Contingent Value Management The value of natura

Environmental pollution is addressed by the tort system of law. This system requires that the polluter, or tortfeasor, pay damages. These damages serve two functions. For one, the payments compensate victims for their incurred losses. Moreover, they also act as an incentive to the "feasor to take cost-justified care to avoid damages" (Brookshire & McKee, 1994, pp. 51-72). Such care will typically be proportional to the expected cost of possible payments. The "optimal level of care" occurs when preventative care measures are equal to potential damage assessments (Brookshire & McKee, 1994, pp. 51-72).

One problem with paying damages, however, lies in estimating how much they should be. When the prices of different commodities can be found in conventional markets, it is fairly simple to calculate appropriate compensable damages (Ruff, 1993, p. 20-36). Unfortunately though, environmental damages often additionally involve nonmarket goods. In such cases, the calc

. . .
etary value that members of the public attribute to specific changes in the quantity or quality of natural resources (Cicchetti & Wilde, 1992, pp. 1121-1125). Contingent valuation method surveys may, for example, consist of a questionnaire. Typical questions ask respondents about hypothetical projects. Subjects are assessed with regard to what they are willing to pay for these projects. Over the past few decades, certain developments have focused considerable attention on contingent valuation methods. Perhaps the controversy began with passage of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (also known as the Superfund law). This statute created a mechanism for identifying those polluted sites that posed a threat to human health or the environment. In addition, the law also established "procedures through which parties that were deemed responsible for the contamination could be identified and made to pay for the cleanup" (Portney, 1994, p. 6). Then, in 1986, the Department of the Interior issued regulations pertaining to what kinds of damages were compensable. Finally, in 1989, a federal court of appeals--in response to various legal challenges--instructed the department to "give
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Cicchetti Wilde, Brookshire McKee, LA Harbor, Angeles Harbor, Cummings Harrison, Los Angeles, Liability Act, Blue Ribbon, According Bohm, Obviously Superfund, contingent valuation, contingent valuation methods, valuation methods, 1994 pp, cicchetti wilde, natural resources, nonuse values, cicchetti wilde 1992, wilde 1992, pp 1121-1125, wilde 1992 pp, 1992 pp, 1992 pp 1121-1125, valuation method, contingent valuation method,
Approximate Word count = 3009
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)