IS THE GLASS HALF EMPTY, IS THE GLASS HALF FULL - COMPENSABLE DAMAGESAND THE CONTINGENT VALUATION METHOD

Should CVM values be utilized to determined an award of monetary damag es for injuries to a public natural resource? Cummings and Harrison's general theme is that the values obtained from CVM and indirect method studies (such as HPM) are sufficiently inaccurate as to be deemed una cceptable in determining compensable damages. Our theme is one of temp ered optimism not pessimism. More is understood about the process of a ssigning monetary values than when Robert Davis conducted his pioneeri ng research and we have a better comprehension of the accuracy and the limits of this information. We argue that CVM values provide meaningf ul results and should be used to determine compensable damages. The co urts frequently employ value estimates that have considerable variance and have developed the means of dealing with this; the courts will do the same with CVM values.