Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T10:43:51.341Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Estimating the value of the reduction in air pollution during the Beijing Olympics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2011

Xiaoyan Du  and
Robert O. Mendelsohn
Xiaoyan Du
Affiliation:
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, 195 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. Tel: 617-276-2997. Email: xyandu@gmail.com or xiaoyan.du@yale.edu
Robert O. Mendelsohn
Affiliation:
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, USA. Email: robert.mendelsohn@yale.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study estimates the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of Beijing residents in order to maintain the improved air quality experienced during the Olympic Games. A double-bounded contingent valuation method is applied to a survey of 566 Beijing residents. The results indicate that the mean annual WTP per household is between CNY 22,000 and 24,000, and the median WTP is around CNY 1,700. The WTP for this actually experienced improvement is significantly higher than the results from previous hypothetical WTP surveys in China.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 16 , Issue 6 , December 2011 , pp. 735 - 749
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alberini, A. (1995), ‘Efficiency vs bias of willingness-to-pay estimates: bivariate and interval-data models’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 29(2): 169–180.Google Scholar
Arrow, K., Solow, R., Portney, P., Learmer, E., Radner, R., and Schuman, H. (1993), ‘Report of the NOAA panel on contingent valuation’, Federal Register 58(10): 4601–4614.Google Scholar
BMEPB (Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau) (2007, 2008), Air Quality Daily and Monthly Report, Beijing: BMEPB.Google Scholar
Cai, C. and Zheng, X. (2007), ‘Application of contingent valuation method in valuing health gains from air quality improvement’, Research of Environmental Sciences 20: 150–154.Google Scholar
Cameron, T.A. (1988), ‘A new paradigm for valuing non-market goods using referendum data: maximum likelihood estimation by censored logistic regression’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 15: 355–379.Google Scholar
Cameron, T.A. and James, M.D. (1987), ‘Efficient estimation methods for “closed ended” contingent valuation surveys’, Review of Economics and Statistics 69(2): 269–276.Google Scholar
Cameron, T.A and Quiggin, J. (1994), ‘Estimation using contingent valuation data from a dichotomous choice with follow-up questionnaire’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 27(3): 218–234.Google Scholar
Carson, R. and Hanemann, W. (2005), ‘Contingent valuation method’, in Maler, K.G. and Vincent, J. (eds), Handbook of Environmental Economics, Volume 2: Valuing Environmental Changes, Amsterdam: North Holland, pp. 821–936.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
EIA (Energy Information Administration) (2011), Annual Energy Outlook 2011, Washington, DC: Department of Energy.Google Scholar
Fu, B. (2008), ‘Blue skies for China’, Science 321(5889): 611.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hanemann, M. (1984), ‘Discrete/continuous models of consumer demand’, Econometrica 52: 541–561.Google Scholar
Holz, C. (2008), ‘China's economic growth 1978–2025: what we know today about China's economic growth tomorrow’, World Development 36(10): 1665–1691.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jeanty, P.W. (2007), ‘Constructing Krinsky and Robb confidence intervals for mean and median willingness to pay (WTP) using Stata’, paper presented at 6th North American Stata Users’ Group Meeting, Boston, MA.Google Scholar
Kanninen, B. (1993), ‘Optimal experimental design for double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation’, Land Economics 69(2): 138–146.Google Scholar
Larsen, B., Hutton, G., and Khanna, N. (2008), ‘Air pollution’, In Copenhagen Consensus, Denmark: World Bank.Google Scholar
Mitchell, R.C. and Carson, R.T. (1989), Using Surveys to Value Public Goods: The Contingent Valuation Method, Washington, DC: Resources for the Future.Google Scholar
National Bureau of Statistics (2009), China Statistical Yearbook, Beijing.Google Scholar
Wang, H. and Mullahy, J. (2006), ‘Willingness to pay for reducing fatal risk by improving air quality: a contingent valuation study in Chongqing, China’, Science of the Total Environment 367(1): 50–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, X.J., Zhang, W., Li, Y., Yang, K.Z., and Bai, M. (2006), ‘Air quality improvement estimation and assessment using contingent valuation method, a case study in Beijing’, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 120(1–3): 153–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, Y. and Zhang, Y.S. (2009), ‘Air quality assessment by contingent valuation in Ji'nan, China’, Journal of Environmental Management 90(2): 1022–1029.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed