Existence Values and Option Prices for Environmental Public Goods: Laboratory Investigations

荒野地区、动植物物种和能见度等环境资源是产生效益的公共产品，可大致分为使用和未使用两类。例如，在偏远的荒野地区，一些人打算访问它，他们将享受使用利益。其他人不确定他们是否会访问该地区，但仍希望保留这一选择。还有一些人仅仅是从知道荒野地区的存在中获益。这些选项和存在值表示非使用值的类别。大峡谷就是一个很好的例子，这种资源产生了所有三种价值。使用值、选项值和存在值的总和表示环境舒适性的总价值。重要的是要确定各个组成部分，而不仅仅是这些便利设施的总价值。这种识别对于确保测量的一致性以及解决为提供、保护和保存这些便利设施提供资金的适当手段的问题非常重要。如何恰当地衡量直接用户的收益(使用价值)是相当清楚的。然而，关于非使用(选择和存在)价值的衡量，人们的共识要少得多。该项目的目的是进行一系列实验室实验，以衡量与环境便利设施相关的这三个有益因素。这项研究将提供对总价值的存在和期权组成部分所产生的价值的界限的估计。这项研究很重要，因为对自然环境的压力越来越大，导致公共政策将重点放在与保护环境资产相关的问题上。此外，法院认为在环境破坏案件中纳入非使用价值是合适的。因此，有必要开发准确测量非使用价值的方法。

Environmental resources such as wilderness areas, plant or animal species, and visibility are public goods yielding benefits which may be broadly classified as use and non-use. For example, in the case of a remote wilderness area some people intend to visit it, and they will enjoy a use benefit. Others are not certain they will ever visit the area, but nonetheless wish to keep that option open. Still others derive a benefit from simply knowing the wilderness area exists. These option and existence values represent categories of non-use values. The Grand Canyon is a good example of a resource which gives rise to all three categories of values. The sum of the use, option, and existence values represents the total value of the environmental amenity. It is important to identify the individual components, not only the total value of these amenities. Such identification is important to ensuring consistency of measurement as well as to address questions of the appropriate means to fund the provision, protection and preservation of these amenities. It is fairly well understood how to properly measure the benefit to direct users (use value). However, there is much less agreement concerning the measurement of non-use (option and existence) values. The purpose of this project is to conduct a series of laboratory experiments designed to measure these three benefit components associated with environmental amenities. The study will provide estimates of the bounds on the values arising from existence and option component of total value. This research is important because increasing stress on the natural environment is causing public policy to focus on issues associated with the preservation environmental assets. Further, the courts have seen fit to include non-use values in environmental damage cases. Thus, there is a need to develop methods for accurate measurement of non-use values.