Improving noise policies in South Korea: non-market valuation based on an impact pathway approach

The contingent valuation method (CVM) is used to measure non-market value. However, the CVM evaluates values using the subjective survey responses of consumers. Therefore, to analyze non-market value, we improve an integrated analysis module, which is divided into the following three parts: (1) a dose–response function that describes the relationship between noise exposure and annoyance, (2) the calculation of willingness to pay to reduce the noise level from the spike model in the CVM analysis, and (3) the calculation of the non-market value–related benefits by linking steps 1 and 2 above. We use the proposed integrated analysis module to analyze the value of noise reduction in South Korea. From this integrated analysis module, we find that a 1 dB reduction in living noise generated from a construction site has a value from 4578 KRW (USD$3.94) to 5794 KRW (USD$4.99) and that this value varies depending on the noise exposure level. The integrated analysis module can thus be used to improve noise policies in South Korea.