Estimates Of Willingness Research Articles

Quantifying Benefits of Universal Design in Public Transport.

Universal design (UD) relates to many aspects of public transport (PT), comprising the vehicles/wagons, stops/stations, and access/egress to/from stops. While some UD elements are decisive for relatively few, others enhance the overall PT quality and subsequently improve the well-being of many users. If the service quality is improved, some users will be willing to pay more, either in terms of ticket price or travel time. Improved UD elements in PT therefore increase social benefits for public transport users, in economic terms, even if ticket costs are maintained unchanged. PT users in Norway have been asked to choose between journey alternatives with varying levels of UD elements between the alternatives. These UD elements comprised: a) on-board facilities and driver quality; b) stop/station qualities: shelter, seating, safety, lighting, information; and c) the qualities of the area surrounding stops/stations: road surface quality / icing, lighting, facilities/amenities, information. In total, 25 UD qualities were assessed, in addition to travel time. Fare was one of the varying elements in the journey alternatives, enabling estimation of willingness to pay (WTP) for UD quality improvements. The WTP yields benefit estimates of improvements that can be assessed against the costs of upgrading, maintaining, and running these UD-related elements in PT. More than 2000 respondents participated in our web-based survey. Almost one in five reported special needs when travelling by PT. Comparing those reporting special needs against those not reporting needs/difficulties, we find that their WTP is similar for most UD qualities, but WTP differs on some particular UD elements. Those reporting needs/difficulties show higher WTP for improved cleaning and air quality on board, and for benches and highly visible real-time departure info at stops/stations. All PT users have high WTP for improved access, without detours, to stops/stations, that have shelter and de-iced road surface. Overall, our findings provide a case for increased focus on UD in economic assessments of PT.

Imprecision in the Estimation of Willingness to Pay Using Subjective Well-Being Data

Imprecision in the Estimation of Willingness to Pay Using Subjective Well-Being Data

Estimation of willingness to pay for improved water supply service: Case of Algerian households

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to evaluate the water company in Algeria (ADE) subscribers’ Willingness To Pay (WTP) for a better service offer. This study assessed the WTP for improved drinking water in the department of Souk-Ahras (Algeria), using contingent valuation survey data of 5,342 households, with a response rate of 10.86% (greater than 10% of each municipality's total number of subscribers). Then, Probit and Tobit models were applied to analyze the determinants of WTP. The results show that the majority of respondents (62.84%) testified that they were not satisfied with the quality of the service provided in terms of quantity and quality of the water distributed. This research revealed that the WTP for an improved water supply service was approximately 16.18 Algerian dinar (DZD)/m3 (approximately 0.11 US$/m3) instead of the current tariff (6.3 DZD/m3–0.04 US$ /m3). With this new water tariff, the average water charge for a household is around 1.37% of the average monthly income.

Willingness to use PrEP among PrEP naïve men who have sex with men: a meta-analysis

ABSTRACT This study aimed to measure the pooled estimate of willingness to use HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) (WTUP) among PrEP-naïve United States (U.S.)-based men who have sex with men (MSM). PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, CINAHL, and PsycINFO were searched. The search strategy contained the keyword willingness and interest and the MeSH terms for HIV and PrEP. Articles were included if they were published between January 2005 and May 2022, reported quantitative data on WTUP among PrEP-naïve US-based MSM, and were available as full text in English. Meta-analysis was conducted to assess the pooled effect size of WTUP prevalence using a random-effects model, heterogeneity in the pooled estimate was assessed, and subgroup analyzes were conducted. Fifteen studies were included based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Meta-analysis revealed a pooled prevalence proportion for WTUP of 0.58 (95% CI 0.54–0.61) (or 58 out of 100) among PrEP-naïve MSM. High inter-study heterogeneity (Q = 548.10, df = 19, p < 0.01, I2 = 96.53, τ2 = 0.09) was observed. Age of the study sample and region where the data were collected significantly moderated the pooled WTUP estimate. Age-appropriate PrEP related messaging and a focus on HIV priority areas of the U.S. would be important strategies to improve WTUP among MSM in the U.S. moving forward.

Preferences in adolescents and young people’s sexual and reproductive health services in Nigeria: a discrete choice experiment

BackgroundBarriers to utilization of sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services by adolescents and young people (AYP) have persisted despite evidence that youth-friendly services have a positive effect on contraceptive use, and patient knowledge and satisfaction.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to elicit, and derive relative valuations for, attributes of SRH services that adolescents and young people value, and their willingness to pay for these services, in public health facilities.MethodsA discrete-choice-experiment (DCE) that was developed using a mixed methods approach was administered to AYP from Ogun State, Southwest Nigeria. The DCE attributes were: the type of staff; physical environment; health worker attitude; cost; waiting time; contraceptive availability; and opening hours. The choice tasks had two unlabeled alternatives and an opt-out option. Panel mixed logit choice model was used to fit the choice data, along with estimation of willingness to pay (WTP). Also, a latent class logit model was used to detect underlying preference heterogeneity among the respondents. Finally, the uptake of the services in health facilities was investigated by estimating the probabilities for selecting hypothetical health facilities under different scenarios.ResultsA total of 859 AYP participated resulting in 6872 choice observations. The physical environment attribute had the highest utility rating relative to the other attributes, followed by preference for a doctor and for a service provider who was open and friendly. The cost and time coefficients were negative, revealing preference for lower cost and shorter waiting time. The latent class model had three classes that varied by their background characteristics. Probability of choosing any of the facility alternatives increased with introduction of more favorable facility characteristics.ConclusionThe pattern of preferences identified are potential targets for service design and delivery optimization that may result in improvements in service acceptability and utilization. These results strengthen the call for involving AYP in decision-making in health interventions for them and developing context-specific SRH programs for AYP in public health facilities.

Estimating seed demand in the presence of market frictions: Evidence from an auction experiment in Nigeria

This paper measures the effect of seed quality misperceptions on bidding behavior and demand for high-quality seed using an information-provision experiment within an incentive-compatible Vickery Second Price (SPA) auction mechanism that mimics seed purchasing decisions in the presence of seed market frictions. We find that most individuals are prone to quality misperception and revise their bids upwards (downwards) in response to positive (negative) quality signals. In addition, by exploiting random variation in the timing of cash grants, we show that imperfect information influences farmer seed valuation, even in the presence of potentially binding liquidity constraints. We also demonstrate that the provision of quality information does not fully resolve quality misperceptions. We then show that unresolved or persistent misperception is severe enough to distort bidding behavior, and ignoring it could lead to biased willingness-to-pay estimates. Our findings have important implications both for improving inference related to the identification and estimation of willingness to pay for quality seed in the presence of market frictions, and for the design of seed sector polices in developing countries.

Society's willingness to pay its way to soil security

Soils are a crucial part of terrestrial ecosystems, holding most of the soil carbon, one-quarter of the biodiversity, and are essential for food production. Human forcings, including climate change and land use pressures, threaten the security of the soil for the provision of a whole range of soil functions. Soil capability to carry out important functions has seldom been evaluated in economic terms. Importantly, the existing economic studies have not been embedded in the soil security framework. Therefore, we have limited knowledge of how the general population values these soil functions and whether they wish to see their maintenance and improvement as part of public policy. Consequently, in this study, we aim to contribute to filling this gap by providing an estimation of the value, expressed in monetary terms, that individuals place on several soil functions and compare such values across large regions of two G20 countries. We present here an estimate of willingness to pay for two publicly-funded soil management strategies: the creation of biodiversity credits based on soil microbial diversity and soil carbon insetting for achieving net-zero agriculture. We show via a discrete choice experiment addressing 3,000 citizens that societies in the distant and contrasting regions of Veneto in Italy and New South Wales in Australia are willing to pay for soil security and financially support soil management practices that improve soil functions in their regions. Further analysis shows that the stated willingness to pay corresponds to socio-demographics and attitudes toward soil protection and general environmental concerns. The aggregated monetary value of the selected soil functions for the entire population is $244 M for Veneto and twice as much for New South Wales. Our research findings give decision-makers and resource managers insights into societies' willingness to make trade-offs in favour of increased soil security. In contrast to climate change and loss of biodiversity, soil degradation and loss of soil functions have received much less attention. In this empirical research, we provide evidence of the importance of accounting for soil functions in resource management, as societies benefit from them and are willing to pay for their conservation.

A Non-parametric Estimation of Willingness to Pay for the Marine Litter Reduction in Sri Lanka

A Non-parametric Estimation of Willingness to Pay for the Marine Litter Reduction in Sri Lanka

Conservation motivations and willingness to pay for wildlife management areas among recreational user groups

Conservation agencies routinely evaluate the costs and benefits of land management and land acquisition options for wildlife management areas (WMAs). Non-market values, for example visitors’ consumer surplus, are often absent from these comparisons. Better estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) for WMAs will allow managers to quantify consumer surpluses for different user groups, identify opportunities to generate additional conservation funding, and improve communication with users. We used the contingent valuation method to estimate the WTP for conservation of WMAs by different user groups. We used interval censored regression to estimate WTP for each user group and modeled how WTP varied with visitation frequency, demographics, and type of use. Dual users, those who participated in both licensed (hunting, angling, or trapping) and non-licensed (all other) activities, had greater WTP ($200.07, 95% CI [$161.18, $238.95]) than users who exclusively participated in either a single non-licensed ($74.74, 95% CI [$50.45, $99.02]) or a single licensed activity ($68.21, 95% CI [$48.41, $88.00]). Willingness-to-pay increased with the number of visits to WMAs per year, college education, and income. The most popular donation motivations were that respondents cared about WMA conservation (72%), wanted WMAs to be around for future generations (70%) and personally benefited from the conservation of WMAs (64%). Similar to a scope test, this study demonstrated greater WTP by users who participate in more diverse recreation types on WMAs. Additionally, our findings show that WMA users, particularly users who engage in multiple activities including at least one that does not require a license, enjoy large consumer surpluses and thus could be drawn on for additional financial support for WMA conservation.

How environmental beliefs influence the acceptance of reallocating government budgets to improving coastal water quality: a hybrid choice model

ABSTRACT In this study, we analyse how beliefs concerning environmental action influence choices in a stated preference survey on coastal water quality and marine habitat areas. Survey respondents were presented with a series of choice tasks featuring improvements in water clarity, reef health, seagrass area and a series of costs in the form of reallocated state budget against a baseline of no new improvements and no change in the budget. The reallocated budget scenario was used as it is likely to be realistic to respondents. Estimates of willingness to reallocate were obtained using a hybrid choice model which included the choice data, attitudinal data regarding support for environmental action and sociodemographic characteristics. Our results suggest that beliefs supporting environmental action influence the willingness to reallocate for attributes that change coastal water quality. A decision support tool for policy analysts was developed to illustrate how public support, as a probability of supporting reallocation, is shaped by beliefs and changes with sociodemographic characteristics.

The Damages and Distortions from Discrimination in the Rental Housing Market

Abstract By constraining an individual’s choice during a search, housing discrimination distorts sorting decisions away from true preferences and results in a ceteris paribus reduction in welfare. This study combines a large-scale field experiment with a residential sorting model to derive utility-theoretic measures of renter welfare loss associated with the constraints imposed by discrimination in the rental housing market. Results from experiments conducted in five cities show that key neighborhood amenities are associated with higher levels of discrimination. Counterfactual simulations based on the sorting model suggest that discrimination imposes damages equivalent to 4.4% and 3.5% of the annual incomes for African American and Hispanic/Latinx renters, respectively. Damages are increasing in income for African American renters, such that effects become stronger for economically mobile households. Renters of color must make substantial investments in additional search to mitigate the costs of these constraints. We find that a naive model ignoring discrimination constraints yields biased estimates of willingness to pay for key neighborhood amenities.

Valuing harvest regulation changes in recreational fisheries with a discrete choice experiment study: What can we learn from a synthetic review?

This study presents a synthetic review of the application of a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to investigate anglers’ valuation of harvest regulation schemes. From an initial search of 44 eligible primary studies published during the period from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2021, 17 studies met the criteria for inclusion in this review and provided 255 estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) for an additional authorized fish. To identify which valuation scenarios, experiment design methodology, sampling and modeling approaches were developed, we conducted a qualitative overview of the 17 selected studies. We then synthesized the influence of study characteristics (including harvest regulation type, recreational fisheries settings, sampling strategy and data analysis) on the value of WTP estimates, using meta-regression models. Findings from both types of analysis seem to suggest that previous DCE studies have developed a wide range of methodological solutions, given the variety of fisheries contexts. The present review has its limitations because the number of studies investigated is too small to provide an overarching synthesis of existing evidence. However, the results do convey relevant information for fisheries management and threatened species conservation, notably on the continued preference for keeping catches, the larger welfare loss following a management shift from open-access to regulated fisheries, and the relative preference for migratory species. A further original survey would be needed to fill the existing gaps in the geographic distribution of information about harvest regulation values. This analysis also highlights the fact that little is known about the other economic values that anglers can express regarding species preservation and their motivations.

EPH114 Willingness to Use Prep Among Prep Naïve Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review

This study aimed to measure the pooled estimate of willingness to use HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) (WTUP) among PrEP-naïve US-based men who have sex with men (MSM). This study also reviewed and categorized factors reported in these studies to be associated with WTUP among PrEP-naïve MSM, according to individual, interpersonal, societal, and public policy factors from the social-ecological model.

Can you really put a price on a good night's sleep?

This article focuses on estimation of willingness of people to pay extra price for increased sound insulation quality. As a case study a typical 3 room apartment in Bratislava was chosen. Online listening tests were used as a tool to understand the preferred price-quality ratio. The primary financial value of a case study apartment was estimated on real estate market in the third quarter of 2020. Later, nine (9) different variants of sound insulation of partition walls separating dwellings were considered. These walls were chosen on basis of different construction system (1) heavy weight brick walls, (1) light-weight gypsum board walls and (2) double walls. Each construction base was divided into three categories of defined by weighed sound transmission index Rw (53 dB, 55 dB and 59 dB). The four types of sounds (pink noise, cough, quarrel, party noise) were filtered through the frequency spectra R(dB) of chosen walls. These sounds were presented during the online listening test along with a total price for the particular apartment. The test subjects were asked to decide, which apartment they would choose based on an increased acoustic comfort and increased price of the apartment. In total, 60 subjects performed the test.

Factors Related to the Possibility of Accepting COVID-19 Vaccines: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Background: The reluctance to accept vaccination could severely affect global efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic. Objectives: The present study investigated the willingness to accept COVID-19 vaccines and related factors among Isfahan University of Medical Sciences students. Methods: This study was conducted in June-July 2021 at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. A total of 324 students completed the designed questionnaire in this population-based, web-based, cross-sectional study. SPSS 25.0 software was used to analyze the data. Results: The estimate of willingness to accept the COVID-19 vaccine in the study participants was 91.7%. The highest percentage of acceptance was related to medical students. Education level (P = 0.002) and acceptability (P

Estimation of Willingness to Pay and Value of Statistical Life for Road Crash Fatality Reduction for Motorcyclists: A Case Study of Patna, India

Estimation of Willingness to Pay and Value of Statistical Life for Road Crash Fatality Reduction for Motorcyclists: A Case Study of Patna, India

Estimating Smallholder Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for Sustainable Irrigation Water Use in North Western Ethiopia: A Contingent Valuation Method Study in Gumara Irrigation Project

Ethiopia is the water tower of sub-Saharan Africa countries with 12 major river basins and 22 natural and artificial lakes, which make a median of 1,557.5 m3 of water available per person per year. This study specifically was aimed to estimate smallholder farmers’ willingness to pay for sustainable irrigation water use in northwestern Ethiopia using double-bounded dichotomous choice with a follow-up of open-ended contingent valuation questions. For this study, as a source of quantitative data, a total of 288 households were selected through a systematic random sampling method. Additionally, qualitative and secondary data were collected from the focus group discussions and desk reviews, respectively. A seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model and descriptive statistics were used to estimate households’ mean and aggregate willingness to pay. The result of the study revealed that about 283 (98.26%) households were willing to pay for sustainable irrigation water use via constructing water storage, allocation, and distribution channels. Moreover, the result from seemingly unrelated bivariate probit model regression results from double-bounded dichotomous choice questions, mean, and aggregate willingness to pay were 950.7 ETB (€25.7) and 1,087,159.09 ETB (€29,382.7) per month and per year, respectively. On the other hand, the mean and aggregate willingness to pay from the open-ended questions were 926.059 ETB (€25.03) and 1,072,990.52 ETB (€28,999.74) per month and year per household, respectively. Therefore, the study suggested for the concerned body to introduce proper irrigation water pricing systems based on households’ willingness and ability to pay. And an estimate of willingness to pay provides an indication of the demand for introducing proper irrigation water use system leading to sustainable use system.

Stated benefits of teleworking in Mexico City: a discrete choice experiment on office workers

Commuting is expensive in megacities of emerging economies. By decreasing work-related trips, teleworking may reduce congestion and commuting time. Taking Mexico City’s office workers’ as case study, this paper reports findings from a discrete choice experiment (DCE) exploring willingness to see a cut in monthly paycheck in exchange for teleworking two days a week from a shared office. This DCE explores preferences for bike parking spaces at shared office’s facilities, and walking commuting time to shared office. This design allows estimation of willingness to pay (WTP) for teleworking across commuting time scenarios. Monthly WTP for teleworking 2 days a week starts at (2019) USD 76.68—if commuting time is zero. As 1 h of commuting time is valued at USD 61.97 on a monthly basis, WTP for teleworking 30 min away from home is USD 45.69. Wealthier respondents report higher value for commuting time and WTP for teleworking. Monthly value of bike parking infrastructure is USD 14.70—reaching USD 30.98 for commuters that walk or (motor-)bike less than 50 min. We illustrate how these stated benefits can inform cost-benefit analysis of transportation, housing, and labor policies that enable teleworking and/or reduce commuting times in Mexico City.

Embedding Effects in Contingent Valuation Applications to Cultural Capital: Does the Nature of the Goods Matter?

The paper’s argument is that the specific characteristics of cultural heritage goods help minimise insensitivity to the scope, also known as the embedding effect, of contingent valuation (CV) estimates. This bias happens when estimates of willingness to pay (WTP) do not increase with the quantity of the goods presented, as expected from economic theory. The presence of such effect has been actively debated in the literature since it raises major concerns about the validity of the method itself and its uses within a social cost benefit analysis framework. The research presented in this paper discusses one of the few methodological studies testing the embedding effect within and across samples for cultural heritage goods. The research uses empirical data gathered from three independent and comparable samples focusing on the archaeological park of Campi Flegrei in Italy and two of its components: the Castle of Baia and the archaeological park of Cuma. Findings successfully prove that CV estimates relate to the quantity being valued and could be used with confidence by policy makers concerned with an inclusive, sustainable approach to cultural capital management.

Estimates of Willingness to Pay and Value of Time for the Dynamic Toll Lanes in Freeway PR-22 in Puerto Rico

Willingness-to-pay measures were estimated for users of the PR-22 Freeway in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The first dynamic toll lane (DTL) facility in Puerto Rico started operations in 2013 on PR-22. The PR-22 segment examined consists of two reversible express lanes along the median with a dynamic pricing scheme and six general traffic lanes with a fixed toll rate. Willingness-to-pay for the DTL was assessed using the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter (VWPSM) analysis. Moreover, discrete choice analysis was used to estimate the users’ willingness to pay for travel time savings. The data used in this analysis was obtained through an online survey that presented participants with direct willingness-to-pay questions, toll lane choice scenarios, and, for declared DTL users, questions about their reasons for using the facility. The aggregate analysis of the VWPSM estimated a willingness-to-pay range for the DTL of $1.00 to $2.79, which is lower than the maximum toll rate of $4.95 charged for the managed lane facility. The stated preference scenarios provided a value of time (VOT) estimate of $21.47 per hour. The VOT value is higher than the estimate for local personal travel of $10.00 per hour. There is evidence in support of inflated VOT values for high-occupancy toll lanes and variable toll facilities. Another reasoning could be that PR-22 users overestimated their time savings. Still, the estimated VOT for the PR-22 DTL is relatively low in comparison with other managed lane facilities in the United States.