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Economic value of mitigation of plant invaders in a subsistence economy: incorporating labour as a mode of payment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2012

Rajesh Kumar Rai  and
Helen Scarborough
Rajesh Kumar Rai
Affiliation:
School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Deakin University, Melbourne Campus at Burwood, Australia. Tel: +61-421949632. Email: rkrai@deakin.edu.au; rjerung@gmail.com
Helen Scarborough
Affiliation:
School of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Warranmbool Campus, Deakin University, Australia. Email: helen.scarborough@deakin.edu.au
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Abstract

This paper presents the analysis of a choice experiment designed to estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) to mitigate damages caused by invasive plant species in a rural community of Nepal. In order to address the cash constraints problem in a subsistence economy, two payment attributes, labour contribution and membership fee, were included in the choice sets. The results reveal that rural farmers have significant WTP for forest management activities, in terms of both cash and labour contributions. The results also suggest that rural farmers value their time in this context at a different rate from the current wage rate.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , April 2013 , pp. 225 - 244
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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