Information, uncertainty, and contingent valuation

The chapter is organized around two important questions. First, what are the consequences for contingent valuation (CV) of the fact that subjects are likely to bring a wide variety of beliefs to the issue being discussed, and second, what is the optimal amount of information that should be given in CV? This is an issue that need not be faced if information has no effect on valuation, so a short survey is provided of the empirical work done so far on the impact of the provision of information on the results of CV studies. The theoretical ideas underlying valuation under uncertainty and the effects of giving extra information are then considered before returning to the problem of the optimal level of information.