Work

Stability of preferences for ecosystem damage prevention: Evidence from a test-retest over five years

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The stability of people’s preferences for ecosystem services over long time periods remains underexplored. We examine the dynamics of willingness to pay (WTP) to prevent coastal ecosystem damage using two identical contingent valuation surveys administered to a high-quality Norwegian panel in 2015 and 2020. The 2020 sample includes new respondents and re-testers, yielding a large test-retest sample across a five-year period. We find evidence that neither mean WTP nor underlying preferences are temporally stable. Comparing the 2015 sample to new respondents in 2020, we estimate an increase in WTP driven by heterogeneity in both respondent characteristics and preference parameters. A modest decrease in WTP is estimated for the test-retest sample, which we ascribe to shifting preferences. Investigation of respondent-level dynamics in WTP highlights potential mechanisms behind the negative preference shift. Our study highlights important factors to consider when transferring stated preferences across long time periods, and demonstrates the need for future research on how environmental preferences evolve over time.

Source: Resource and Energy Economics

DOI: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2026.101569

Authors: Martin Ørbeck, Henrik Lindhjem, Gorm Kipperberg, Maria Loureiro

Institutions: Vista Analyse (Norway), Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Menon Business Economics (Norway), University of Stavanger, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

Language: English

Topic: Economic and Environmental Valuation

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,200

Funder: Norges Forskningsråd