Development of a Theory of Values and Their Measurement

价值及其测量的理论将建立在价值类型之间的两个区别的基础上：受保护的价值与行为良好的价值，以及基本价值与代理价值。与行为良好的价值观相比，受保护的价值观抵制与其他价值观和关注手段的权衡，而不是目的。例如，一些人认为应该不惜一切代价阻止伐木对物种的破坏。代理值是基本价值的替身，它们通过信念(通常是不确定的)与之相关。例如，儿童接种疫苗的百分比是疾病预防的指标，这与对疫苗有效性的信念有关。这些区别可以帮助我们理解环境设施价值的衡量与政府政策的不一致。两种类型的不一致涉及对数量不敏感(例如，在为属性分配相对权重时对范围不敏感，在条件估值中对数量不敏感)，以及导致通过不同手段实现的相同结果的不同估值的非结果原则(例如，在条件估值中使用成本而不是收益、遗漏偏见)。关于这些不一致来源的假设将通过检查以下影响来检验：基本值与代理值；将代理值与基本值相关的信息；对测量任务的操纵以使受试者的方法与其目的一致；以及这些操纵的组合。还将确定增加两项措施中每一项的一致性是否会增加它们之间的一致性。该项目由EPA/NSF对环境政策资金机会的估值支持。

A theory of values and their measurement will be developed on the basis of two distinctions among types of values: protected values vs. well-behaved values, and fundamental vs. proxy values. Protected values, in contrast to well behaved values, resist tradeoffs with other values and concern means rather than ends. For example, some people think that destruction of species by logging should be stopped at any cost. Proxy values are stand-ins for fundamental values, to which they are related through beliefs (often uncertain). For example, percent of children vaccinated is a proxy for disease prevention, to which it is related by beliefs about vaccine effectiveness. These distinctions can help us understand inconsistency in measurement of values for environmental amenities and government policies. Two types of inconsistency involve insensitivity to quantity (e.g., insensitivity to range in assigning relative weights to attributes, quantity insensitivity in contingent valuation), and nonconsequential principles that lead to different valuations of identical outcomes achieved by different means (e.g., use of cost rather than benefit in contingent valuation, omission bias). Hypotheses regarding the sources of these inconsistencies will be tested by examining the effects of: fundamental vs. proxy values; information relating proxy to fundamental values; manipulations of the measurement task to bring subjects' approach in line with its purpose; and combinations of these manipulations. It will also be determined whether increased consistency within each of two measures will increase agreement between them. This project is supported by the EPA/NSF Valuation for Environmental Policy funding opportunity.