IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/applec/v37y2005i1p1-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From evidence to calibration for starting point bias: willingness to pay for treated mosquito nets in Gujarat, India

Author

Listed:
  • M. R. Bhatia

Abstract

This study uses a bidding format to assess households' willingness to pay (WTP) for treated mosquito nets (TMNs). It tests for starting point bias by allocating respondents randomly to three different starting bids (Rs 50, Rs 75 and Rs 100) and following this response with one further closed bid offer and a final open-ended WTP question. There is a clear presence of starting point bias. By undertaking a simulated market experiment (SME), this study attempts to measure the magnitude and direction of the bias so that the necessary calibration factor can be calculated with which to adjust the mean willingness to pay value. It was observed that the true mean WTP adjusted for starting point bias (Rs 56.26) is not very different from the unadjusted mean WTP of Rs 57.38. It is concluded that the presence of starting point bias, even in carefully designed WTP studies using a bidding format, cannot be ruled out. However, the existence of starting point bias itself does not reflect the magnitude of the problem. It is recommended that future WTP studies using a bidding format not only look for starting point bias but also attempt to measure its magnitude.

Suggested Citation

  • M. R. Bhatia, 2005. "From evidence to calibration for starting point bias: willingness to pay for treated mosquito nets in Gujarat, India," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 1-7.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:37:y:2005:i:1:p:1-7
    DOI: 10.1080/0003684042000291317
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0003684042000291317
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/0003684042000291317?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Phillips, Kathryn A. & Homan, Rick K. & Luft, Harold S. & Hiatt, Patricia H. & Olson, Kent R. & Kearney, Thomas E. & Heard, Stuart E., 1997. "Willingness to pay for poison control centers," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 343-357, June.
    2. Randall, Alan & Brookshire, David S., 1978. "Public Policy, Public Goods, And Contingent Valuation Mechanisms," Staff Papers 292748, University of Kentucky, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    3. Whittington, Dale & Briscoe, John & Mu, Xinming & Barron, William, 1990. "Estimating the Willingness to Pay for Water Services in Developing Countries: A Case Study of the Use of Contingent Valuation Surveys in Southern Haiti," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(2), pages 293-311, January.
    4. Kevin J. Boyle & Richard C. Bishop & Michael P. Welsh, 1985. "Starting Point Bias in Contingent Valuation Bidding Games," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 62(2), pages 188-194.
    5. M. R. Bhatia & J. A. Fox-Rushby, 2003. "Validity of Willingness to Pay: hypothetical versus actual payment," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(12), pages 737-740.
    6. Bernie O'Brien & Jose Luis Viramontes, 1994. "Willingness to Pay," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 14(3), pages 289-297, August.
    7. Harris, Charles C. & Driver, B. L. & McLaughlin, William J., 1989. "Improving the contingent valuation method: A psychological perspective," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 213-229, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mehmet Kutluay & Roy Brouwer & Richard S. J. Tol, 2019. "Valuing malaria morbidity: results from a global meta-analysis," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 301-321, July.
    2. Tai-Hsin Huang & Ying-Ting Liao & Li-Chih Chiang, 2010. "An examination on the cost efficiency of the banking industry under multiple output prices' uncertainty," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(9), pages 1169-1182.
    3. Laura Ternent & Aki Tsuchiya, 2013. "A Note on the Expected Biases in Conventional Iterative Health State Valuation Protocols," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 33(4), pages 544-546, May.
    4. Paul McNamee & Laura Ternent & Adjima Gbangou & David Newlands, 2010. "A game of two halves? Incentive incompatibility, starting point bias and the bidding game contingent valuation method," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(1), pages 75-87, January.
    5. Pedersen, Line Bjørnskov & Gyrd-Hansen, Dorte & Kjær, Trine, 2011. "The influence of information and private versus public provision on preferences for screening for prostate cancer: A willingness-to-pay study," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 277-289, August.
    6. Laura Ternent & Paul McNamee & David Newlands & Danielle Belemsaga & Adjima Gbangou & Suzanne Cross, 2010. "Willingness to pay for maternal health outcomes," Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 99-109, March.
    7. M. Trapero‐Bertran & H. Mistry & J. Shen & J. Fox‐Rushby, 2013. "A Systematic Review And Meta‐Analysis Of Willingness‐To‐Pay Values: The Case Of Malaria Control Interventions," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(4), pages 428-450, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Asenso-Okyere, W. Kwadwo & Osei-Akoto, Isaac & Anum, Adote & Appiah, Ernest N., 1997. "Willingness to pay for health insurance in a developing economy. A pilot study of the informal sector of Ghana using contingent valuation," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 223-237, December.
    2. Marcella Veronesi & Anna Alberini & Joseph Cooper, 2011. "Implications of Bid Design and Willingness-To-Pay Distribution for Starting Point Bias in Double-Bounded Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation Surveys," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 49(2), pages 199-215, June.
    3. Klose, Thomas, 1999. "The contingent valuation method in health care," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 97-123, May.
    4. Bernt Kartman & Nils‐Olov Stålhammar & Magnus Johannesson, 1996. "Valuation of health changes with the contingent valuation method: A test of scope and question order effects," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 5(6), pages 531-541, November.
    5. Shiell, Alan & Sperber, Daniel & Porat, Carly, 2009. "Do taboo trade-offs explain the difficulty in valuing health and social interventions?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 935-939, December.
    6. Paul McNamee & Laura Ternent & Adjima Gbangou & David Newlands, 2010. "A game of two halves? Incentive incompatibility, starting point bias and the bidding game contingent valuation method," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(1), pages 75-87, January.
    7. K.G. Willis, 2002. "Research Note: Iterative Bid Design in Contingent Valuation and the Estimation of the Revenue Maximising Price for a Cultural Good," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 26(4), pages 307-324, November.
    8. Mujuka, Esther & Mburu, John & Ackello-Ogutu, Chris & Ambuko, Jane, 2021. "Willingness to Pay for Postharvest Technologies and Its Influencing Factors Among Smallholder Mango Farmers in Kenya," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315331, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Obinna Onwujekwe, 2001. "Searching for a better willingness to pay elicitation method in rural Nigeria: the binary question with follow‐up method versus the bidding game technique," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(2), pages 147-158, March.
    10. Michaël Schwarzinger & Jean‐Louis Lanoë & Erik Nord & Isabelle Durand‐Zaleski, 2004. "Lack of multiplicative transitivity in person trade‐off responses," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(2), pages 171-181, February.
    11. Catherine Heyes & Anthony Heyes, 1999. "Willingness to Pay Versus Willingness to Travel: Assessing the Recreational Benefits from Dartmoor National Park," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 124-139, January.
    12. Van Houtven, George L. & Pattanayak, Subhrendu K. & Usmani, Faraz & Yang, Jui-Chen, 2017. "What are Households Willing to Pay for Improved Water Access? Results from a Meta-Analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 126-135.
    13. Kamuanga, Mulumba & Swallow, Brent M. & Sigue, Hamade & Bauer, Burkhard, 2001. "Evaluating contingent and actual contributions to a local public good: Tsetse control in the Yale agro-pastoral zone, Burkina Faso," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 115-130, October.
    14. John P. Hoehn & Douglas J. Krieger, 2000. "An Economic Analysis of Water and Wastewater Investments in Cairo, Egypt," Evaluation Review, , vol. 24(6), pages 579-608, December.
    15. Agossadou, A.J. & Fiamohe, R. & Tossou, H. & Kinkpe, T., 2018. "Agribusiness opportunities for youth in Nigeria: Farmers perceptions and willingness to pay for mechanized harvesting equipment," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277553, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    16. Mark Sculpher & Amiram Gafni, 2001. "Recognizing diversity in public preferences: The use of preference sub‐groups in cost‐effectiveness analysis," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(4), pages 317-324, June.
    17. Lucinio Júdez & de Rosario Andrés & Carlos Pérez Hugalde & Elvira Urzainqui & Miguel Ibáñez, 1998. "Évaluation contingente de l’usage récréatif d’une réserve naturelle humide," Cahiers d'Economie et Sociologie Rurales, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 48, pages 37-60.
    18. Wiker, Dagmara, 2017. "The valuation of publicly financed sport’s arenas," MPRA Paper 82913, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Huber, Joel & Viscusi, W. Kip & Bell, Jason, 2008. "Reference dependence in iterative choices," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 106(2), pages 143-152, July.
    20. Amandine Laré & Anne Briand & Eric Kéré, 2018. "Access to sanitation in precarious districts of Ouagadougou [L'accès à l'assainissement dans les quartiers précaires de Ouagadougou]," Post-Print hal-02430413, HAL.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:37:y:2005:i:1:p:1-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/RAEC20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.