Why the WTA-WTP disparity matters

The disparity between willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept co mpensation (WTA) has been demonstrated repeatedly. Because using WTP estima tes of value where a WTA estimate is appropriate tends to undervalue enviro nmental assets, this issue is important to environmental managers. We summa rize reasons for the disparity and then discuss some of the implications fo r management of environmental assets. We end by suggesting some approaches for dealing with the lack of credible methods for estimating WTA values of environmental goods. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.