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e worth of a chough: Contingent valuation of
P Pyrrhocorax in Cornwall and the connections to
Cornish identity
abstraCt
e aim of this paper is to determine how people value species for
conservation and apply it to policymaking. is paper is the rst attempt
to value one of the UK´s rarest birds specically; the red-billed chough
(Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax). Classical economic theory struggles to assign
value to resources that are not a product of markets, such as endangered
wildlife. e contingent valuation method will be used to gauge how P
pyrrhocorax is valued in Cornwall via a questionnaire method, eliciting
responses to how much individuals are willing to pay to preserve this
rare species. e methodology requires diligent questionnaire design,
implementation and regression analysis. It was found that the average
willingness to pay was £23.60 to mitigate habitat damage to this
endangered and iconic bird. Economic valuation has a large role to play
in determining policy for species conservation. However, there are other
more complex and non-orthodox forms of valuation occurring such as
aesthetic, intrinsic bequest and relational values that cannot be accounted
for by direct valuation.
Key words: Economics, Health economics, Red-billed Chough
rEsumEn
Este documento tiene como objetivo determinar cómo las personas
valoran las especies para su conservación y aplicar esta valoración a la
formulación de políticas. Este documento es el primer intento de valorar
una de las más raras especies de aves en el Reino Unido, el Chova
piquirroja o Chova pico rojo (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax). A la teoría
clásica de economía se le diculta el asignar un valor a los recursos que no
son productos de mercado como, por ejemplo, las especies silvestres en
peligro de extinción. El método de valoración contingente se usará para
evaluar como el P.Pyrrhocorax es valorado en Cornualles (Cornwall) a
través de cuestionarios, obteniendo respuestas de cuánto está dispuesto a
pagar cada individuo (WTP por sus siglas en inglés) para la preservación
de esta rara especie. La metodología requiere de diseños especializados de
cuestionarios, implementación y análisis de regresión de los mismos. Se
encontró que, en promedio, cada individuo está dispuesto a pagar £ 23.60
libras esterlinas para mitigar el daño al hábitat de esta icónica especie
de ave en peligro. La evaluación económica tiene un rol muy grande
que jugar en determinar las políticas para la conservación de las especies;
sin embargo, existen otras formas de valoraciones más complejas y no
ortodoxas como los valores estéticos, intrínsecos, de legado y relacionales
que no se pueden tener en cuenta mediante la valoración directa.
Palabras clave: Ciencias económicas, Economía ambiental, Chova de
pico rojo
El valor de un chough: Evaluación contingente de P Pyrrhocorax en
Cornualles y las conexiones con la identidad de Cornish
Recibido: enero 17 de 2020 | Revisado: abril 12 de 2020 | Aceptado: junio 11 de 2020
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J T-R
J A-E
1 European Centre for
Environment and Human
Health, University of Exeter
Medical School, Knowledge
Spa, Royal Cornwall Hospital,
Truro, Cornwall, United
Kingdom.
j.tredinnick-rowe@exeter.
ac.uk
2 CEDER - Centro de Estudios
del Desarrollo Regional y de
Políticas Públicas, Carrera de
Geografía Humana, Campus
Osorno, Universidad de Los
Lagos, Chile.
https://doi.org/10.24265/campus.2020.v25n30.02
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© Los autores. Este artículo es publicado por la Revista Campus de la Facultad de Ingeniería y Arquitectura de la Universidad
de San Martín de Porres. Este artículo se distribuye en los términos de la Licencia Creative Commons Atribución No-comercial
– Compartir-Igual 4.0 Internacional (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ CC-BY), que permite el uso no comercial,
distribución y reproducción en cualquier medio siempre que la obra original sea debidamente citada. Para uso comercial
contactar a: revistacampus@usmp.pe.
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Introduction
In the UK, governmental and judicial
processes are under pressure to shift
towards a more ecologically conscious
form in response to changing societal
values. How to meet this need has become
a pressing issue with policymakers for
multiple decades. Two central areas
determine how governments protect
the environment and biodiversity, (1)
economic and (2) socio-cultural concerns.
Due to nite economic resources and
budgetary constraints (recessions and
austerity), the level of environmental
protection is often matched against the
current state of a nation’s economy, and its
population’s attitude towards conservation
(existing legal basis). e utilitarian or
neo-classical school of economics would
state that policymakers have to determine
what level of environmental degradation
can be tolerated in a resource at the
expense of nancial gain, i.e. commercial
logging involves cutting down trees.
However, more recently, there has been
a move towards natural capital valuation,
by valuing ecosystem services, which
are based on ethical rather than cost
considerations. For example, the EU
habitat directive and Birds Directive
emerged from civil society and NGO
pressure over the years.
Borgström, and Kistenkas (2014)
highlight that the losses of ecosystem
services such as water circulation
and purication and the subsequent
provision of technical mechanisms are
more expensive than providing space for
a network of functioning habitats for
species, or green infrastructure.
Since the Millennium Ecosystem
Services Assessment and its subsequent
reiterations, the valuation of species
and habitats has begun to change in the
mainstream, such as the connection to
wellbeing (MEA, 2005). is has seen
the ecosystem services/natural capital
approach emerge as part of DEFRA
(Department for Environment, Fisheries
and Rural Aairs) policy. is apparently
includes an attempt to include wildlife
to ensure better decision-making by
valuing our ‘natural capital’. is is an
instrumental valuation, to determine
how much it is worth to the market.
It is worth mentioning that there is
increasing interest in non-instrumental
values and the relational turn in the
literature, emphasising a deeper focus on
relational values to nature, in addition to
instrumental and intrinsic values (Chan
et al. 2016; Muraca et al. 2018; Klain et
al. 2017).
e Natural Capital Approach of
DEFRA is part of an attempt to internalize
the externalities’ or to modify market
valuation to give more consideration to
ecosystems. Perhaps what is needed is
reverse; to view the contributions of the
economy within the ecosystem, after
all humans are internal to it (Odum
and Odum, 2000). Nevertheless,
current calculations of GDP ignore the
throughput – the metabolic ow of useful
matter and energy from environmental
sources, through the economic subsystem
(production and consumption), and back
to environmental sinks as waste (Jackson
and Senker, 2011). A way to do this as
theorised by Odum and Odum, (2000)
to use one kind of energy as the common
denominator.
A method of valuation was developed
based on the total amount of energy of
one kind used directly and indirectly
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(and by all pathways) necessary to make
something. For example, everything in
an ecosystem can be expressed in the
solar energy used to make each item by
various direct and indirect pathways.
us, sh have higher values per joule
than phytoplankton.
However, economists of the 1970s
such as Shabman and Batie (1978)
objected to the energetic approach.
ey argued that value and price were
determined by people’s ‘‘willingness to
pay’’ and not by the amount of energy
required to produce a product or service.
is ts with the Cost-benet analysis
(CBA) ) approach, which in accordance
to mainstream market values assigns a
monetary value to all public goods and
their benets (Mitchell and Carson
1993, 1). is approach is not an end
in itself but oers greater insight into
the value associated with dierent
courses of action, aiding decisions on
environmental policy and protection. It
rooted in classical economic theory.
e Chough and its connections to
Cornish identity politics
Red-billed Cornish Choughs
(Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) are a medium-
sized red-billed, red-legged member
of the corvid family. ey feast on soil
invertebrates and are rarely found more
than 1km inland from the coast. e
chough is listed in Annexe 1 of European
Union Directive (EC/79/409) on the
Conservation of Wild Birds; further
information can be found in (Reid et al.
2003, Robertson, Jarvis, and Day 1995).
is paper looks to apply economic
modelling for public goods to the
conservation of this species.
Figure 1. A Chough in flight, credit: By
Andrew - originally posted to Flickr as
chough, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.
wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7204919
Beyond its conservation value in
economic terms, the red-billed chough
also holds signicant cultural importance
for the Cornish national minority in
the UK (McKillop 1998, 78). e red-
billed Chough is a heraldic symbol,
which features on governmental, civic
and monarchic insignia of Cornwall, as
well as in its folklore (Carter et al. 2003).
King Arthur was reputedly transformed
into a Red-billed Chough when he died
(Penhallurick 1979). Absent since the
late 1940s, the Chough returned to
recolonize Cornwall’s Lizard peninsula
in 2001, a symbol of the areas cultural
rebirth. Circa 2019, there were 12
breeding pairs of Choughs in Cornwall
(Bird Guides 2019).
Project Aim
1. To evaluate the economic worth placed
upon conservation of Pyrrhocorax
pyrrhocorax in Cornwall through
a Contingent Valuation economic
survey.
2. Produce information that can
be utilized in implementing
environmental policy to facilitate
species conservation.
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Economic Evaluation and the
Contingent Valuation Method
To understand species valuation,
according to the strictures of Contingent
Valuation is it essential to comprehend
four dierent types of resources, non-
use resources, private goods, public
goods and common goods. In classical
economic theory, value is based around
the interaction of products in a market
place, which determines the price of the
goods. From this positon, public goods
do not have a nancial value, as they are
non-excludable. For example, a view from
a nature reserve cannot be valued because
it is open to all visitors. Resources which
cannot be valued in markets are termed
non-use resources. is covers goods that
we would classically call common, i.e.
water or air.
Whereas private goods are traded in
regulated markets, have a market-dened
price and associated property rights. e
consumer preference for private goods is
readily identiable. ere are numerous
examples of private goods from food
to clothing; they typically represent a
tangible quantity (Mitchell and Carson
1993, 55).
Public goods are distinguished by
their collective property rights; public
goods typically cannot be traded in any
market form; hence, an individual in
a collective cannot sell their rights to
the property. Property rights are non-
transferable (ibid, 56). A classic example
being air, no one can sell his or her rights
to access to air, nor can it be traded on
any form of market. However, it must be
noted; there are exceptions such as the
commodication of urban air rights in
the Taipei Metropolitan Area.
Open access resources are free to all
persons at no cost. However, this issue
generates problems with protecting
these resources, as they have no singular
ownership. With the absence of property
rights, it becomes harder to attribute
blame for damage or misuse. In some
cases, perceived property rights may
be just as important as legal ones. e
classical economic model states that
only if resources can be shown to have
a monetary value, would they be worth
protecting through legislation. is is
the reason for using cost-benet analysis
techniques to demonstrate the value of a
resource to inform policymakers of the
level of protection needed.
ere are numerous methodologies for
environmental valuation based on extracting
a preference for a particular type of goods
from the public. Consumers preferences are
expressed directly by respondents in some
form of surveys, or preferences are revealed
in an indirect manner examining consumer-
spending patterns. For example, two houses
of identical design are in dierent locations;
one has a sea view the other does not. e
revealed preference infers the value of the
sea view to a consumer, expressed indirectly
in the dierence between the two house
prices.
e method we have chosen to value to
the conservation of red-billed Choughs is
the contingent valuation method (CVM).
e contingent valuation method is a form
of normative economics (based on value
judgements) associated with social welfare
and consequently, the environment. It uses
the revealed preference technique. A large
proportion of which is concerned with
creating more equitable and sustainable
arrangements
between producers and
consumers. is is illustrated in Figure 2.
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Figure 2 illustrates a utilitarian
approach to nding a trade-o between
public and private goods in a market. e
tangent at point Z indicates the optimal
point where the use of public goods q*
corresponds to the use of private goods
x*. is could be, for example, the point
at which logging in a forest neither
causes excessive harm to the resource nor
damages the enjoyment of the resource
for the public (Mitchell and Carson
1993, 18).
In the case of the contingent valuation,
however, the position of Z on the curve
is dependent upon the opinions of the
public surveyed and may not represent
such a sustainable solution but will be
transposed towards the goods which
are preferred, i.e. in the example either
of timber or continued preservation of
forests. Contingent valuation presents
a hypothetical market for goods to
operate in, as there are no markets for
non-use goods. e technique sets
out a hypothetical market where other
scenarios are presented, representing
the alternative sources of action for
the respondent. Hence, the valuation
of preserving choughs is consciously
weighed against other opportunity
costs, e.g. protecting other bird species
in Cornwall or historical monuments
and other substitute commodities in the
area.
Markets are used to understand
the demand for one course of action
over another; hence, they indicate the
preference of the consumers in a supply-
demand relationship. is gives the
policy-maker vital information on which
course of action the public values most.
Moreover, where to allocate protection,
given the nite nature of the policy
maker’s resources. e goods that are
valued most highly, however, are not
necessarily the most useful or those
from which we can derive the most
benet. For example, the protection
of giant pandas generates much higher
revenues than other species such as bees
that play a key role in biodiversity and
the continuation of human life on the
planet. e contingent valuation method
elicits the value placed on the resource in
terms of consumer preference, not the
intrinsic value to humanity or any wider
community. However, the individual
respondent may be motivated by wider,
more holistic values in their willingness
to pay for a resource’s protection.
Figure 2. Point of optimal production for social welfare function
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is makes the contingent valuation
method distinct in that it accounts for
the non-use class of existing benets.
is is not the case with environmental
resources where humans tend toward
vicarious consumption (Mitchell and
Carson 1993, 63). e method is used
as a decision-making tool and not an
absolute justication for one scenario
over another. Only an ardent few take
the more stringent approach suggesting
that policy should be based exclusively
upon a cost-benet analysis.
e valuation of species occurs for
many reasons, economic, social or
otherwise (Pearce and Moran 1994);
however, these values are not generally
quantied in economic terms, i.e. in
market terms or policies. Hence they
are generally non-use values (Tisdell
1990). ere are a number of approaches
to valuing ecological resources, with
an array of dierent microeconomic
techniques such as hedonic pricing, of
which contingent valuation is just one.
e National Oceanic Aviation
Administration (NOAA) created a
guideline to Contingent Valuation. e
directive has since become a benchmark
for conducting surveys utilizing the
CV method. Alongside methodological
guidance in Arrow et al. (1993), it will
be used for the basis of the CV method
in this paper.
e NOAA report on contingent
valuation was commissioned in response
to the Exxon-Valdez incident. In the
American legal system under the Oil
Pollution Act of 1990,
NOAA is required
to establish regulatory procedures for
determining the destruction or injury
of natural resources that occur from
oil discharge (ibid). is includes
the nancial reparations of the cost
for the damage to non-use resources.
Consequently, a panel of economists
was required to undertake a critical
analysis of the CV method and produce
guidelines for its application. ese
guidelines have become a benchmark in
the implementation of the CV method
and will be adhered to in the paper.
Method
We have established that the
Contingent Valuation Method (CVM)
represents a technique, which permits
ecological impact to be considered
in a cost-benet analysis system, and
environmental damage to be accounted
for in an economic system. It is a
particular case of choice modelling and is
conducted by surveys. e survey is based
upon a hypothetical scenario to allocate
a price to non-use values. It is designed
to assess the respondent’s Willingness
to Pay (WTP) to obtain or avoid the
loss of a certain species or environment
(Markandya and Richardson 2017). It
can alternatively be used to calculate the
Willingness to Accept (WTA) of a group
or individual for the same ends. e
survey is designed on a contingent market
situation (a hypothetical market) which
has two fundamental characteristics:
1. A proposal of change to the system.
2. A mechanism or vehicle for
implementing change.
WTP surveys are designed to
generate the information required to
make predictions about the question
it sets out to solve, i.e. the economic
worth placed upon conservation of P
pyrrhocorax in Cornwall. ey must also
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generate predictions that can be subject
to scrutiny. We used sample groups
to determine what value they would
attribute to the suggested change. Our
data collection used an opportunistic
random sampling method to select
members of the public. Our data was a
product of on-site sampling - where red-
billed chough (P pyrrhocorax) has an
established habitat, osite locations and
online questionnaires.
We draw from Farol, Mabugu, and
Ntshingila (2007) and their application
of demographics-based surveying to
drive targeted policy and their linear
regression techniques. We also used the
illustrative examples of questionnaire
design and planning for CVM provided
in the OCED report by Atkinson et al.
(2018).
As WTP forms of the contingent
valuation method are most typically
preferred in policymaking, we opted
for this technique. It oers a robust and
concise survey design to allow the results
to be meaningfully applied. e CV
method can produce information that
is applicable to forming government
policies based on a purely monetary
value.
Biases
Contingent valuation methodologies
can suer from biases due to the
nature of questionnaires and how they
are written and interpreted by the
respondent. e survey was written to
minimize these biases. Of particular
concern for environmental surveys is
the warm glow eect. is eect is also
known as the good cause argument occurs
when the respondent oers a valuation
that causes them to feel positive about
their view on environmental issues
(Rahmatian 2005). However, it may
well not represent the real value that
they are prepared to pay.
Sampling method
e on-site eldwork was conducted
on the Lizard peninsula, in the Duchy of
Cornwall (UK), see Figure 3. is is the
only site for breeding pairs of Choughs
in the nation. e size of the survey is
an important issue. e optimal sample
size for Contingent Valuation surveys
is fundamentally about the value of
information required (Vaughan and
Darlin 2000). As P pyrrhocorax can be
considered a site-specic resource due to
its very small population in Cornwall,
the questionnaire took two forms. On-
site samples were taken from visitors to
the peninsula where P pyrrhocorax nests.
is also made the geographical spread
of the data more varied avoiding a bias
to one locality. However, the size of the
survey was limited by nancial, physical
and time restraints. Osite sampling
was conducted by using online surveys
to create a larger catchment area and to
provide information about non-users’
WTP of the resource, (Pearce and Moran
1994).
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Questionnaire review
e initial questionnaire was prepared
according to comments issued by a focus
group review. e questionnaire design
incorporated the suggestions of the focus
group members to ensure it was clear
and understandable. is contributed
to reducing the non-response rate in the
questionnaire making the data collected
more valid.
Tabulating Data and Analysis
A logistic regression model based in
SPSS was used to determine the WTP.
e SSPS logistic regression technique is
based on standard models and equations.
Basic descriptive statistical methods were
used to evaluate the WTP of dierent
sections of the respondents. is was
linked to the respondents’ income to
validate WTP ndings. e data were
assessed to determine if it was normally
distributed. Other indicators of a normal
distribution, such as skewness and
kurtosis were considered.
Results
Willingness to Pay
In total, taking into account both on-site
and osite results, 114 people completed
the survey
1
. e average willingness to pay
value for preserving Cornish red-billed
choughs was £23.60. is gure will be
used in the binary logistic regression to
determine what factors cause respondents
to pay above or below the average WTP
value. However, rst, the distribution of
the data must be assessed.
Testing for normal distribution
For the dataset to be normally distributed,
it must have a signicance greater than 0.05
in the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and the
Shapiro-Wilk test (built-in tests from the SPSS
software package). e Kolmogorov-Smirnov
test and Shapiro-Wilk tests were used as the
sample size was within the limits of 50
replicates, a summary table can be found
below.
1 A copy of the survey is available from the
corresponding author upon request.
Figure 3. A map detailing the location of the Lizard Peninsula, in the South West United
Kingdom, the sole location of P pyrrhocorax in Cornwall.
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Table 1
Test for Normality of WTP Data
As can be seen from both the Shapiro-
Wilk test and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov
test, the signicance is lower than
0.05; as such, the data is not normally
distributed. is is displayed graphically
in a Q-Q plot of the data against a
normally distributed curve.
Figure 4. Q-Q plot of WTP data against an expected normal
distribution
e observed values (in circular points)
do not obey the normally distributed line
set out in the Q-Q plot, which is indicated
by the straight line. Other indicators of
the nature of the data considered include
skewness and kurtosis. ese measures
do not give conclusive proof whether the
data set is normalized or not but serve as
additional proof and reliable indicators.
Both also indicated a non-normal
distribution. e non-normally data
distribution was taken into account for
the logistic regression method chosen.
Backwards Stepwise Binary Logistic
Regression
A nonparametric method of regression
was chosen to analyze the results. Binary
logistic regression was conducted to
identify the signicant parameters in the
questionnaire that determine the WTP
values of respondents. is method
evaluates the responses of each question
in the survey and indicates if a parameter
is statistically signicant for predicting
the WTP value. It starts by analyzing all
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parameters, i.e. respondent’s answer to
questions and iteratively works down to
the only parameters that aect the WTP
within a 95% condence interval.
Binary logistic regression treats WTP
values as a binary set of data. In this
case, the average WTP value was taken
(£23.60), and all values below this
average were designated 0, and all values
above the average were designated 1. e
regression analysis can identify the factors
that determine if a parameter’s inuence
upon the WTP value is a 1 or a 0; i.e.
above or below the average.
e method gives the coecients
for a regression equation from which
the variables identied can be used to
determine if the respondent will pay over or
under the average WTP value. A summary
of the results can be found in Table 2.
Table 2
Regression Analysis Coefficients and Significances
e nomenclature of the table is such
that B is a logistic regression constant,
S.E. stands for Standard Error, Df stands
for Degrees of Freedom, Sig stands for
Signicance, and Exp (B) is an exponen-
tial regression coecient. For the data
set to be statistically signicant, it must
have a signicance value greater than
0.05. After the 11
th
iteration, the only
variables that inuence a respondent’s
WTP to within a 95% condence level
are the respondent’s income per annum
and their knowledge that Choughs nest
on the Lizard peninsula. ese values
and their regression coecients can be
substituted into the following regression
equation to determine if a respondent’s
income and knowledge that Choughs lo-
cation will determine if they are willing
to pay over or under the average £23.60
WTP value.
1
1
1
n
ii
i
i
x
P
e
αβ
=
−+
=
∑
+
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Where Pi stands for probability;
however, in this case as it is binary
regression, the probability outcome is
either 0 for below the WTP average or
1 for above the WTP average. Alpha
and beta are regression coecients
given in table 2 of the dierent
parameters, i.e. income and know
choughs. e reliability of the model
can be demonstrated by contrasting the
predicted binary WTP values and the
actual values taken. e model showed
that it could predict if a respondent will
pay over or under the average in 96.5 %
of 113 respondents.
Gender
e genders of the respondents were
approximately equal, 55.3 % male and
42.1 % female, and 2.6% declined
to answer. Female respondents were
on average willing to pay £7.77 more
than their male counter parts. is
demonstrates a WTP to preserve Choughs
that is a third higher for Women.
Table 3
Respondent’s Gender Divide and Their WTP
Age
e most prevalent age groups
amongst the respondents were 19-30
years old, representing 33.3%, followed
by 31-49 years (28.9%), and 50-69 years
(23.7%). e highest WTP of any of
the age groups was 50-69 years old. e
non-respondent rate to this question was
1.8% (Table 4).
Table 4
Summary of WTP and Income per Annum by Age Group
ere is a clear correspondence
between the age groups with the highest
values of WTP and the age groups with
the highest incomes.
Income
e most prevalent income groups
were those with less than £15,000 per
annum, representing 37.7%. e non-
respondent rate to this question was
5.3%.
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Table 5
Respondent’s Income and their WTP
Interest in Environmental Issues
When asked if they had an interest
in environmental issues, 78% of
respondents answered yes, 21.1%
answered no, and 0.9% did not answer.
e most common environmental
interest amongst the respondents was
conservation representing 29.8 %. e
non-respondent rate to this question was
0.9%.
Table 6
Respondent’s Interest in Environmental Issues and their WTP
Knowledge of Choughs Nesting on the
Lizard Peninsula
When asked if they knew that Choughs
nested on the Lizard peninsula, 65.8%
of the respondents answered yes, 32.4%
answered no. e non-respondent rate to
this question was 1.8%.
Table 7
Respondent’s Knowledge of Choughs Nesting on the Lizard Peninsula and their WTP
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Respondent’s Frequency of Visitation
e most frequent type of visit to the
Lizard peninsula was once a year 43.8%,
and 17.5% of respondents visited on a
monthly basis, 9.6% daily, 4.4% weekly,
21.9% of the respondents had never
visited the Lizard peninsula. e non-
respondent rate to this question was
2.6%.
Table 8
Respondent’s Frequency of Visitation to the Lizard Village and Their WTP
Non-response Rate
A good indicator of the success of a
questionnaire is the non-response rate.
A low non-response rate shows that
respondents were willing to engage with
the researcher. It also helps to reduce the
non-response bias, which could prejudice
particular question’s responses due to
lack of participation. e average non-
response rate for the questionnaire was
1.65%; this low non-response rate adds
validity to the approach and suggests
that the survey was understandable and
that the format was adequate to hold the
respondent’s interest.
Discussion
Demographics and Income
e gender of the respondents
was well balanced, with 55.3% of the
respondents being male, 42.1 % female
and 2.6% declining to answer. On
average women were willing to pay £7.77
more to conserve choughs than men, with
both groups having approximately equal
average annual incomes. From this, we
can assume both sexes had approximately
the same disposable incomes. Indicating
a dierence in willingness to pay to
preserve Choughs between men and
women.
e WTP values amongst the dierent
age groups varied considerably, with a
range of ±£30.95. e highest WTP
of any age group was 50-69 years old,
followed in descending order by 31-49
years old, less than 18 years old, 19-30
years and 70+, which had the lowest
WTP of any group. Again, this must
be matched against each group’s ability
to pay by assessing their annual income
(Table 9).
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Table 9
WTP Summary and Income per Annum by Age Gro
up
e WTP values (except <18 years of
age) match the descending order of average
income values, i.e. those age groups with
higher incomes are willing to pay higher
amounts to conserve Choughs. ose
who are 50-69 years old would feel the
loss of this public resource more strongly.
is may be because generally, as people
age and their children become nancially
independent, their mortgages are paid, the
volume of disposable income and leisure
time increases. As such, up to the point
of retirement, an individual’s peak income
and leisure time will occur between the ages
of 50 and 69, aording them more time
to enjoy public goods and more money to
protect them.
Regression Analysis
e regression analysis showed that the
only variables that inuence a respondent’s
WTP to within a 95% condence-level are
income per annum and their knowledge
that Choughs nest on the Lizard peninsula.
e parameters that aect the WTP
value of respondents with any degree of
statistical accuracy are few. e low power
of the model to predict exact WTP values
could be due to an insucient number of
responses. It would seem, however, that
the reasons that people value nature might
not be well predictable within the standard
economic framework of public goods.
From the responses gained, it may be
the case that people primarily value nature
for its bequest value and its inherent value
rather than any form of use or even access
to it. If this is the case, it makes quantifying
the valuation much harder as has been
demonstrated by the low degree of power
of the regression analysis model.
In regard to P pyrrhocorax there may be
a signicant degree of associated bequest
or inherent valuation by respondents due
to its place in Cornish mythology and as a
heraldic symbol. is may account for some
of the unpredictability in the WTP values
of species. In the supporting comments
of the question concerning whether the
conservation of Choughs was necessary,
many respondents who assented added
that it was because of the Cornish identity
associated with Choughs more than just a
concern for nature.
Conclusions and Methods Criticism
e contingent analysis style is based on
free-market principles and tries to expand
them into matters concerning non-use
public goods in ecosystems. is raises
the issue of whether liberalized forms of
neoclassical economics are the best approach
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to valuations of a non-use resource. It
remains debatable if amoral market systems
should be utilized to provide judgement in
monetary terms. Furthermore, all scenarios
in the hypothetical market (representing
dierent environmental resources) are
equally weighted in importance, whereas
this may not be the case in a real-life
situation.
e methodology of contingent valuation
assumes somewhat naïvely respondents
does not possess uncertainty about whether
they will value the use of a resource in the
future. Uncertainty is a signicant factor
in some public goods, and this approach
represents a risk to policymakers’ decisions
using the contingent valuation method
(Mitchell and Carson 1993, 70). Some
economists in the early development of
the CV method were highly critical of its
approach. For example, Anthony Scott
once remarked about the technique,
“Ask a hypothetical question and you get a
hypothetical answer” (Scott 1965, 27)
However, it is equally probable that
when questioned on a particular topic of
which the respondent has no knowledge
or opinion that they will not make an
eort to construct elaborate hypothetical
answers unless prompted by the questioner.
However, supplementing the method with
face-to-face interviews allows an attentive
interviewer to determine to some extent if
a respondent is likely to value the resource
in the future.
is being said, contingent valuation is
a versatile methodology that allows for the
analysis of a diverse range of goods and a wide
range of benets. It cannot be guaranteed
that respondents will answer a contingent
valuation survey truthfully; however, it is
suciently accurate enough to have some
meaning and be used to gain inferences.
Given this, is it always necessary to make
assumptions in the process to reach a precise
value for the welfare of an environmental
resource or species. ere is a need for
the method to incorporate qualitative and
more contextual forms of valuation to truly
understand people’s motivation to preserve
(or not) nature. Moving towards a mixed-
methods approach that is less anchored to
purely neoclassical economics theory.
e question remains, how to protect the
red-billed Chough? Even if the exact reasons
for its valuation cannot be determined
entirely. A non-means tested indirect levy
or form of taxation to protect Choughs
would be regressive as it disproportionally
targets the less well o. As such, indirect,
standard means of payment such as entry
fees to the areas where Choughs should
be discouraged unless they are set at levels
payable by all. Given the income data, a
fairer and more progressive method would
be a means-tested ecological tax. Whatever
the method selected to fund conservation of
Choughs it should be noted that the WTP
values of respondents indicate a complex
valuation of the species that goes further
than simple use, e.g. increased biodiversity,
aesthetic value, cultural signicance etc.
Any legislative approach should recognize
and reect this in its application.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Dr Bruce Forrest,
Dr Bryan Mills and all the participants
in the project survey. I would also like to
thank my family and Dr Loveday Jenkin
for their help and encouragement.
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