Abstract
Recently, Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) is often applied to estimate the environmental value because of its sound and theoretical basis and its flexibility. However, the CVM presents serious difficulties due to a certain structural bias in case evaluators cannot recognize the environmental quality enough. This study aims at quantifying the bias caused by the lack of recognition towards the environmental goods and also developing a method to correct it. First, the recognition model is developed and applied to visitors to a park. Second, a new evaluation method based on simultaneous combination of the recognition model and the conventional utility difference model is proposed for quantifying the structural bias caused by the lack of recognition. It is found that people's valuation of the abundance of green shows limited bias, but that towards the water quality, visual cleanness and quietness includes significant bias.
