Brigitte Desaigues

The benefits and costs of riparian analysis habitat preservation: a willingness to accept/willingness to pay contingent valuation approach

Abstract The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was used to obtain the willingness to pay (WTP) of households in the contiguous area of the Garonne River near Toulouse, France, and the willingness to accept (WTA) of households that currently own land on the banks of the river to provide a strip of riparian land for habitat preservation. Results for the WTP study indicated a relatively large difference in WTP between open and closed ended responses. When corrected for the substantial number of 0 observations, the WTP was reduced by about half. The WTA results were constrained by relatively few positive responses. However, the value given by farmers who indicated a positive WTA appears consistent with revenues generated from crops. Moreover, many farmers who were already providing habitat preservation indicated a zero minimum WTA. Although the small number of WTA responses severely limits the ability to draw definitive conclusions, a comparison of the derived benefits (WTP) and costs (WTA) was made, which appeared to suggest the possibility of a favorable a benefit/cost ratio.

Reference Values for Human Life: An Econometric Analysis of a Contingent Valuation in France

In 1993 the Commissariat General du Plan, the Ministry of Equipment, EDF (the French Utility Company), and the Centre d’Energetique of the Ecole des Mines (within a contract from the ExternE Program of the European Commission), decided to finance a contingent valuation of the reference value of human life for road accidents. It is the first study using this methodology in France and it is part of a continuing research programme under the direction of Michel Le Net of the Ecole des Ponts et Chaussees on the implicit value of human life in the domain of road transportation. The present paper offers an econometric analysis of the results, and discusses the interpretation.