This article examines the role of stated preference (SP) valuation methods in the environmental economist’s toolbox. Overall, the article makes the case for using SP methods in a wide range of settings, showing how the approach can be used to both inform policy and gain a better understanding of people’s choices and preferences. First, we provide an overview of SP methods and discuss a number of policy design issues where we believe SP methods have advantages over alternative approaches. The ability of SP to overcome “hypothetical market bias” is briefly reviewed. Next, we discuss how SP methods can be used to address research issues concerning people’s preferences and choices, which have broader implications for economics and behavioral sciences. These research issues are (1) the effects of information, learning and knowledge; (2) testing the validity of the standard model of consumer choice; (3) the influence of behavioral drivers such as social norms; and (4) the role of “deep” determinants of preference heterogeneity such as emotions and personality. Finally, we identify some research areas where SP methods may be particularly useful in the future.

中文翻译：

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陈述的偏好评估方法在理解选择和告知政策中的作用

本文研究了环境经济学家工具箱中陈述的偏好（SP）评估方法的作用。总体而言，本文介绍了在各种环境中使用SP方法的情况，说明了如何将该方法用于既可以指导政策制定又可以更好地理解人们的选择和偏好。首先，我们概述了SP方法，并讨论了许多策略设计问题，我们认为SP方法比替代方法更具优势。简要回顾了SP解决“假想市场偏见”的能力。接下来，我们讨论SP方法如何用于解决与人们的偏好和选择有关的研究问题，这些问题对经济学和行为科学具有更广泛的意义。这些研究问题是（1）信息，学习和知识的影响；（2）检验消费者选择标准模型的有效性；（3）行为驱动因素（如社会规范）的影响；（4）偏好异质性的“深层”决定因素，例如情绪和个性。最后，我们确定了SP方法可能在将来特别有用的一些研究领域。