REFLECTIONS ON THE OHIO DECISION

The logic of measuring the economic loss from pollution events is comp elling. Yet when losses occur in the form of nonuse values, the contin gent valuation method (CVM) is the only satisfactory approach to measu ring the damages. The Ohio decision affirmed the validity of nonuse va lues and the role of contingent valuation in measuring these values. T his decision, combined with the on-going practices of economists, esta blishes contingent valuation as an acceptable method of measuring dama ges. Challengers to CVM bear the burden of proving CVM unreliable. Cum mings and Harrison argue that the Ohio court might have made different decision had they considered all of the available evidence on CVM. Th ey assemble conceptual arguments and empirical evidence in their attem pt to prove the unreliability of the CVM. The empirical evidence from CVM is weak but it is sufficiently systematic so that one cannot argue that CVM responses are purely random. In the absence of an alternativ e hypothesis about what respondents do when they answer CVM questions, it is reasonable to accept CVM of economic damages.