Stated Preference and Non-Market Decisions

Abstract

There are many different means by which non-market decisions can be formalised. Some of the approaches regularly employed such as contingent valuation and the travel cost method share a common underlying philosophy (e.g. welfarism), but some do not. Advocates of Citizens‘ Juries (e.g. Crosby,1991) or consensus conferences, attach as much value to the process by which decisions are made as to whether the conclusions are reflective of preferences. On the other hand, typical cost-benefit techniques such as hedonic pricing or contingent valuation are almost exclusively concerned with the outcome (preference satisfaction) rather than the process.