Robert Cameron Mitchell

Contingent Valuation and Lost Passive Use: Damages from the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

We report on the results of a large-scale contingent valuation (CV) study conducted after the Exxon Valdez oil spill to assess the harm caused by it. Among the issues considered are the design features of the CV survey, its administration to a national sample of U.S. households, estimation of household willingness to pay to prevent another Exxon Valdez type oil spill, and issues related to reliability and validity of the estimates obtained. Events influenced by the studys release are also briefly discussed.

The Value of clean water: The public's willingness to pay for boatable, fishable, and swimmable quality water

This paper presents the findings of a study designed to determine the national benefits of freshwater pollution control. By using data from a national contingent valuation survey, we estimate the aggregate benefits of meeting the goals of the Clean Water Act. A valuation function is estimated which depicts willingness to pay as a function of water quality, income, and other variables. Several validation checks and tests for specific biases are performed, and the benefit estimates are corrected for missing and invalid responses. The two major policy implications from our work are that the benefits and costs of water pollution control efforts are roughly equal and that many of the new policy actions necessary to ensure that all water bodies reach at least a swimmable quality level will not have positive net benefits.

Two types of global environmental change: Definitional and spatial-scale issues in their human dimensions☆

Abstract Clarification of several issues in the human dimensions of global environmental change is essential to the creation of a balanced research agenda. Global environmental change includes both systemic changes that operate globally through the major systems of the geosphere-biosphere, and cumulative changes that represent the global accumulation of localized changes. An understanding of the human dimen sions of change requires attention to both types through research that integrates findings from spatial scales ranging from the global to the local. A regional or meso-scale focus represents a particularly promising avenue of approach.

Social Desirability Bias in Contingent Valuation Surveys Administered Through In-Person Interviews

This paper presents empirical evidence of mode effects in contingent valuation surveys. We conducted an on-site, split-sample contingent valuation survey of visitors to Fort Sumter National Monument, South Carolina. All respondents were told that the survey was being conducted on behalf of the National Park Service. We find that WTP for a fort visit is approximately 23–29% higher when the survey is administered through face-to-face interviews with a ballot box rather than being self-administered by the respondent. (JEL Q26, H40)

Twenty years of environmental mobilization: Trends among national environmental organizations

Abstract The evolution of national environmental organizations over the past two decades is analyzed, with special attention given to the major organizations that engage in lobbying. The rapid growth experienced by the older organizations and the emergence and subsequent growth of several newer organizations are described. An overview of the activities of these national organizations (including a description of their relationships with one another) is given. Next, the high level of public support for their goals, the unique characteristics of environmental issues, and the efficacy of direct mail recruitment techniques are highlighted as key causes of the organizations’ growth and success. Finally, the organizational consequences of these trends, in the form of staff professionalization and bureaucratization, for the national organizations are examined in some detail.

On Designing Constructed Markets in Valuation Surveys

In this paper I consider some of the methodological issues involvedin designing valid contingent valuation (CV) scenarios. I identifythe several parts of these scenarios and the design issues particularto those parts. Although my principal example is the scenario I andothers used in the Exxon Valdez oil spill study of the naturalresource damages to Prince William Sound, Alaska, I generalize toother types of CV scenarios.

Using Surveys to Value Public Goods: The Contingent Valuation Method.

Foreword Preface 1. Valuing Public Goods Using the Contingent Valuation Method 2. Theoretical Basis of the Contingent Valuation Method 3. Benefits and Their Measurement 4. Variations in Contingent Valuation Scenario Designs 5. The Methodological Challenge 6. Will Respondents Answer Honestly? 7. Strategic Behavior and Contingent Valuation Studies 8. Can Respondents Answer Meaningfully? 9. Hypothetical Values and Contingent Valuation Studies 10. Enhancing Reliability 11. Measurement Bias

Implementation of the Main Study Survey

Westat’s implementation of the main study survey consisted of several steps. In preparation for fielding the survey, a random sample of dwelling units (DU’s) was drawn; an interviewer’s training manual was prepared; and Westat’s interviewers attended a two-day training session.1 During the 14 weeks of main survey data collection, the interviewers were supervised by regional field supervisors and a project director. As interviews were completed, Westat conducted quality control edits and validation interviews. At the end of the data collection, sample weights were constructed by the Survey Research Center at the University of Maryland. Finally, data sets containing the responses to both the closed-ended and open-ended questions were prepared. This chapter provides a detailed discussion of each of these steps.

Evaluation of Open-Ended, Vote Assumption, Reconsideration, and Interviewer Evaluation Questions

This chapter examines the measures related to the reliability of the choice data. In section 5.2, responses to selected open-ended questions are examined. The primary focus is on the open-ended, follow-up questions recommended by the NOAA Panel that ask respondents to explain their reasons for voting for or against the Central Coast prevention program or for not knowing how they would vote. Section 5.2 also examines the responses to questions embedded in the presentation of the scenario. In section 5.3, responses to the vote-assumption questions are examined to explore how respondents perceived various aspects of the scenario and whether they felt pressured to vote a particular way. Section 5.4 explores the characteristics of those respondents who changed their initial vote when they were given opportunities to reconsider. In section 5.5, interviewer assessments of various aspects of the interview are examined; and finally, section 5.6 presents a summary of our qualitative analysis of reliability.

Structure of the Main Study Survey Instrument

This chapter describes section by section the wording, format, and sequence used in the main study survey instrument as well as the rationale underlying the key features of the final design. Unless otherwise indicated, all quoted text in this chapter is from the survey questionnaire itself and is presented in a different typeface. Any questionnaire text in uppercase is an interviewer instruction not read to the respondent. The complete survey instrument, including a copy of the graphics booklet, is provided in Appendix A.