Household preferences for time and monetary contributions for river restoration: A study from the Danda River Basin in Nepal

Abstract

Willingness to pay (WTP) has commonly been used as a metric for the valuation of environmental goods and services. Recent studies have also recommended the use of willingness to volunteer (WTV) as a measure for valuation, especially in developing countries with low monetary income and missing (or imperfect) labor markets. The joint households' decision to contribute money and time, however, is often overlooked in these studies. When households are willing to contribute both time and money, using WTP (or WTV) alone can underestimate their preferences for environmental goods and services. This study examines both households’ WTP and WTV for the Danda river restoration in Nepal using survey data of 752 households residing near the river. By jointly estimating WTP and WTV, this study finds robust public support for improving the river in both time and monetary forms, although the proportion of respondents reporting positive WTV is higher. Wealthier households, however, prefer the payment option and are significantly less willing to contribute their time. We also find that households that perceive more direct benefits from an improved Danda river express higher WTP but are not significantly likely to volunteer more time, suggesting that volunteering decisions may not purely be motivated by the benefits households perceive from a clean river.