Data from a choice experiment on the community’s preferences for water quality improvements in streams was used to assess the effect of using a fixed status quo versus people’s perceived status quo on willingness to pay values. More than 50% of respondents perceived the quality of water in...

Parametric distributions applied to dichotomous choice contingent valuation data invoke assumptions about the distribution of willingness to pay that may contravene economic theory. This article develops and applies distributions that allow the shape of bid distributions to vary. Alternative...