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The relationship between individual and household measures of WTP and WTA

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Abstract

The article defines measures of individual and household willingness to pay (and to accept) in a general and flexible framework. It completely clarifies the relationship between the household measures and the sum of the individual welfare measures (the aggregate measures) which are in general different. The aggregate measures form only an upper bound for the corresponding household measures. The bounds (based on the information about individual measures) can be tightened by introducing additional assumptions about the decision process within the household. The results derived prove helpful for the theoretical analysis of household behavior, for the evaluation of nonmarket goods in environmental and public economics and for contingent valuation.

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Correspondence to Udo Ebert.

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Ebert, U. The relationship between individual and household measures of WTP and WTA. Soc Choice Welf 40, 367–390 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00355-011-0607-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00355-011-0607-5

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