Evaluation of the Gains from Combining Travel Cost and Contingent Valuation Data to Value Nonmarket Goods (An)

Kling, Catherine L.

Land Economics Vol. 73 (1997): 428-437.

This paper provides a critical assessment of the improvements in precision and bias to welfare measures from combining contingent valuation and travel cost data. Simulation experiments are performed using a variation of the model first suggested by Cameron (1992a) with a focus on identifying likely lower bounds on these gains. In addition to examining single-bounded contingent valuation as a component of the combined model, this paper investigates additional gains that may accrue from employing a double-bounded variant of contingent valuation. Sizable gains in both bias and precision are found in the simulation experiments. The results suggest that additional investigation into these models is warranted.