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Chinese urbanites and the preservation of rare species in remote parts of the country : the example of Eaglewood
(2014) Pelz, Sonna; Langenberger, Gerhard; Frör, Oliver; Ahlheim, Michael
Based on a Contingent Valuation study in Shanghai we assess peoples willingness to contribute personally to the alleviation of environmental problems occurring in distant parts of the country. One split of our survey assessed Shanghai residents willingness to pay for the preservation of rainforest in Yunnan, while the other split referred to the willingness to pay for the preservation of a single plant species (i.e. eaglewood) growing in this rainforest. The objectives of this study were twofold. Firstly, we wanted to find out if people living in big Chinese cities like Shanghai take an interest in the environmental problems existing in some remote parts of the country and if they are willing to contribute personally to remedy these problems. Secondly, we wanted to learn more about the motivation behind this kind of empathy, if it exists. We were especially interested in the question if this empathy refers to the specific environmental problems we addressed in our surveys or if it is motivated more by a general feeling of obligation towards environmental issues.
Considering household size in contingent valuation studies
(2013) Schneider, Friedrich; Ahlheim, Michael
In many empirical Contingent Valuation studies one finds that household size, i. e. the number auf household members, is negatively correlated with stated household willingness to pay for the realization of environmental projects. This observation is rather puzzling because in larger households more people can benefit from an environmental improvement than in small households. Therefore, the overall benefit should be greater for larger households. A plausible explanation could be that household budgets are tighter for large families than for smaller families with the same overall family income. The fact that larger families can afford only smaller willingness to pay statements in Contingent Valuation surveys than smaller families with the same income and the same preferences might have consequences for the allocation of public funds whenever the realization of an environmental project is made dependent on the outcome of a Contingent Valuation study. In this paper we show how the use of household equivalence scales for the assessment of environmental projects with the Contingent Valuation Method can serve to reduce the discrimination of members of large families.
Drinking and protecting - a market approach to the preservation of cork oak landscapes
(2010) Frör, Oliver; Ahlheim, Michael
With the availability of new techniques to close wine bottles avoiding the risk of ?corky? taste the tradition of closing wine bottles with cork stoppers is on the retreat. As a consequence the Mediterranea cork oak forests with their rich biodiversity are endangered since their cultivation is not profitable anymore. This paper explores the viability of a market approach to the preservation of these ecologically valuable landscapes. In an internet-based Contingent Valuation survey we assess wine consumers' willingness to pay a higher price for wine bottles closed with high-quality cork stoppers instead of buying wine with alternative stoppers in order to preserve the cork oak landscapes. We find that though many wine consumers have experience with tainted wine they are, nevertheless, willing to buy wine with (highquality) cork stoppers at higher prices. Their average WTP is, however, not sufficient to cover the additional costs of these stoppers. Thus, we propose a financing mix of market returns and government subsidies for preserving the cork oaks. As a precondition for this market approach to be successful bottles with high-quality cork stoppers must be clearly identifiable in the shops, and consumers must be informed about the ecological consequences of supporting the cork production.
Labour as a utility measure in contingent valuation studies : how good is it really?
(2010) Ahlheim, Michael; Frör, Oliver; Heinke, Antonia; Duc, Nguyen Minh; Van Dinh, Pham
The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) aims at the assessment of people's willingness to pay (WTP) for a public project. The sum of the individual WTPs is interpreted as the social benefits of the project under consideration and compared to the project costs. If the benefits exceed the costs the project is recommended for realization. In very poor societies budgets are so tight that households cannot give up any part of their income, i.e. of their market consumption, in favour of a public project, so that their WTP for that project stated in a CVM interview has to be zero or close to zero. This leads to a severe discrimination against poor regions in the decision process on the allocation of public funds. Therefore, several authors suggest to use labour contributions to the realization of a public project instead of monetary contributions as a measure of people's WTP for that project. In this paper we show theoretically and empirically, based on a CVM study conducted in Vietnam, that labour is severely flawed as a measuring rod for individual utility so that CVM based on labour contributions does not provide a reliable and meaningful decision rule for the allocation of public projects.
Respondent incentives in contingent valuation : the role of reciprocity
(2011) Frör, Oliver; Ahlheim, Michael; Börger, Tobias

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