Contingent valuation: Controversies and evidence

Contingent valuation (CV) has become one of the most widely used non-market valuation techniques. CV's prominence is due to its flexibility and abilit y to estimate total value, including passive use value. Its use and the inc lusion of passive use value in benefit-cost analyses and environmental liti gation are the subject of a contentious debate. This paper discusses key ar eas of the debate over CV and the validity of passive use value. We conclud e that many of the alleged problems with CV can be resolved by careful stud y design and implementation. We further conclude that claims that empirical CV findings are theoretically inconsistent are not generally supported by the literature. The debate over CV, however, has clarified several key issu es related to nonmarket valuation and can provide useful guidance both to C V practitioners and the users of CV results.