A contingent valuation experiment about future particle accelerators at CERN.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Florio M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7065825 | biostudies-literature | 2020
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
A contingent valuation experiment about future particle accelerators at CERN.
Florio Massimo M Giffoni Francesco F
PloS one 20200311 3
Investment in basic science is mainly supported by government funding, but little is known about citizens' willingness to pay for large-scale projects. A survey to a representative sample of French taxpayers, designed as a contingent valuation experiment about a future particle accelerator for CERN, reveals that citizens' willingness to pay is correlated with education, income, age, and-crucially-previous awareness, attitudes and interest in science. A (slim) majority of the participants would a ...[more]
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Project description:BackgroundA greater emphasis on providing high-value orthopaedic interventions has resulted in increased health economic reporting. The contingent-valuation method (CVM) is used to determine consumer valuation of the benefits provided by healthcare interventions. CVM is an important value-based health economic tool that is underutilized in orthopaedic surgery.Questions/purposesThe purpose of this study was to (1) identify previously published CVM studies in the orthopaedic literature, (2) assess the methodologies used for CVM research, and (3) understand how CVM has been used in the orthopaedic cost-benefit analysis framework.MethodsA systematic review of the literature using the MEDLINE database was performed to compile CVM studies. Search terms incorporated the phrase willingness to pay (WTP) or willingness to accept (WTA) in combination with orthopaedic clinical key terms. Study methodology was appraised using previously defined empirical and conceptual criteria for CVM studies.ResultsOf the 160 studies retrieved, 22 (13.8%) met our inclusion criteria. The economics of joint arthroplasty (n?=?6, 27.3%) and non-operative osteoarthritis care (n?=?4, 18.2%) were the most common topics. Most studies used CVM for pricing and/or demand forecasting (n?=?16, 72.7%); very few studies used CVM for program evaluation (n?=?6). WTP was used in all included studies, and one study used both WTP and WTA. Otherwise, there was little consistency among included studies in terms of CVM methodology. Open-ended questioning was used by only ten studies (45.5%), a significant number of studies did not perform a sensitivity analysis (n?=?9, 40.9%), and none of the studies accounted for the risk preference of subjects. Only two of the included studies applied CVM within a cost-benefit analysis framework.ConclusionCVM is not commonly reported in orthopaedic surgery and is seldom used in the context of cost-benefit analysis. There is wide variability in the methods used to perform CVM. We propose that CVM is an appropriate and underappreciated method for understanding the value of orthopaedic interventions. Increased attention should be paid to consumer valuations for orthopaedic interventions.
| S-EPMC6148581 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe number of contingent valuation (CV) studies in dental medicine using willingness-to-pay (WTP) methodology has substantially increased in recent years. Missing values due to absent information (i.e., missingness) or false information (i.e., protest zeros) are a common problem in WTP studies. The objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of missing values in CV studies in dental medicine, to assess how these have been dealt with, and to suggest recommendations for future research.MethodsWe systematically searched electronic databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, PROSPERO) on 8 June 2021, and hand-searched references of selected reviews. CV studies in clinical dentistry using WTP for valuing a good or service were included.ResultsWe included 49 WTP studies in our review. Out of these, 19 (38.8%) reported missing values due to absent information, and 28 (57.1%) reported zero values (i.e., WTP valued at zero). Zero values were further classified into true zeros (i.e., representing the underlying preference of the respondent) or protest zeros (i.e., false information as a protest behavior) in only 9 studies. Most studies used a complete case analysis to address missingness while only one study used multiple imputation.ConclusionsThere is uncertainty in the dental literature on how to address missing values and zero values in CV studies. Zero values need to be classified as true zeros versus protest zeros with follow-up questions after the WTP elicitation procedure, and then need to be handled differently. Advanced statistical methods are available to address both missing values due to missingness and due to protest zeros but these are currently underused in dental medicine. Failing to appropriately address missing values in CV studies may lead to biased WTP estimates of dental interventions.
| S-EPMC8307611 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This paper presents real operational data collected from the power systems of the Spallation Neutron Source facility, which provides the most intense neutron beam in the world. The authors have used a radio-frequency test facility (RFTF) and simulated system failures in the lab without causing a catastrophic system failure. Waveform signals have been collected from the RFTF normal operation as well as during fault induction efforts. The dataset provides a significant amount of normal and faulty signals for the training of statistical or machine learning models. Then, the authors performed 21 test experiments, where the faults are slowly induced into the RFTF system for the purpose of testing the models in fault prognosis to detect and prevent impending faults. The test experiments include interesting combinations of magnetic flux compensation and start pulse width adjustments, which cause gradual deterioration in the waveforms (e.g., system output voltage, system output current, insulated-gate bipolar transistor currents, magnetic fluxes), which mimic the fault scenarios. Accordingly, this dataset can be valuable for developing models to predict impending fault scenarios in power systems in general and in particle accelerators in specific. All experiments occurred in the Spallation Neutron Source facility of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee of the United States in July 2022.
| S-EPMC10622613 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The percentage of protesters in contingent valuation surveys is substantial-about 20% across many studies. This paper seeks to clarify the motivations behind protest responses. In addition, the question whether the estimation of willingness to pay (WTP) is more biased by the exclusion or inclusion of protest bids is yet undecided. Methodological improvements are difficult for three reasons: motivations behind protest responses are largely unclear, definitions of protest differ between studies and often only participants who state a zero WTP are asked for their reasons. Our survey on farm animal welfare (n = 1335) provides detailed motivations, two definitions and includes debriefing of all participants for their WTP. We find that protest bids are not a refusal to answer, they are neither irrational nor driven by lack of understanding. Quite the contrary, a large part of participants is directly motivated by moral reasons. Furthermore, protest responses are not coupled to a zero WTP. In our sample, only 8% out of 32% protesting participants had a zero WTP. Only a small fraction of zero bids (0.4%) are true WTP-statements, i.e. respondents were satisfied with the status quo. This finding has important implications for existing WTP-estimates which might be biased. Finally, we provide detailed estimates of the WTP for animal welfare issues by including and excluding different types of protesters and outliers.
| S-EPMC6324805 | biostudies-other
Project description:ObjectivesA dementia nurse specialist (DNS) is expected to improve the quality of care and support to people with dementia nearing, and at, the end of life (EoL) by facilitating some key features of care. The aim of this study was to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) values from the general public perspective, for the different levels of support that the DNS can provide.MethodsContingent valuation methods were used to elicit the maximum WTP for scenarios describing different types of support provided by the DNS for EoL care in dementia. In a general population online survey, 1002 participants aged 18?years or more sampled from the United Kingdom provided valuations. Five scenarios were valued with mean WTP value calculated for each scenario along with the relationship between mean WTP and participant characteristics.ResultsThe mean WTP varied across scenarios with higher values for the scenarios offering more features. Participants with some experience of dementia were willing to pay more compared with those with no experience. WTP values were higher for high-income groups compared with the lowest income level (P?<?.05). There was no evidence to suggest that respondent characteristics such as age, gender, family size, health utility or education status influenced the WTP values.ConclusionThe general population values the anticipated improvement in dementia care provided by a DNS. This study will help inform judgements on interventions to improve the quality of EoL care.
| S-EPMC7187265 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Stated preference studies are a valuable tool to elicit respondents' willingness to pay (WTP) for goods or services, especially in situations where no market valuation exists. Contingent valuation (CV) is a widely used approach among stated-preference techniques for eliciting WTP if prices do not exist or do not reflect actual costs, for example, when services are covered by insurance. This review aimed to provide an overview of relevant factors determining WTP for health services to support variable selection. A comprehensive systematic literature search and review of CV studies assessing determinants of WTP for health services was conducted, including 11 electronic databases. Two of the authors made independent decisions on the eligibility of studies. We extracted all determinants used and related p values for the effect sizes (e.g. reported in regression models with WTP for a health service as outcome variable). Determinants were summarised in systematic evidence tables and structured by thematic domains. We identified 2082 publications, of which 202 full texts were checked for eligibility. We included 62 publications on 61 studies in the review. Across all studies, we identified 22 WTP determinants and other factors from 5 thematic domains: sociodemographic characteristics, perceived threat, perceived benefit, perceived barriers, and other information. Our review provides evidence on 22 relevant determinants of WTP for health services, which may be used for variable selection and as guidance for planning CV surveys. Endogeneity should be carefully considered before interpreting these determinants as causal factors and potential intervention targets.
| S-EPMC8853086 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundAssessing the public's willingness to pay (WTP) for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine by the contingent valuation (CV) method can provide a relevant basis for government pricing. However, the scope issue of the CV method can seriously affect the validity and reliability of the estimation results.AimTo examine whether there are scope issues in respondents' WTP for the COVID-19 vaccine and to further verify the validity and reliability of the CV estimate results.MethodIn this study, nine different CV double-bounded dichotomous choices (DBDC) hypothetical COVID-19 vaccine scenarios were designed using an orthogonal experimental design based on the vaccine's attributes. A total of 2450 samples from 31 provinces in Mainland China were collected to independently estimate the public's WTP in these nine scenarios with logistic, normal, log-logistic and log-normal parameter models. Based on this estimation, several external scope tests were designed to verify the validity and reliability of the CV estimate results.ResultsIn the 20 pairs of COVID-19 vaccine scenarios, 6 pairs of scenarios were classified as negative scope issues, therefore not passing the external scope test. Of the remaining 14 pairs of scenarios, only four pairs of scenarios completely passed the external scope test, and one pair of scenarios partially passed the external scope test. Significant negative scope and scope insensitivity issues were revealed.ConclusionIn the context of a dynamic pandemic environment, the findings of this study reveal that the CV method may face difficulty in effectively estimating respondents' WTP for the COVID-19 vaccine. We suggest that future studies be cautious in applying the CV method to estimate the public's WTP for the COVID-19 vaccine.
| S-EPMC8743235 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundChanging population demographics and technology developments have resulted in growing interest in the potential of consumer-facing digital health. In the United Kingdom, a £37 million (US $49 million) national digital health program delivering assisted living lifestyles at scale (dallas) aimed to deploy such technologies at scale. However, little is known about how consumers value such digital health opportunities.ObjectiveThis study explored consumers' perspectives on the potential value of digital health technologies, particularly mobile health (mHealth), to promote well-being by examining their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for such health solutions.MethodsA contingent valuation study involving a UK-wide survey that asked participants to report open-ended absolute and marginal WTP or willingness-to-accept for the gain or loss of a hypothetical mHealth app, Healthy Connections.ResultsA UK-representative cohort (n=1697) and a dallas-like (representative of dallas intervention communities) cohort (n=305) were surveyed. Positive absolute and marginal WTP valuations of the app were identified across both cohorts (absolute WTP: UK-representative cohort £196 or US $258 and dallas-like cohort £162 or US $214; marginal WTP: UK-representative cohort £160 or US $211 and dallas-like cohort £151 or US $199). Among both cohorts, there was a high prevalence of zeros for both the absolute WTP (UK-representative cohort: 467/1697, 27.52% and dallas-like cohort: 95/305, 31.15%) and marginal WTP (UK-representative cohort: 487/1697, 28.70% and dallas-like cohort: 99/305, 32.5%). In both cohorts, better general health, previous amount spent on health apps (UK-representative cohort 0.64, 95% CI 0.27 to 1.01; dallas-like cohort: 1.27, 95% CI 0.32 to 2.23), and age had a significant (P>.00) association with WTP (UK-representative cohort: -0.1, 95% CI -0.02 to -0.01; dallas-like cohort: -0.02, 95% CI -0.03 to -0.01), with younger participants willing to pay more for the app. In the UK-representative cohort, as expected, higher WTP was positively associated with income up to £30,000 or US $39,642 (0.21, 95% CI 0.14 to 0.4) and increased spending on existing phone and internet services (0.52, 95% CI 0.30 to 0.74). The amount spent on existing health apps was shown to be a positive indicator of WTP across cohorts, although the effect was marginal (UK-representative cohort 0.01, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.01; dallas-like cohort 0.01, 95% CI 0.01 to 0.02).ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that consumers value mHealth solutions that promote well-being, social connectivity, and health care control, but it is not universally embraced. For mHealth to achieve its potential, apps need to be tailored to user accessibility and health needs, and more understanding of what hinders frequent users of digital technologies and those with long-term conditions is required. This novel application of WTP in a digital health context demonstrates an economic argument for investing in upskilling the population to promote access and expedite uptake and utilization of such digital health and well-being apps.
| S-EPMC6354197 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Environmental public goods--including national parks, clean air/water, and ecosystem services--provide substantial benefits on a global scale. These goods have unique characteristics in that they are typically "nonmarket" goods, with values from both use and passive use that accrue to a large number of individuals both in current and future generations. In this study, we test the hypothesis that neural signals in areas correlated with subjective valuations for essentially all other previously studied categories of goods (ventromedial prefrontal cortex and ventral striatum) also correlate with environmental valuations. We use contingent valuation (CV) as our behavioral tool for measuring valuations of environmental public goods. CV is a standard stated preference approach that presents survey respondents with information on an issue and asks questions that help policymakers determine how much citizens are willing to pay for a public good or policy. We scanned human subjects while they viewed environmental proposals, along with three other classes of goods. The presentation of all four classes of goods yielded robust and similar patterns of temporally synchronized brain activation within attentional networks. The activations associated with the traditional classes of goods replicate previous correlations between neural activity in valuation areas and behavioral preferences. In contrast, CV-elicited values for environmental proposals did not correlate with brain activity at either the individual or population level. For a sub-population of participants, CV-elicited values were correlated with activity within the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, a region associated with cognitive control and shifting decision strategies. The results show that neural activity associated with the subjective valuation of environmental proposals differs profoundly from the neural activity associated with previously examined goods and preference measures.
| S-EPMC4519262 | biostudies-literature
Project description:In pursuit of universal health coverage, many low- and middle-income countries are reforming their health financing systems and introducing health insurance schemes. As part of these reforms, lawmakers in The Gambia enacted 'The National Health Insurance Bill, 2021'. The Act will establish a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) that pays for the cost of healthcare services for its members. This study assessed Gambians' willingness to pay (WTP) for a NHIS. Using multistage sampling design with no replacement, head/co-head of households were presented with a hypothetical health insurance scheme from July to August 2020. Their WTP and factors influencing WTP were elicited using a contingent valuation method. Descriptive statistics were used to describe sample characteristics. Lopez-Feldman's modified ordered probit model and linear regression were applied to estimate respondents' WTP as well as identify factors that influence their WTP. More than 90% of the respondents-677 (94.4%) were willing to join and pay for the scheme. Half of these respondents-398 (58.8%) agreed to pay the first bid of US dollars (US$) 20.78 or Gambian dalasi (GMD) 1000. The average WTP was estimated at US$23.27 (GMD1119.82), whereas average maximum amount to pay was US$26.01 (GMD1251.16). Results of the two models together showed that gender, level of education and household income were statistically significant, with the latter showing negative influence on WTP. The study found that Gambians were largely receptive to the scheme and have stated their willingness to contribute. Our findings can inform policymakers in The Gambia and other sub-Saharan countries when establishing contribution rates and exemption criteria during social health insurance scheme implementation.
| S-EPMC9849717 | biostudies-literature