A stated preference valuation of the non-market benefits of pollination services in the UK

Breeze, T.D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8929-8354, Bailey, A.P., Potts, S.G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2045-980X and Balcombe, K.G.. (2015) A stated preference valuation of the non-market benefits of pollination services in the UK. Ecological Economics, 111. pp. 76-85. ISSN 0921-8009 doi: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.12.022

Abstract/Summary

Using a choice experiment survey this study examines the UK public's willingness to pay to conserve insect pollinators in relation to the levels of two pollination service benefits: maintaining local produce supplies and the aesthetic benefits of diverse wildflower assemblages. Willingness to pay was estimated using a Bayesian mixed logit with two contrasting controls for attribute non-attendance, exclusion and shrinkage. The results suggest that the UK public have an extremely strong preference to avoid a status quo scenario where pollinator populations and pollination services decline. Total willingness to pay was high and did not significantly vary between the two pollination service outputs, producing a conservative total of £379M over a sample of the tax-paying population of the UK, equivalent to £13.4 per UK taxpayer. Using a basic production function approach, the marginal value of pollination services to these attributes is also extrapolated. The study discusses the implications of these findings and directions for related future research into the non-market value of pollination and other ecosystem services.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/39678
Identification Number/DOI	10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.12.022
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Agri-Food Economics & Marketing Life Sciences > School of Agriculture, Policy and Development > Department of Sustainable Land Management > Centre for Agri-environmental Research (CAER)
Publisher	Elsevier
Download/View statistics	View download statistics for this item