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Contingent valuation and money attitudes
(2015) Pelz, Sonna; Ahlheim, Michael
The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is one of the most frequently applied techniques to assess and monetise the benefits of environmental improvements. This survey-based method aims to elicit individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for enhanced environmental quality by means of hypothetical payment questions. Analysts interpret stated WTP as the monetary equivalent of the utility gain an individual expects to experience due to a specific environmental improvement. In spite of its frequent use, the validity of WTP statements is recurrently questioned and analysts have pointed to several sources of bias, such as a poor CVM survey design or certain characteristics of the respondents. This dissertation focuses on respondent characteristics which hitherto have not been examined, namely individuals’ attitudes towards spending money in general. The disposition of a person to spend money is expected to systematically affect and possibly bias stated WTP. While money attitudes have been extensively studied in psychological research, they have never been considered to be of influence in the context of environmental valuation. Given this lack of research, this dissertation investigates, theoretically and empirically, the role of money attitudes in CVM surveys.