Are Stated Preferences Sensitive to Funding Sources? A Tax Reallocation Scheme to Value Marine Restoration

This paper uses a tax revenues reallocation scheme as the payment vehicle in a choice experiment to value marine restoration in the Black Sea. Two reallocation treatments are administered; one proposing to reduce current public expenditures on renewable energy projects and the other, the training budget for civil servants. We examine the sensitivity of preferences and valuation estimates to the budget source used to finance the restoration program. Results reveal that preferences and marginal rates of substitution significantly differ between the two treatments. In the civil servants’ budget reallocation treatment, the reallocation coefficient is positive, implying that redistribution is utility-enhancing.