Difference in Preferences or in Preference Orderings? Comparing Choices of Environmental Bureaucrats, Recreational Anglers, and the Public

Håkan Eggert (), Mitesh Kataria () and Elina Lampi
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Håkan Eggert: Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University, Postal: P.O. Box 640, SE 40530 GÖTEBORG, Sweden, http://www.economics.gu.se

No 669, Working Papers in Economics from University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics

Abstract: Do Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) bureaucrats represent the general public or are they more in line with an interest group? We study preferences for environmental policy using a choice experiment (CE) on three populations; the general public, Swedish EPA bureaucrats, and recreational anglers. We also test for existence of multiple preference orderings, i.e., whether responses differ depending on the decision role assigned. Half of the respondents were asked to choose the alternatives that best corresponded with their opinion, and the other half was asked to take the role of a policymaker and make recommendations for environmental policy. The SEPA bureaucrats have the highest marginal willingness to pay (MWTP) to improve environmental quality. These differences are robust and not due to differences in socio-economic characteristics across the populations. We found little evidence of multiple preference orderings, but in one case the difference in MWTP between the two roles was substantial.

Keywords: choice experiment; distribution; environmental valuation; Homo Economicus; Homo Politicus; multiple preference orderings; willingness to pay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D61 H41 Q51 Q58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2016-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env, nep-exp and nep-res
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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