Contemporary Guidance for Stated Preference Studies

TLDR

The article aims to improve the quality of stated preference studies for decision making and to promote research that advances the practice worldwide. The authors develop best‑practice recommendations for stated preference studies, covering use and non‑use valuation methods across contingent valuation and discrete choice experiments, with a focus on environmental and health public goods and distinguishing evidence‑based practices from those with greater uncertainty. The resulting guidelines are more comprehensive than the NOAA Blue Ribbon Panel, better suited to contemporary applications, and reflect two decades of research, acknowledging that SP results can be reused by agencies and NGOs.

Abstract

This article proposes contemporary best-practice recommendations for stated preference (SP) studies used to inform decision making, grounded in the accumulated body of peer-reviewed literature. These recommendations consider the use of SP methods to estimate both use and non-use (passive-use) values, and cover the broad SP domain, including contingent valuation and discrete choice experiments. We focus on applications to public goods in the context of the environment and human health but also consider ways in which the proposed recommendations might apply to other common areas of application. The recommendations recognize that SP results may be used and reused (benefit transfers) by governmental agencies and nongovernmental organizations, and that all such applications must be considered. The intended result is a set of guidelines for SP studies that is more comprehensive than that of the original National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Blue Ribbon Panel on contingent valuation, is more germane to contemporary applications, and reflects the two decades of research since that time. We also distinguish between practices for which accumulated research is sufficient to support recommendations and those for which greater uncertainty remains. The goal of this article is to raise the quality of SP studies used to support decision making and promote research that will further enhance the practice of these studies worldwide.