Estimating Willingness to Pay for Improved Drinking Water Quality Using Averting Behavior Method with Perception Measure

Mi-Jung Um, Seung-Jun Kwak and Tai-Yoo Kim

Environmental & Resource Economics, 2002, vol. 21, issue 3, 285-300

Abstract: This paper suggests an application of an averting behaviormethod to reconcile inconsistent public activity with objectiveenvironmental risk. In Korea, an historically polluted watersupply has created citizen resistance to using tap water. Koreansperceive low quality levels for tap water, although objectivelymeasured data show that the pollution levels are lower than theacceptable risk. We hypothesized that the irrational aversion tousing tap water is a consequence of inconsistencies between theobjectively measured and perceived pollution levels. We introducethe perception averting behavior method, in which we add aperception measure unit to the conventional averting behaviormethod. We found that the perception measure provided a validexplanation for citizens' aversion to using tap water in Korea. Copyright Kluwer Academic Publishers 2002

Keywords: drinking water; perception and behavior; risk; tap water (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

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DOI: 10.1023/A:1014537330423

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