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The contingent valuation technique has been significantly refined as a method of obtaining values of goods and services in situations where market transactions are absent and now finds widespread application in the valuation of the environment, and in valuing the preservation of animal species. Applies the technique to the valuation of more conventional government services, namely the provision by the government of a range of agricultural protection services. The empirical analysis is based on contingent valuation surveys administered to a sample of Western Australian farmers.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the practices for valuation for compensation purposes in Kenya.

A qualitative survey design was used to sample the registered valuers using questionnaire/telephone interviews, in addition to review of some policy and legal documents. Content analysis and descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data.

The study revealed that the most ignored asset losses in valuation for compensation purposes in Kenya are assets of persons without legally recognizable rights, common property resources and social capital, among others, due to the existing legal provisions. Additionally, valuers often fail to apply the appropriate valuation concepts and methods.

The findings of the study are specific to Kenya since valuations for compensation purposes are statutory in nature and hence the applicable legal frameworks are unique to a specific country, although professionalism issues cut across.

The study may help professional valuers to update their knowledge and apply the right valuation concepts and methods, and also help policymakers to review their policies appropriately to match the best practices.

The findings of the study, if implemented, are likely to enhance acceptability of compensation amounts hence improving the working relationships between the public project implementers and the project affected persons, to the benefit of the both parties.

The study is of value to professional valuers, policymakers and land acquiring agencies to be more vigilant and professional in the process of acquiring interests in land.

The paper reports from a valuation study of the Norwegian public libraries, aiming to provide a better understanding of their total value, both use and non‐use value, as viewed by the population. An objective was to explore whether or not the citizens found that their benefits outweighed the costs to provide them.

The study applies the contingent valuation method, developed in economics to valuate non‐market goods. Contingent valuation is based on representative questionnaire surveys and has been used to valuate several cultural goods, including a few library valuation studies.

The empirical data based on a representative population sample demonstrates that the value of the Norwegian public libraries decidedly outweigh their costs. Elicitation of the population's awareness of property rights to their local library showed that an overwhelming majority of the population (94 per cent) perceive they have such rights. The valuation result indicates that the benefits from the public libraries are four times their costs.

The method is based on hypothetical markets. More contingent valuation studies of libraries are necessary to refine the measure instruments. The study explores the benefit‐cost relation at the national level. Further research is needed for studying the benefit‐cost relation at the municipal level.

The findings can be used as one way of documenting the value of public libraries to politicians, local authorities and the general public.

This appears to be the first contingent valuation study of public libraries at a national level, in Norway and internationally.

The paper focuses on the question of the extent to which individual preference-based values are suitable in guiding environmental policy and damage assessment decisions. Three criteria for “suitableness” are reviewed: conceptual, moral and legal. Their discussion suggests that: (i) the concept of economic value as applied to environmental resources is a meaningful concept based on the notion of trade-off; (ii) the limitations of the moral foundations of cost-benefit analysis do not invalidate its use as a procedure for guiding environmental decision making; (iii) the input of individual preferences into damage assessment is compatible with the basic foundations of tort law; (iv) using individual preference-based methods provides incentives for efficient levels of due care; (v) determining standing is still very contentious for various categories of users as well as for aggregating non-use values. Overall, the discussion suggests that the use of preference-based approaches in both the policy and legal arenas is warranted provided that they are accurately applied, their limitations are openly acknowledged and they assume an information-providing rather than a determinative role.

A major problem in environmental economics is to estimate the monetary value of non-market goods. This is especially relevant for environmental goods. To assess their non-use value, different approaches have been used measuring stated and revealed preferences. However, both methodologies are associated with criticism. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new method to estimate non-use values of environmental goods, i.e., to calculate revealed preferences in crowdfunded projects.

Since millions of individuals invest in various crowdfunded projects, the willingness to pay (WTP) can be robustly derived for any kind of project. Here, data on 19 projects on three endangered species are collected from various crowdfunding platforms.

With the new method introduced to estimate the monetary value of non-market goods, the WTP could be determined for a number of projects. Across projects, the average WTP per person is $42 for dolphins, $45 for falcons and $38 for butterflies. This new approach is validated by comparing these values to a meta-analysis of contingent valuation studies reporting on average $42 for dolphins, $37 for falcons and $24 for butterflies.

The limitation of this study is the small number of projects which are for demonstration only.

Validating this method by a comparison with a meta-analysis of contingent valuation shows that estimating WTP via crowdfunding may serve as a new instrument. Given the large number of subjects and diversity of projects in crowdfunding, a robust WTP could be derived for many topics in the future.

A new method to estimate the monetary value of non-market goods is introduced. Estimating the WTP via crowdfunded projects makes it possible to measure revealed preferences for a large variety of environmental and other projects.

This paper is devoted to urban land zoning for taxation purposes in advance of the establishment of a land market. It typifies most urban areas in Ukraine, a country in transition to a market economy. The assessed values in Ukraine do not reflect market values, as the land market is immature. The disadvantages of the current assessment system are described. The reasons why the usual Western valuation methods cannot be applied are also discussed. A proposal is presented here for a new approach to the analysis of land values and real estate markets. For this purpose, three groups of methods are described and evaluated. In the proposed structure of assessment zoning, several possible approaches to zones formation are foreseen. While the paper proposes methods that could be used, these are not backed up with empirical data. The implementation of the proposed approach is the subject for future research.