Coskeran, Thomas (1998) An application of the contingent valuation method to an excludable public good : the case of Northampton's parks. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This thesis discusses an application of the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), a technique involving the use of questionnaire surveys, to the valuation of parks in the town of Northampton, England. Urban parks are an example of a class of good, excludable public goods, to which the CVM has not been extensively applied. The application, therefore, breaks new ground in applying the technique to the particular case and in being the first use of the CVM for this type of good in the United Kingdom. The thesis begins with a review of the nature of the CVM. A justification for using the method in the case of parks is then provided. Once theoretical difficulties surrounding the application are examined, an account follows of a pilot contingent valuation survey. The results of this and the analysis conducted on it are reported. Results from a main survey, which followed the pilot, are then discussed and analysed using both tobit and logit analysis. The implications of these studies are summarized in the concluding chapter. The principal policy conclusions to follow from the work done are that: the Council could consider increasing expenditure on parks to reflect fully the preferences of the town's population; any increased spending on parks could come, at least in part, from a reduction in spending on highways in the town; parks could be used as part of a redistributive social policy; those on higher incomes could be expected to make greater contributions to the maintenance of parks. A rationale for these and other policy recommendations are made in the final chapter, as are suggestions for further research into the application of the CVM to excludable public goods.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Urban parks -- Valuation, Urban parks -- England -- Northampton
Date:	October 1998
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Economics
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Leech, Dennis
Sponsors:	Nene College of Higher Education
Extent:	xii, 368 leaves
Language:	eng
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/4286

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