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Examining the perceptions and effects of survey consequentiality across population subgroups

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2018

O. Ashton Morgan*
Affiliation:
Appalachian State University, Economics, 3094 Peacock Hall, Boone, North Carolina, 28608-2026, USA, e-mail: morganoa@appstate.edu
William L. Huth
Affiliation:
University of West Florida, Marketing and Economics, Building 53, Pensacola, Florida, 32514, USA
Paul Hindsley
Affiliation:
Eckerd College, Environmental Studies, St. Petersburg, Florida, 33711, USA

Abstract

Recent research examining voting behavior in contingent valuation referenda informs on how consequential survey respondents behave and its impact on willingness-to-pay (WTP) values. This research attempts to examine whether this behavior holds across population subgroups. We consider resident and nonresident users of artificial reefs and find improved construct validity for our resident models over nonresident models. Specifically, resident behavior is in line with a priori expectations with consequential residents more likely to vote in favor of a policy for additional reef funding – a result that is consistent with the “protest no” literature. Consequently, consequential resident voters exhibit a greater WTP than inconsequential voters. Nonresident behavior differs, however. For this subgroup, consequentiality does not influence voting behavior and WTP values do not differ by consequentiality. Overall, more work is required to appropriately identify WTP values for nonresident populations, particularly from a benefit-cost perspective, where appropriately identifying subgroup WTP values are a critical component of measuring the net present value of a given policy.

Type
Article
Copyright
© Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis 2018 

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