Non-users' willingness to pay for a National Park: An application and critique of the contingent valuation method

A great deal of the ongoing academic debate concerning the contingent valuation (CV) method has focused upon whether or not the method is suitable for assessing non-use values. This paper presents results from a study examining non-users' Values for preserving the Norfolk Broads, a wetland area of recognized international importance, from the threat of saline flooding. Discussion of results centres upon the validity of the CV method for eliciting unbiased estimates of non-use value. A graphical representation of findings from a variety of studies is presented to suggest that such results are logically ordered across goods and valuation scenarios. However, as the paper concludes, logicality and validity are not necessarily synonymous.