CCM asks the
respondent to state a preference between one group of environmental services or
characteristics,
at a given price or cost to the individual, and another group of environmental characteristics
at a different price or cost.
Focuses on
tradeoffs among scenarios with different characteristics, contingent choice is
especially suited to
policy decisions where a set of possible actions might result in different
impacts on natural resources or
environmental services.
Useful in
valuation of improvements to ecosystems, given that several service flows are
often simultaneously
affected.
May also be used to simply rank options,
without focusing on dollar values.
Formats for applying contingent choice
methods:
Contingent
Ranking—Contingent ranking surveys ask
individuals to compare and rank alternate
program outcomes with various characteristics, including costs.
Discrete
Choice—In the discrete choice approach,
respondents are simultaneously shown two or more
different alternatives and their characteristics, and asked to identify the
most preferred
alternative in the choice.
Paired Rating—variation on the discrete choice format, where respondents
are asked to
compare 2 alternate situations and are asked to rate them in terms of
strength of preference.
Choices that
respondents make are statistically analyzed using discrete choice statistical techniques, to determine the
relative values for the different characteristics or attributes. If one of the characteristics is a monetary
price, then it is possible to compute the respondentÕs willingness
to pay for the other characteristics.