Double-bounded Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation Research Articles

Are retail investors willing to buy green bonds? A case for Japan

ABSTRACT With the growing importance of the financial sector in mitigating environmental pressure, many financial institutions have begun issuing green bonds. This study investigated retail investors’ willingness to pay for green bonds using the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method. The findings from the survey performed on Japanese respondents reveal that, on average, respondents are willing to invest in green bonds when offered an annual interest rate of around 1.1%. The results also indicate that respondents with higher altruism and environmental awareness levels, information about green bonds, and frequent investors have a higher preference for investing in green bonds. The results suggest financial institutions’ importance in providing information on how green bonds can help reduce environmental pressure and raise investors’ awareness of green bonds.

Estimating the Social Value of Digital Signage Landmarks as Sustainable Tourist Attractions

As urban tourism increases, digital signage landmarks are frequently utilized to develop and enhance the attractiveness of cities for tourism. However, the benefits of this development for local residents have not been fully explored from a sustainability perspective. Thus, this study aims to quantitatively analyze local residents’ perceptions of digital signage landmarks in urban areas using one of the prominent icons, the Samseong-dong free display zone in Seoul, Korea. To measure the overall value of the landmarks, this study used a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method and spike model. Based on the surveys of 600 respondents in Korea, the results show that a household’s willingness to pay to support the landmark annually is KRW 5401 (USD 4) on average in the form of income tax. The perceived annual value for the landmark is about KRW 790 million (USD 60 million), surpassing that of typical tourism attractions in Korea.

Public willingness to pay for personal carbon trading of green travel: based on survey data from five capital cities in eastern China

Personal carbon trading is a form of pollution rights trading that is worth exploring as an innovative tool to cut back carbon emissions from travel. This paper proposes a policy scenario in which car users who exceed the average distance traveled quota are required to purchase travel credits from those who do not reach the quota and pay for them on a per hundred kilometer basis. Willingness to pay (WTP) for personal carbon trading is introduced to calculate the travel cost and its influencing factors are analyzed from the perspective of green travel. Using the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (DBDC), 2712 residents’ data from five provincial capital cities in eastern China is obtained. Based on this, this study first uses a binary logistic regression model to analyze the characteristics of people who are not willing to pay for green travel carbon trading, and then leverages an interval regression model to explore the willingness and intrinsic motivation of being willing to pay more or less for green travel. The results suggest that perceived usefulness is a key influencing factor of residents’ willingness to pay or pay more for green travel; Personal habits have a significant positive effect among those willing to pay; Subjective norms and moral norms can well account for the unwillingness to pay; Attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and environmental awareness fail to predict the willingness to pay among those who are unwilling to pay. In addition, WTP is also affected by demographic variables such as income and educational background. The empirical results as well indicate that the final average level of respondents’ WTP is 39.95 yuan per 100 km. The findings of this paper can provide a pricing basis while formulating personal travel carbon trading policies.

Evaluating factors influencing Tennessee and Kentucky farmers’ willingness to sell produce through fresh stop markets

IntroductionThe food justice movement focuses on resolving food system inequalities, including, but not limited to, income, ethnicity, and race differences related to household access to food, farmer access to markets, and the fair treatment of farmworkers. Previous studies have focused on food system inequalities from the consumer demand side, but only a few studies have focused on the role farmers play in creating more equitable food systems. An example of a market model aiming to fulfill various missions of the food justice movement is Fresh Stop Markets (FSMs). FSMs aggregate food from local farmers and sell shares on a sliding scale based on consumers’ income. Lower income households pay less than higher-income households for the same food. A vital component of this market concept is farmers’ willingness to sell produce through FSMs.MethodsWe used data from a 2020 survey of Tennessee and Kentucky fruit and vegetable farmers and the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation approach to assess farmers’ willingness to sell produce through FSMs when faced with a price discount scenario. A probit regression was used to investigate the factors correlated with farmers’ willingness to sell produce through FSMs.Results and discussionResults suggest gross farm revenue, farmer age, education, experience selling produce through farmers markets, and running programs on the farm to educate communities about sustainable agriculture and food systems are associated with farmers’ willingness to sell produce through FSMs.ConclusionFarmer and farm business characteristics, as well as prior experience running education programs on the farm related to sustainable agriculture and food systems are important factors to consider when trying to engage farmers willing to sell produce through FSMs.

Determinants of Smallholder Rice Farmers’ Willingness-to-Pay for Private Extension Services in Liberia: The Case of Gibi District

Globally, many policymakers and extension professionals have advocated for the privatization of extension services in order to reduce the burden of funding faced by the state as well as to adequately respond to the low productivity problem of farmers as they endeavor to tackle productivity problems. This study assessed willingness-to-pay (WTP) for private extension services by farmers and identified the determinants of their WTP using Gibi District of Liberia as a case study. A multistage sampling technique was used in selecting 296 smallholder rice farmers in the district while the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method was used to elicit maximum WTP value for farmers. Descriptive statistics were computed and the double-bounded logit model used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that 78.7% of the rice farmers were willing to pay for privatized extension services and on average, a farmer was willing to pay US$11.21 per farm visit, almost twice the average daily wage rate of a skilled worker in Liberia. The results from the model showed that WTP was significantly positively influenced by the household head’s age, years of schooling, household size, annual income, and distance to extension service provider. The study recommends that the Liberian government and its development partners should encourage the private sector to invest more in extension services to take advantage of the relatively high farmers’ WTP and effective demand. In addition, the government should design and implement programs that reduce transaction costs in addition to increasing farmers’ income in order to enhance their capacity to pay for privatized extension services.

Determinants of agro-pastoralists’ willingness to pay for improved contagious caprine pleuropneumonia vaccine in Kenya

Animal health care is critical for livestock production especially in arid and semi-arid areas where majority are agro-pastoralists. Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP) is a highly contagious and fatal disease which commonly affects goats in arid and semi-arid areas. The government has been the major provider of CCPP vaccine and few large-scale farmers who are licensed and able to purchase directly from the vaccine producer. Although the vaccine is sold to farmers at a subsidized price by the government, its distribution has been characterized by scarcity, irregular and late administration by the authority concerned. It is envisioned that if the willingness to pay for the CCPP vaccine among the agro-pastoralists was high, the sustainability for the vaccine availability and accessibility to everyone will be assured. This study was conducted in Kajiado and Taita Taveta counties where 323 households were sampled; thus, 276 households who were aware of the CCPP were considered for the analysis. Double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation model was used to elicit agro-pastoralists’ willingness to pay for the improved CCPP vaccine with new attributes. The model revealed that off-farm income, membership to a group, previous experience on CCPP attack on goats and access to extension services positively influenced households’ willingness to pay for the improved CCPP vaccine. The results implied that provision of extension services by the government through promotion of public awareness on CCPP and on the benefit of vaccination will motivate farmers to willingly pay for vaccination services. This can be done through enhanced trainings, seminars and demonstrations to the village level, encouraging formation of groups which facilitates information sharing between agro-pastoralists as awareness and knowledge can drive the demand for the improved CCPP vaccine.

Willingness to Pay for Colorectal Cancer Screening in Vietnam: Policy Implications From a Contingent Valuation Survey

ObjectivesTo determine the willingness to pay (WTP) for the fecal occult blood test (FOBT) and colonoscopy among the general population to provide evidence for policymakers in deciding whether to include them in the social health insurance benefit package and facilitate the pricing practice. MethodsThe conventional double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation survey was used to determine the WTP. We recruited 402 people aged 50 to 75 who came to 3 primary healthcare clinics in Hanoi from February 2019 to April 2019. The questionnaire was built based on the pilot research with a 5-bid design, that is, the starting bids of US $4.05, 6.75, 13.51, 21.01, and 36.47 for FOBT and US $21.01, 40.52, 54.03, 81.04, and 182.34 for colonoscopy. The data analysis was performed using the DCchoice package version 3.5.1. Cost in Vietnam dong is converted to 2022 US $using purchasing power parity method. ResultsA total of 7.2% of participants refused to pay for FOBT and colonoscopy. Analysis of the univariate model showed that the mean and median WTP for FOBT were US $62.08 and 45.28. The mean and median WTP for colonoscopy were US $101.61 and 78.61. When adjusting the WTP value by related factors, the mean and median WTP estimates for FOBT were almost the same. The choice of WTP for FOBT and colonoscopy was statistically associated with several variables. ConclusionsThis study supports the inclusion of FOBT and colonoscopy into the social health insurance benefits package. This study also supports policymakers in pricing practice to optimize the uptake rate of colorectal cancer screening tests.

Citrus growers’ willingness to pay and perceptions of cover crops

AbstractThis study develops and uses a survey to gather information on demographics, production and management practices, and perceptions on using cover crops as a conservation practice from citrus growers and utilizes the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method to measure their willingness to pay (WTP) for adopting cover crops in citrus production. The survey is conducted for citrus producers in Florida and Texas. The study finds that, on average, growers from Florida are willing to pay $509.48/acre per year for adopting cover crops. This is substantially less than the WTP for growers in Texas, who are willing to pay more than $1,000/acre per year for cover crops. The study analyzes the factors that have significant impacts on growers’ WTP for cover crops and discusses the heterogeneity in the grower perceptions on the benefits and drawbacks of using this conservation practice by state. Although using cover crops has not been a popular conservation practice in perennial fruit production systems, its potential to improve soil quality is particularly important for citrus production in Florida where soils are sandy and have low organic matter.

Investigating Factors Affecting Institutional Investors’ Green Bond Investments: Cases for Beijing and Shenzhen

We conducted a survey of institutional investors in Beijing and Shenzhen to analyze the factors affecting green bond (GB) investing in China, such as credit rating, GB issuer, fund use, liquidity, redemption term, certification label, and type of currency. We then compared the results for Beijing and Shenzhen, including factors that affected greenium and the two cities’ willingness to pay (WTP). Using a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method, we find that higher credit ratings tend to increase Beijing investors’ WTP and that the use of GB proceeds affects Shenzhen investors’ WTP. We also find that investors place importance on the type of currency, length of redemption term, and liquidity when investing in GB, while the certification label does not have an impact on WTP. The WTP for GB was higher among Shenzhen investors than among Beijing investors. These findings provide important insights for the government and financial institutions to take the right action to expand the GB market and to establish a GB framework that induces the financial sector toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Hometown effect on consumer preferences for food products

This study examines how consumers’ hometown orientation affects their preferences for food products. Regarding food products, consumers may prefer products from their hometown over those produced in other domestic areas, among other factors. We consider that due to population migration, a consumers’ current or local place of residence may not necessarily be their hometown. After defining the hometown effect with a framework of consumer willingness to pay, we apply a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method to value the hometown effect on a rice product, based on a consumer survey conducted in Japan. This study reveals that consumers’ hometown orientation significantly affects their preferences for the rice product produced in their hometown. The magnitude of the hometown effect for the product is estimated at 48 JPY (0.44 USD) per kg in terms of consumer willingness to pay. The premium rate of the hometown effect compared with the price of the base product is 12.4%. Food labels indicating more detailed region of origin information could be a potential marketing strategy to appeal to consumers from that region but currently living in other areas.

Public Willingness to Pay for Green Lifestyle in China: A Contingent Valuation Method Based on Integrated Model.

The purpose of this study was to note how people recognize the green lifestyle and how much extra money they are willing to pay for it. An integrated model based on the theory of planned behavior was constructed, and data on the willingness to pay (WTP) for green lifestyles of 1377 respondents in five cities in East China were measured and calculated using the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (DBDC) combined with interval regression analysis. The results showed that the respondents were willing to pay an extra 81.8 yuan, 52.5 yuan, 38.9 yuan, 53.2 yuan, and 37.2 yuan per month for green food, clothing, travel, housing, and waste recycling, respectively. Attitude and moral norms were the strongest predictors of WTP for green clothing, travel, housing, and waste recycling. Perceived behavior control, environmental awareness, personal habits, subjective knowledge, gender, income, and education can affect a few kinds of green lifestyle's WTP.

Consumers’ willingness to pay for quail products in Tamale metropolis, Ghana

This study examines consumers' willingness to pay higher price premiums for quail products using the price of chicken as a benchmark. A double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation was used to elicit the data, and the factors influencing consumers’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) were identified using the ordered logit regression model. Results revealed that on the average consumers were willing to pay a higher price premium for quail products, with the mean WTP of GH¢ 27.46 ($5.66), representing 196.14% price premium and GH¢26.34 ($5.43) representing 196.03% price premium per crate of eggs and 1 kg of quail meat, respectively. These findings are crucial for the development of the products as well as formulating marketing strategies for its promotion in the African food markets. • Quail products are very nutritious. • Consumers awareness on quail products influences their willingness to pay higher premium. • Consumers that are educated are willing to pay higher premium for quail products. • Promotion of quail products could help in efforts towards food and nutrition security.

Will the public in emerging economies support renewable energy? Evidence from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Public acceptance and support are crucial to increasing the adoption of renewable energy technologies and establishing new renewable energy policies. In Vietnam, where plans to rapidly scale-up electricity generation are among the fastest globally, one question of interest is what would motivate people to pay more for electricity generated by renewable energy sources? As part of its national Power Development Plan, Vietnam targets a future electricity mix consisting of at least 21% renewable energy by 2030. This study assesses the public's willingness to pay (WTP) for increasing renewable energy share and corresponding motivating factors in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Drawing from a valid sample of 294 households, this study uses a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (CVM) to evaluate the public perception of renewable energy. On average, respondents are willing to pay about $4.39 USD more on their monthly electric bill to support renewable energy, which represents a 9.48% increase. Notably, respondents most concerned with air quality and the utility's profitability indicated their support to pay more for renewable energy. This study suggests the importance of communicating health-related air pollution mitigation benefits for emerging economies and building support among customers so that electric utilities can increase renewable energy targets. From a policy perspective, improved and transparent disclosure of air pollution data and utility financial statements could expedite the transition to renewable energy in emerging economies, such as Vietnam.

Herdsmen's willingness to accept compensation for grazing ban compliance: Empirical evidence from pastoral China

Payment for ecosystem services (PES) has gained popularity in balancing environmental degradation and economic development. However, many of its key features, particularly price differentiation, are often not considered during design and implementation. Taking China's grassland ecological compensation policy as an example, we empirically examine herders' willingness to accept (WTA) compensation for grazing ban compliance, based on a survey dataset of 352 herder households in the pastoral areas of the Gansu and Qinghai provinces in China. A double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation design was adopted, with interval regression and bivariate probit models adjusted for potential bid anchoring utilized to obtain reliable WTA estimates. The results show that the mean WTA ranges between CNY 193 and CNY 274 per mu, which is significantly higher than the present universal compensation level. Herdsmen's WTA is significantly and positively associated with household size and having migrant worker family members, while it is negatively influenced by age, environmental perception , household income, and sandy soil. We suggest that the basic institution of China's grassland ecological compensation policy (GECP) should be reformed to allow price differentiation, bottom-up participation, and performance-dependent payments. • We examine herdsmen's willingness to accept (WTA) for grazing ban compliance. • A double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation design is adopted. • Estimated WTA is substantially larger than the current compensation level. • WTA decreases with herdsmen's environmental perception. • Price differentiation and bottom-up participation should be allowed.

Willingness and ability to pay for health insurance in Afghanistan

The study assessed willingness to join and willingness to pay for health-insurance in Afghanistan and identified associated determinants. A household survey was conducted. Two health-insurance and two medicine-insurance packages were explained to respondents, who were then asked if they would be willing to join the packages and pay for them. The double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method was used to elicit the maximum amount respondents would be willing to pay for the various benefit packages. Logistic and linear regression models were used to examine determinants of willingness to join and willingness to pay. Most respondents had never heard of health insurance. And yet, when they were told about it, the vast majority of respondents said they would be willing to join one of the four benefit packages and pay for them, ranging from 70.7% for a medicine-only package that included only essential medicines, to 92.4% for a health-insurance package that would cover only primary and secondary care. The average willingness to pay cost was 1,236 (US$21.3), 1,512 (US$26.0), 778 (US$13.4) and 430 (US$7.4) Afghani per person, per year for the primary and secondary; comprehensive primary, secondary and some tertiary; all medicine; and essential medicine packages; respectively. Key determinants of willingness to join, and to pay were similar, including the provinces where respondents were located, wealth status, health expenditures and some demographic characteristics.

R package DCchoice for dichotomous choice contingent valuation: a contribution to open scientific software and its impact

The R package DCchoice is designed to mitigate programing-related barriers to the application of dichotomous choice contingent valuation (DCCV) methods in empirical studies. Since its release in 2014, DCchoice has been updated. This paper introduces the current version of DCchoice which supports single-, one-and-one-half-, and double-bounded DCCVs, with and without a spike. Additionally, the willingness-to-pay and its confidence intervals can be calculated for a representative respondent as well as for a user-defined specific respondent using the current version. The associated web tutorial and R Commander plug-in for basic usage of DCchoice are also available. DCchoice has advanced DCCV applications in various fields.

Willingness to Pay for Mangroves’ Coastal Protection: A Case Study in Santo Angel, Calauag, Quezon, Philippines

The mangroves in Santo Angel in the municipality of Calauag, Quezon Province in the Philippines, provide a wide array of ecological services that range from provisioning of resources and habitat to various floral and faunal species to regulating services including coastal protection. Coastal protection from mangroves is needed by the local community as Santo Angel is susceptible to typhoons and storm surges. However, the mangrove’s ability to provide coastal defense has considerably declined in the past decades due to overexploitation. Using the double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method, the willingness to pay (WTP) of the local community for a hypothetical mangrove rehabilitation project aligned towards coastal protection was determined. A total of 210 households were involved in the survey. The results show that 79% of the 210 households expressed WTP for the mangrove rehabilitation project. Furthermore, the mean willingness to pay (MWTP) for the mangrove rehabilitation project was computed at Php 15.44 (USD 0.29) per household per month or equivalent to Php 86, 525.76 (USD 1,659.41) per year for the total number of households in Santo Angel. Findings of the logistic regression analysis revealed that sex, age, membership in environmental organizations, and awareness on both the economic importance and the ecological services provided by mangroves positively affect the WTP of the respondents. In contrast, the bid amount and the respondent’s income negatively influence the WTP of the respondents for the mangrove rehabilitation project.

Willingness to pay for travel insurance as a risk reduction behavior: health-related risk perception after the outbreak of COVID-19

This study aims to identify the effects of health-related risk perception and sociodemographic characteristics on the willingness to pay (WTP) for travel insurance as a risk reduction behavior following the outbreak of COVID-19. Through the application of a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method, this study found several determinants for travel insurance price (i.e., risk perception toward traveling, perception about the influence of COVID-19, past travel insurance purchase experience, age, and education). The mean WTP was estimated to be approximately KRW 11,700 (USD 10.23). Several theoretical and managerial implications regarding risk perception and travel insurance are discussed.

Willingness to Pay for a Hypothetical COVID-19 Vaccine in the United States: A Contingent Valuation Approach.

Our objective was to estimate the individual willingness to pay (WTP) for a COVID-19 vaccine and evaluate its predictors in the United States. A double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation with open-ended question technique was implemented based on the responses to a national survey administered during the first week of November 2020. The final sample size was 1285. The results showed that individual WTP values increased with income, whether a household member had any pre-existing condition, and perceived threat of the virus. The vaccine efficacy rate and duration of protection were found to be important factors for the respondents. The mean WTP for a vaccine with a 95 percent efficacy rate and 3-year protection (US$318.76) was approximately 35 percent greater than the vaccine with a 50 percent efficacy rate and 1-year protection (US$236.85). The initial aggregate direct benefit of the current vaccination program was estimated to be between 20 and 35.6 billion US dollars depending on the vaccine protection duration.

Australian Consumers Are Willing to Pay for the Health Star Rating Front-of-Pack Nutrition Label.

The Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation has supported the recommendations set out in the 2019 Health Star Rating System Five Year Review Report. Specifically, the forum supported, in principle, Recommendation 9, to mandate the Health Star Rating if clear uptake targets were not achieved while the system is voluntary. Given that mandatory labelling is being considered, it is important to investigate how much consumers value the Health Star Rating in order to understand potential consumer uptake and inform industry. The aim of this study was to assess consumers’ valuation of the Health Star Rating system by analysing their willingness to pay for a packaged food product with the Health Star Rating label, utilising a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation approach. The results indicate that almost two-thirds of Australian household grocery shoppers were willing to pay more for a product with the Health Star Rating, on average up to an additional 3.7% of the price of the product. However, public health nutrition benefits associated with consumers’ willingness to pay more for products with the Health Star Rating is currently limited by the lack of guarantee of the systems’ accuracy. Given consumer support, a well validated and comprehensive Health Star Rating labelling system can potentially improve health outcomes, cost effectiveness and reduce environmental impacts.