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Can Hypothetical Questions Reveal True Values? A Laboratory Comparison of Dichotomous Choice and Open-Ended Contingent Values with Auction Values

Author
Balistreri, Edward J.; Poe, Gregory L.; McClelland, Gary H.; Schulze, William D.
Abstract
Can hypothetical questions reveal true values? An examination of the laboratory experimental literature examining contingent valuation (CV) lends some support for using open ended hypothetical willingness to pay questions. However, experimental studies examining dichotomous choice have found that hypothetical answers overstate demand. Consistent with the experimental literature, published CV studies comparing open-ended to dichotomous choice questions have shown that values from the latter method equal or exceed those of the former in every case. This paper presents a series of experiments employing more than 800 subjects to test this hypothesis for CV and compares the CV results to actual auction values in a single controlled experimental environment.
Description
WP 1997-15 November 1997
Date Issued
1997-11-01Publisher
Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University
Type
article