STATED PREFERENCE METHOD IN ENVIRONMENTAL VALUATION: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE DISCRETE CHOICE EXPERIMENT

Abstract

The management of forest has been confirmed to be best achieved when the fringe communities are allowed to participate in such management plans. However, enlisting people’s interest in forest management is largely based on their perception of substantial benefits in exchange. These benefits also known as values are not always marketable or tangible goods and determining such preferences are achieved through the non-valuation methods. Non-market valuation methods can be broadly classified into two categories- Revealed and Stated preference methods. While the revealed preference (RP) method makes use of individuals' behaviour in actual market to infer the value of an environmental good or service, the stated preference method (SP) involves the use of surveys or interviews to ask people directly how much they are willing to give to have a specified environmental quality improvement over a given period. This paper reviews the theoretical and methodological issues in the use of the discrete choice experiment – a stated preference method of valuation. The discrete choice experiment allows for variation in the levels of attributes in a management plan. This study recommends the use of the discrete choice experiment in the determination of values and benefits that can attract the forest communities in the cultivation, preservation and management of forest particularly in the Sudano Sahelian region of Nigeria.