Valuing the Cultural Monuments of Armenia: Bayesian Updating of Prior Beliefs in Contingent Valuation

35 Pages Posted: 18 Apr 2007

See all articles by Anna Alberini

Anna Alberini

University of Maryland - Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics

Alberto Longo

Queen's University Belfast - Institute of Agri-food and Land-Use School of Biological Sciences

Date Written: April 2007

Abstract

We use contingent valuation to place a value on the conservation of built cultural heritage sites in Armenia. When we present the hypothetical scenario in the questionnaire we spell out what would happen to the monuments in the absence of the government conservation program. We posit that respondents combine such information with their own prior beliefs, which the questionnaire also elicits, and that the WTP for the good or program is likely to be affected by these updated beliefs. We propose a Bayesian updating model of prior beliefs, and empirically implement it using the data from our survey. We find that uncertainty about what would happen to the monument in the absence of the program results in lower WTP amounts.

Keywords: Valuation of Cultural Heritage Sites, Non-Market Valuation, Contingent Valuation, Bayesian Updating, Prior Beliefs

JEL Classification: Z10

Suggested Citation

Alberini, Anna and Longo, Alberto, Valuing the Cultural Monuments of Armenia: Bayesian Updating of Prior Beliefs in Contingent Valuation (April 2007). FEEM Working Paper No. 36.2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=981130 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.981130

Anna Alberini (Contact Author)

University of Maryland - Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics ( email )

Symmons Hall, Rm 2200
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-5535
United States
301-405-1267 (Phone)
301-314-9091 (Fax)

Alberto Longo

Queen's University Belfast - Institute of Agri-food and Land-Use School of Biological Sciences ( email )

25 University Square
Belfast, BT7 1NN
Ireland

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