Contingent valuation versus choice experiments: Estimating the benefits ofenvironmentally sensitive areas in Scotland: Comment

Following Boxall et al. (1996), Hanley et al. (1998) compare welfare measur es derived from contingent valuation (CV) to those derived from choice expe riment (CE). Using the same Gumbel distribution assumption of the unobserve d component of indirect utility, they estimate welfare measures that they e xpect to be the same. However they fail to acknowledge that the indirect ut ility specifications underlying the two sets of estimates differ Hence, the y do not compare like with like and the difference in welfare estimates can not be definitely attributed to the difference in the two stated preference methods employed. This comment argues that their econometric analysis is f lawed and does not support many of their concluding remarks. Further disagr eement is expressed with their alleged findings on the potential performanc e of cv in benefit transfer studies.