Eliciting and Utilizing Willingness to Pay: Evidence from Field Trials in Northern Ghana

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Berry, James; Fischer, Greg; Guiteras, Raymond P.
• 署名单位: University of Delaware; University of London; London School Economics & Political Science; North Carolina State University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF POLITICAL ECONOMY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-3808
• DOI: 10.1086/705374
• 发表日期: 2020
• 页码: 1436-1473
• 关键词: DEGROOT-MARSCHAK MECHANISM; water; sanitation; utility; models; preferences; INVESTMENT; countries

摘要

We use the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) mechanism to estimate willingness to pay (WTP) for and heterogeneous impacts of clean water technology through a field experiment in Ghana. Although WTP is low relative to cost, demand is inelastic at low prices. Short-run treatment effects are positive throughout the WTP distribution. After 1 year, use and benefits are both increasing in WTP, with negative effects on low-WTP households. Combining estimated treatment effects with households' WTP implies valuations of health benefits much smaller than typically used by policy makers. We explore differences between BDM and take-it-or-leave-it valuations and make recommendations for implementing BDM in the field.