Valuing the damage of arsenic consumption: economic non-market valuation methods

摘要

The methods and studies reviewed here indicate ways of valuing the health impacts of arsenic consumption, both in developed and developing countries, to be used to help allocate resources to policies where they can be most cost effective and thus have the largest benefits. These methods involve either observing economic behaviour in related markets, such as the market for medical care for COI approaches, or where this is not possible conducting a thorough survey which questions respondents about their likely behaviour in hypothetical markets. Both methodology groups require careful understanding of what information and perceptions that the respondents have for the arsenic risks under consideration. Furthermore in order to provide recommendation on policies, through cost benefit analysis, it is critical that future values are appropriately discounted, that any likely intervening relevant changes are addressed and any distributional impacts on groups or individuals are taken into consideration through, for instance, the use of distributional weights.