Contingent valuation (CV) measures what is called passive use value or existence value. The CV method has been used to measure the benefits of environmental policy actions. CV measures of economic value rely on choice. In CV studies, choices are posed to people in surveys; analysts then use the responses to these choice questions to construct monetary measures of value. The specific mechanism used to elicit respondents' choices can take a variety of forms, including asking survey respondents whether they would purchase, vote, or pay for a program or some other well-defined object of choice. It can also be a direct elicitation of the amount each respondent would be willing to pay (WTP) to obtain an object of choice or the amount each respondent would be willing to accept (WTA) in compensation to give it up. This volume is composed of three sections. The first section provides background into the issues underlying the public and academic discussion regarding CV and the reliability of CV estimates of economic value. In addition, this section reviews the theory underlying the measurement of economic value and discusses those aspects of the theory most relevant to CV. The second section focuses on issues that have formed the core of the CV discussions including: sensitivity of WTP estimates to the size of the program offered, tests for theoretical consistency of CV results, and the sensitivity of results to context and numerous other features of the survey and its administration. The final section addresses the application of CV to actual economic valuation tasks and discusses the types of practical problems the CV researcher will encounter.

Contingent valuation (CV) measures what is called passive use value or existence value. The CV method has been used to measure the benefits of environmental policy actions. CV measures of economic value rely on choice. In CV studies, choices are posed to people in surveys; analysts then use the responses to these choice questions to construct monetary measures of value. The specific mechanism used to elicit respondents' choices can take a variety of forms, including asking survey respondents whether they would purchase, vote, or pay for a program or some other well-defined object of choice. It can also be a direct elicitation of the amount each respondent would be willing to pay (WTP) to obtain an object of choice or the amount each respondent would be willing to accept (WTA) in compensation to give it up. This volume is composed of three sections. The first section provides background into the issues underlying the public and academic discussion regarding CV and the reliability of CV estimates of economic value. In addition, this section reviews the theory underlying the measurement of economic value and discusses those aspects of the theory most relevant to CV. The second section focuses on issues that have formed the core of the CV discussions including: sensitivity of WTP estimates to the size of the program offered, tests for theoretical consistency of CV results, and the sensitivity of results to context and numerous other features of the survey and its administration. The final section addresses the application of CV to actual economic valuation tasks and discusses the types of practical problems the CV researcher will encounter.

Die Bkonomische Theorie der Politik befaBt sich mit der Anwendung der modernen wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Denkweise auf politisch- okonomische Prozesse. GegenUber der herkommlichen Okonomie unter- scheidet sie sich durch die explizite BerUcksichtigung politi scher Elemente, gegenUber der Politologie und politischen Soziologie durch eine unterschiedliche Methode. In diesem Sammelband wird die Okonomische Theorie der Politik in weitem Sinne verstanden. In einigen Beitragen steht die typische Fragestellung und Vorgehensweise, in anderen mehr der inhaltliche Beitrag zum Verstandnis der gegenseitigen Abhangigkeit von Wirt- schaft und Politik im Vordergrund. Es wird gezeigt, daB nicht nur die streng neoklassische Tradition, sondern auch andere Stromungen in der Wirtschaftstheorie Anwendung finden konnen. Neben einigen abstrakt-theoretischen Abhandlungen sind vor allem anwendungsbezo- gene Beitrage und - insbesondere im letzten Teil - empirisch-sta- tistische Untersuchungen aufgenommen worden. Diese Gewichtung ent- spricht nicht notwendigerweise dem quantitativen Anteil dieser An- satze an der Zahl der Veroffentlichungen. Sie beruht eher auf der subjektiv gefarbten Einschatzung der beiden Herausgeber Uber deren qualitative Bedeutung und Fruchtbarkeit. Diese Einstellung spie- gelt sich auch in der bewuBten Entscheidung fUr moglichst leicht lesbare Beitrage wider, damit dieser Sammelband auch fUr Wirt- schaftsstudenten unterer Semester und andere Sozialwissenschaft- ler zuganglich ist. Die Einordnung der aufgenommenen Beitrage in den Gesamtzusammen- hang wird im einfUhrenden Aufsatz von Bruno S. Frey unternommen. Dieser anthalt gleichzeitig einen Uberblick Uber die Okonomische Theorie der Politik und weitere Varianten Politischer Okonomie. Dank geflihrt den Ubersetzern - alles ausgewiesene Vertreter der Okonomischen Theorie der Politik - fUr ihre Arbeit und Ratschlage. W. W.