Title: An inclusive comparative review of valuation methods for assessing environmental goods and externalities

Authors: Tzipi Eshet, Ofira Ayalon, Mordechai Shechter

Addresses: Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, 31 Rubinstien St., Haifa, 34987, Israel. ' Natural Resource and Environmental Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa, 31905, Israel. ' Natural Resource and Environmental Research Center, University of Haifa, Haifa, 31905, Israel

Abstract: Economists have developed various concepts aimed at proposing monetary values for environmental non-marketed goods. This review analyses the different approaches and reveals most of the methods rely on economic welfare theory, based on the values that individuals ascribe, directly or indirectly, to their preferences regarding an environmental good with no observable price in the market. However, in practice, approximate methods, based on expert judgement and assessment, dominate mostly because they are easier to attain.

Keywords: environmental goods; valuation methods; externalities; policy; monetary values; economic welfare theory; expert judgement; environmental impact.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBE.2006.010684

International Journal of Business Environment, 2006 Vol.1 No.2, pp.190 - 210

Published online: 18 Aug 2006 *

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