Dichotomous choice contingent valuation willingness to pay estimates across geographically nested samples: case study of Alaskan Steller sea lion

Abstract

This thesis examines Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) for an endangered species across geographically nested samples using the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM). The samples range from the boroughs that contain critical habitat for the Steller sea lion to the state that contains these boroughs to the entire United States. Depending on the assumptions of the model, WTP varies tremendously from sample to sample. When WTP is unrestricted to the non-negative region, mean WTP for the United States is the highest and it is the lowest for the boroughs. The null hypotheses that mean WTP estimates are greater than zero were rejected for the boroughs and the state but it was not rejected for the United States based on the 95% confidence intervals. When WTP is restricted to the non-negative region, the WTP does not differ significantly from sample to sample. The estimation results may lead to dramatically different policy implications.