The Marine Environment, Human Well-being and Environmental Valuation: a case study from Plymouth, UK.

Abstract

There has been increasing acknowledgement that environmental change is inextricably linked to changes in well-being. Despite this there is no consensus on the definition of well-being or valuation method(s) upon which to base policy evaluations for well-being. The thesis examines this issue by comparing and contrasting two approaches to measuring well-being benefits from marine and coastal environments: (1) the preference-based approach and (2) the experiential approach, with reference to two exemplar methods for valuing non-market marine and coastal goods within each paradigm: the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and the Life Satisfaction Approach (LSA). The thesis begins with a comprehensive review of the two methods, identifying areas of criticism and contrasting their respective strengths and weaknesses. This is followed by an empirical comparison of the two methods. This comparison was made possible by a local coastal regeneration project that occurred during the course of the PhD project (Teat’s Hill, Plymouth, UK) and enabled an evaluation before and after the environmental intervention. A repeat cross-sectional survey was used to place a monetary value on the provision of the coastal regeneration using the two methods. The CVM was used to value the intervention before implementation. The LSA examined well-being before and after the implementation to value the effect of the regeneration on life satisfaction. Results of the CVM suggest that respondents would be willing to pay a monetary value of £7.97 (as a one-off payment) for the regeneration project. Results of the LSA suggested that life satisfaction was on average 3.89% higher for people interviewed after the regeneration, compared to people interviewed before the regeneration, after adjusting for relevant visit and individual level controls. The analysis also explored the potential of estimating a monetary value using the LSA, to enable a direct comparison with the estimate from the CVM. The analysis indicated that £1,925.45 is the amount of money that an average household would be willing to give up for the provision of the coastal regeneration given that utility stays constant. The research in this thesis presents a number of new findings which have important implications for the valuation of coastal interventions and the use of well-being research in environmental policy, planning and decision-making.