title: Monetary Valuation of Informal Care Based on Carers' and Noncarers' Preferences.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To elicit willingness-to-accept (WTA) values for informal care based on the preferences of informal carers and noncarers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two surveys were conducted with a sample of carers (n = 202) and a sample of noncarers (n = 200). Individuals in both groups were asked three questions in which they had to state the minimum monetary compensation they would require (WTA) if they had to look after a person described in a hypothetical scenario for one extra hour per day. Furthermore, carers were asked for the compensation they would demand if they had to be in charge of their actual care recipient for one extra hour per day.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences were found between the distributions of carers' and noncarers' WTA values. Overall, respondents' valuations were sensitive to and consistent with their preferences over the tasks to be carried out in the extra hour of informal care. On average, carers required a lower monetary compensation for one extra hour taking care of their loved one (mean/median WTA values €5.2/€4.5) than if they had to devote that time to look after the hypothetical care recipient (mean/median WTA values €6.4/€5.5). More than half of the carers stated the same value under the two caring situations, which suggests that carers' WTA values were influenced by their own experience providing informal care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show that it is feasible to derive a monetary valuation for informal care from the preferences of noncarers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Economics, School of Economics and Business, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: silviagg@um.es.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garrido-García
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Economics, School of Economics and Business, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando-Ignacio
authors.initials: FI
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Martínez
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Economics, School of Economics and Business, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: José-María
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Abellán-Perpiñán
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Policy & Management (iBMG), Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Job
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Exel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology*; D002755:Choice Behavior; D035881:Compensation and Redress; D005260:Female; D017048:Health Care Costs; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018803:Models, Economic; D005791:Patient Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: contingent valuation; economic evaluation; informal care; willingness to accept