Chapter 5 Choice Experiments

There has been an explosion of interest during the past two decades in a class of nonmarket stated-preference valuation methods known as choice experiments. The overall objective of a choice experiment is to estimate economic values for characteristics (or attributes) of an environmental good that is the subject of policy analysis, where the environmental good or service comprises several characteristics. Including price as a characteristic permits a multidimensional, preference-based valuation surface to be estimated for use in benefit-cost analysis or any other application of nonmarket valuation. The chapter begins with an overview of the historical antecedents contributing to the development of contemporary choice experiments, and then each of the steps required for conducting a choice experiment are described. This is followed by detailed information covering essential topics such as choosing and implementing experimental designs, interpreting standard and more advanced random utility models, and estimating measures of willingness-to-pay. Issues in implementing and interpreting random utility models are illustrated using a choice experiment application to a contemporary environmental problem. Overall, this chapter provides readers with practical guidance on how to design and analyze a choice experiment that provides credible value estimates to support decision-making.