Assignment:
Problem
1. Questionnaire
a. Penguins are an easy animal to market to the general public because they're cute and harmless and most people like them.
b. In This case, we would ask about WTA, given that the easiest way to counteract the damage to the penguin's habitat is to cut back on carbon emissions. We should be asking people to cut back on their usage of gasoline running vehicles and to cut back on their purchasing of products that significantly contribute to the emission of greenhouse gases.
c. An appropriate payment vehicle would be some kind of a tax credit or other discount/refund that would be distributed to anyone who participates in the program.
2. Auxiliary Information
a. Sample is the Adelie penguins from Antarctica.
b. Adelie penguins have lived in Antarctica for 45,000 years.
c. Newfound climate change may be posing a threat to these colonies.
d. Where these penguins are living now is slowly becoming uninhabitable. By the end of the century, these colonies will have to find new places to live.
e. The Adelie penguins in the northern region of Antarctica have decreased by 80%. This decrease is thought to be brought on by climate change affecting their food supply.
3. Survey Technique
4. Identify the population
5. Sampling Strategy
a. The best way to conduct this survey is by doing random sampling. Random samples are best for polling populations and it also allows each 'unit" to have an equal opportunity to be selected. If we wanted to survey the amount of people who would be willing to help the Antarctic Penguins due to global warming a researcher could survey people walking the streets of a busy city or they could survey people that buy a ticket for the Zoo or Aquarium.
6. Responses to Survey
7. WTA OR WTP?
Valuation based on survey response: Contingent Valuation
Steps involved in the process:
1. Create a questionnaire
a. Identify possible uses and attitudes towards the environmental good in question
b. Construct a hypothetical scenario
c. Decide whether to ask about WTP or WTA
d. Determine an appropriate payment vehicle
e. Select an appropriate elicitation method
2. Collect auxiliary information about the respondent
3. Choose a survey technique
4. Identify the population of interest
5. Develop a sampling strategy
6. Analyze responses to survey
7. Aggregate WTA or WTP responses over the whole population.
Readings:
Contingent Valuation: A User's Guide
By Richard T. Carson