Valuing improved wetland quality using choice modeling

The main stated preference technique used for estimating environmental valu es is the contingent valuation method. In this paper the results of an appl ication of an alternative technique, choice modeling, are reported. Choice modeling has been developed in the marketing and transport applications but has only been used in a handful of environmental applications, most of whi ch have focused on use values. The case study presented here involves the e stimation of the nonuse environmental values provided by the Macquarie Mars hes, a major wetland in New South Wales, Australia. Estimates of the nonuse value the community places on preventing job losses are also presented. Th e reported models are robust, having high explanatory power and variables t hat are statistically significant and consistent with expectations. These r esults Provide support for the hypothesis that choice modeling can be used to estimate nonuse values for both environmental and social consequences of resource use changes.