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Behavioral Economics Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Behavioral Economics

If The Large Wta-Wtp Gap For Public Goods Is Real (And There Are Good Reasons To Think So) Conventional Welfare Measures Are Simply Incorrect, Philip E. Graves Jan 2009

If The Large Wta-Wtp Gap For Public Goods Is Real (And There Are Good Reasons To Think So) Conventional Welfare Measures Are Simply Incorrect, Philip E. Graves

PHILIP E GRAVES

A robust finding in economics is that decision-makers often exhibit a much smaller dollar willingness to pay (WTP) for an item than the minimum amount that they claim to be willing to accept (WTA) to part with it. The spread between these two numbers is particularly large for public goods, raising serious public policy concerns regarding which number, if either, is appropriate for valuing such goods. A traditional utility maximizing model is presented here that predicts–as both measures are currently calculated–that WTA will exceed WTP, quite plausibly by a substantial amount for public goods. Moreover, it is shown here that …


The Bias Against New Innovations In Health Care:Value Uncertainty And Willingness To Pay, Surrey M. Walton, Philip E. Graves, Peter R. Mueser, Jay K. Dow Jan 2002

The Bias Against New Innovations In Health Care:Value Uncertainty And Willingness To Pay, Surrey M. Walton, Philip E. Graves, Peter R. Mueser, Jay K. Dow

PHILIP E GRAVES

This paper offers a model for the bias found in willingness-to-pay valuations against new treatments. For example, this bias provides an explanation for patient preferences that make it difficult for formularies to take treatments off their lists, even when newer treatments would appear to be clearly preferable. The appeal of the model, which is based on imperfect information, is that it is consistent with rational preferences and rational behavior by patients, which are necessary for standard models and methods related to decision theory, costeffectiveness, and efficiency.