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ave you ever heard of "payment by intent"? How could this approach change the future of environmental protection?
As environmental problems grow, many economists and policymakers are turning to new methods to assess the value of natural resources. Contingent Valuation, as a survey-based economic technique, focuses on the valuation of non-market resources, and is gaining increasing attention, especially in environmental protection.
Basic concept of intention payment
This technique allows people to express, through surveys, the amount they would be willing to pay to protect or maintain an environmental feature, such as biodiversity. It is based on individuals' perceived utility to the environment, meaning that even if certain resources do not have a market price, people can still derive value from them. For example, although viewing a beautiful mountain view cannot be directly quantified in monetary terms, people’s desire for it cannot be ignored.
Intention-to-pay surveys can measure demand for these non-market resources, which is particularly important when traditional markets cannot effectively measure them.
History
The theory of intended payment was first proposed by S.V. Ciriacy-Wantrup in 1947 and later applied in practice by Robert K. Davis in 1963 to estimate the value that hunters and tourists place on a particular wilderness area. His research, which formed part of his doctoral dissertation at Harvard University, showed a good correlation between the survey results and estimates based on travel costs.
Controversy
Although intention payments are gaining acceptance, many economists remain skeptical of the approach. Early intention-to-pay surveys often included open-ended questions such as “How much compensation would you like to receive if area X was destroyed?” This form of question can have a variety of flaws, including strategic behavior and neglect of income constraints. Critics pointed out that the results of early surveys reflected more people's general preferences for environmental spending than the value of specific environmental resources.
Early stage intention-to-pay surveys may not accurately reflect participants' actual economic value perceptions and therefore require targeted design and controls.
Current Status and Applications
With improved methodologies, intention-to-pay is now widely accepted in the United States, particularly in cost-benefit analyses of environmental impacts. For example, governments often use this technique to determine value when budgeting for projects that affect water quality and ecological restoration. The use of intention to pay is not limited to the United States. It has also been used in Australia's Kakadu National Park and in the appraisal of certain brownfield properties in the United States.
"Intention payment not only provides a reliable starting point for evaluation of the judicial process, but has also been successfully applied in high-profile cases."
Future Outlook
As people's awareness of environmental protection deepens, the technology and application of intention payment are expected to evolve further. Many economists believe that improved survey methods and designs will make this tool increasingly important in courts and policy making, thereby better reflecting people's true wishes and values for environmental protection.
In this era of continuous technological advancement, intentional payment may become an important medium to promote environmental protection - so, in the future, can we see this method truly implemented to protect our precious natural resources?
