Referendum Design and Contingent Valuation: The NOAA Panel’s No-Vote Recommendation

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Date

May 1, 1998

Authors

Richard T. Carson, W. Michael Hanemann, Raymond J. Kopp, Jon A. Krosnick, Robert Cameron Mitchell, Stanley Presser, Paul A. Ruud, V. Kerry Smith, Michael Conaway, and Kerry Martin

Publication

Journal Article in Review of Economics and Statistics

Reading time

1 minute

Abstract

This paper considers the effects for offering a “would-not-vote” option in contingent valuation (CV) questions framed using the referendum format. This approach arises from a suggestion made by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) panel on contingent valuation. The NOAA panel was asked to evaluate the use of this method for estimating the economic value of nonmarketed environmental resources in the context of natural resource damage assessments. This test used the CV questionnaire developed for the study of the Exxon Valdez oil spill conducted by the State of Alaska with in-person interviews. The findings suggest that when those selecting the “would-not-vote” response are treated as having voted “against” the program (a conservative coding), offering this option does not alter (1) the distribution of “for” and “against” responses, (2) the estimates of willingness to pay derived from these choices, or (3) the construct validity of the results.

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Authors

Richard T. Carson

W. Michael Hanemann

University Fellow

W. Michael Hanemann is a university fellow at RFF. He is currently a Chancellor's professor and professor of environmental and resource economics in the Department of Agricultural and Resources Economics.

Raymond J. Kopp

Senior Fellow

Raymond J. Kopp is a senior fellow at RFF. During his career Kopp has specialized in the analysis of environmental and natural resource issues with a focus on Federal regulatory activity.

Jon A. Krosnick

University Fellow

Jon A. Krosnick is an RFF university fellow and Stanford University-based social psychologist who does research on attitude formation, change, and effects, on the psychology of political behavior, and on survey research methods.

Robert Cameron Mitchell

Stanley Presser

Paul A. Ruud

V. Kerry Smith

University Fellow

Kerry Smith is a university fellow at RFF where he researches environmental policy issues.

Michael Conaway

Kerry Martin

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