Are any numbers better than no numbers? The sorry state of willingness-to-pay and some major methodological shortcomings.
Willingness-to-pay (WTP) is grounded in welfare economics and is used to measure benefits in public decision-making. However, obtained values vary widely, differences between WTP and its obverse, willingness-to-accept, are very large, studies to validate the techniques are almost non-existent and methodologies to elicit values are underdeveloped. Major problems with WTP are discussed with emphasis on cognitive aspects of eliciting preferences and values. It is concluded that until its validity has been established, WTP must be rejected as a measure of economic value.
Burrows
C
C
National Centre for Health Program Evaluation.
Brown
K
K
D001294:Attitude to Health; D001315:Australia; D003256:Community Participation / Q000191:economics*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D003657:Decision Making; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods*; D017059:Models, Econometric; D012107:Research Design