Abstract: The restitution of parkland to the Khomani San “bushmen” and Mier “agricultural” communities in May 2002 marked a significant shift in conservation in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and environs in South Africa. Biodiversity conservation will benefit from this land restitution only if the Khomani San, who interact with nature more than do other groups, are good environmental stewards. To assess their attitude toward biodiversity conservation, this study used the contingent valuation method to investigate the values the communities assign to biodiversity conservation under three land tenure arrangements in the Kgalagadi area. For each community and land tenure arrangement, there are winners and losers, but the winners benefit by more than the cost that losers suffer. The net worth for biodiversity conservation under the various land tenure regimes ranged from R928 to R3,456 to R4,160 for municipal land, parkland, and communal land respectively for the Khomani San, compared to R25,600 to R57,600 to R64,000 for municipal land, parkland, and communal land respectively for the Mier. Both communities have the highest preference for the implementation of the biodiversity conservation programme on communal land. There are no significant differences in the WTP between the two communities when adjusted for annual median household income; hence, the Khomani San can be trusted to become good environmental stewards. However, in order for all members of the local communities to support biodiversity conservation unconditionally, mechanisms for fair distribution of the associated costs and benefits should be put in place.

Abstract: Researchers using stated preference (SP) techniques have increasingly come to rely on what we call “hypothetical baselines.” By the term “hypothetical baseline,” we mean that respondents are provided with a description of a current state, or baseline, but that this baseline is intentionally not the actual state of environmental quality, health, or other baseline condition. The SP researcher then poses a valuation question or choice task that is contingent, not on the existing status quo, but rather on the state of the world described in this new hypothetical baseline. In this paper, we argue that SP researchers have often used hypothetical baselines without carefully considering the cognitive challenges this poses for respondents or the difficulties this practice creates for advising policy makers. We present a simple typology of four types of SP studies, two of which rely on hypothetical baselines, and give six examples of conditions that an SP researcher may change to create a hypothetical baseline. We discuss four main reasons why SP analysts use hypothetical baselines in their research designs, plus some of the risks associated with the use of hypothetical baselines. Finally, we offer guidance for the use of hypothetical baselines in future SP surveys.

Abstract: With contingent valuation, both the goods being valued and the payment vehicles used to value them are mostly hypothetical. However, although numerous studies have examined the impact ofexperience with the good on willingness to pay, less attention has been given to experience with payment vehicles. This paper examines how this influences responses to a contingent valuation scenarioof maintenance for irrigation canals. Specifically, the paper uses a split-sample survey to investigate the effects of experience with monetary and labor payment vehicles on the acceptance of a contingentvaluation scenario and protest bids. Using convergent validity tests, we found that experience acquired from using both monetary and labor payment vehicles reduces the asymmetries in acceptance rates. These findings suggest that experience with payment vehicles reduces time/money response asymmetries in the contingent valuation method.