriptions, did not affect respondents’ choices. Our study provides further evidence that concerns regarding the use of monetary information in decisions with complex, multi-value impacts are valid. Further research is needed to validate our results and find ways to reduce any bias in monetary and non-market information.
Highlights
Many researchers have expressed concerns about the increasing use of monetary value estimates in natural resources and ecosystem services policy and decisions [1, 2,3,4]
We contribute to the debate by presenting evidence that explicit monetary information affects choice outcomes when the full information set for a decision is ‘mixed’ and includes both monetary and non-market information
Treatment effects Development Limited Residential Commercial Water quality Medium Low Log likelihood N a p-values are shown in parentheses. *** indicates p < 0.01 ** indicates p < 0.05, and * indicates p < 0.1 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0165365.t003
Summary
Many researchers have expressed concerns about the increasing use of monetary value estimates in natural resources and ecosystem services policy and decisions [1, 2,3,4]. The use of monetary values in decision making should be decided on a case-by-case basis [5], but using a different basis for information can create different policy recommendations [6]. There are several lines of criticism on estimating monetary values to inform natural resource and ecosystem service policy. Many have emphasised the technical difficulties of capturing the value of complex ecological systems that provide multiple and non-linear services in monetary units [3, 7]. Increasing attention is being paid to the importance of cultural and heritage values [8, 9], which adds an additional dimension to policy development and decision
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