Measuring The Direct And Indirect Effect Of Scientific Information On Valuing Storm Water Management Programs With A Hybrid Choice Model

We use scientific information to develop a realistic hypothetical scenario for storm water management and water quality improvements in a stated preference valuation survey. We then provide different treatment levels of the scientific information to survey respondents. Using a hybrid choice model, we find that scientific information has no direct influence on referendum votes in favor of a storm water management program. However, different levels of scientific information have an indirect effect by influencing respondent concern about storm water runoff and by changing perceived understanding of the storm water management plan. We show that both of these effects, neither of which are apparent in standard logit models, have implications for valuing a storm water management plan. Our results suggest that researchers should be aware of how their choice on the information provided may have a subtle influence on responses in stated preference survey.