We propose a new explanation for the WTP/WTA disparity in experiments and surveys. Uncertainty, irreversibility and limited learning opportunities can generate commitment costs, driving a wedge between WTP and WTA. We present experimental evidence that supports our hypothesis.

In this study, we estimate empirically the multiple benefits of a subsidy policy that would offer payments to farmers in return for the adoption of conservation tillage and compare the outcomes of alternative targeting designs for such a policy. Using data for roughly 12,000 National Resource...

Abstract Currently Unavailable.

In a static setting, willingness to pay for an environmental improvement is equal to compensating variation. However, in a dynamic setting characterized by uncertainty, irreversibility, and the potential for learning, willingness to pay may also contain an option value. In this paper, we...

In this article, we model money-back guarantees (MBGs) as put options. This use of option theory provides retailers with a framework to optimize the price and the return option independently and under various market conditions. This separation of product price and option value enables retailers...

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We study the mechanism design problem when the principal can condition the agent's transfers on the realization of ex post signals that are correlated with the agents' types. Cremer and McLean (Econometrica, 53(1985) 345-361; 56(1988) 1247-1258), McAfee and Reny (Econometrica, 6(1992) 395-421),...

The development of accurate non-point source pollution assessment technologies allows the implementation of more efficient policies than can be undertaken in their absence. This study estimates the value of accurate measurement technology by estimating the gains from implementing a more...

Hicksian welfare theory is static in nature, but many decisions are made in a dynamic environment. We present a dynamic model of an agent's decision to purchase or sell a good under the realistic conditions of uncertainty, irreversibility, and learning over time. Her willingness to pay (WTP)...

Abstract not available.