Valuing the environment in developing countries: problems and potentials

Abstract

Non-market valuation techniques have often been transferred to developing countries without taking into account their social, economic, political and cultural settings. For instance, the same kind of elicitation method is applied in developing countries, although many of the respondents are extremely poor and many of their economic activities are outside the purview of the monetary mechanism. This paper reports research in a developing country context where the conventional contingent valuation method is extended to include respondents’ preference in terms of time for the restoration of a vulnerable river, irrespective of their decision to contribute money.