Estimating Willingness to Accept (WTA) Compensation for Reducing Bushmeat Sales in Abidjan

Comprehensive Strategies to Incentivize Informal Restaurant Owners to Cease Bushmeat Selling

Key Takeaways

• Adopt a Mixed Elicitation Approach: Combine Multiple Price List (MPL) and Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) methods to accurately gauge WTA.
• Customize Survey Design to Local Context: Ensure clarity and cultural relevance in survey instruments to enhance respondent understanding and reliability.
• Implement Robust Quality Control Measures: Address potential biases and ensure data integrity through pilot testing and consistent enumeration practices.

Introduction

Conducting a field experiment to incentivize informal restaurant owners in Youpogon, Abidjan, to cease selling bushmeat requires a precise estimation of the compensation they would accept weekly. This document outlines a comprehensive approach to designing and implementing a baseline survey using a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) style method, supplemented with a Multiple Price List (MPL) approach, to accurately estimate the Willingness to Accept (WTA) compensation for different contractual durations.

Survey Design

Selecting the Appropriate Elicitation Method

Choosing the right elicitation method is crucial for obtaining reliable WTA estimates. While the BDM method is renowned for its incentive-compatible properties, incorporating the MPL approach can enhance comprehension and response accuracy, especially in field settings.

Adopting the Becker-DeGroot-Marschak (BDM) Method

The BDM method involves presenting participants with a series of compensation offers and identifying the minimum amount they would accept to change their behavior. This method encourages truthful reporting of WTA by aligning incentives.

Integrating the Multiple Price List (MPL) Approach

The MPL approach complements the BDM method by presenting participants with a list of increasing compensation amounts alongside each contract duration. This format is generally easier for respondents to understand and can help in pinpointing their exact WTA threshold.

Framing the Context Clearly

Ensure that respondents have a clear understanding of the survey’s purpose, emphasizing the objectives of biodiversity conservation and public health. Address any concerns regarding legal ramifications by assuring confidentiality and the non-punitive nature of responses.

Customizing the BDM Mechanism

Customize the BDM method to align with the local context by creating hypothetical scenarios where restaurant owners are asked how much they would need to be paid weekly to stop selling bushmeat for specified durations (2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks). Implement an iterative bidding process with varied compensation amounts to avoid anchoring biases.

Designing the Multiple Price List (MPL)

Develop separate MPLs for each contract duration, presenting a range of increasing compensation amounts. Ask respondents to indicate whether they would accept or reject each amount, thereby identifying their WTA threshold based on the transition point from rejection to acceptance.

Implementation Steps

Pilot Testing

Conduct a pilot survey with a small subset of restaurant owners to identify potential issues with question comprehension, response biases, and the overall design. Use feedback from the pilot to refine survey instruments and ensure robustness in the main survey.

Addressing Hypothetical Bias

Participants might overstate their WTA since the compensation is hypothetical. To mitigate this, incorporate real incentives for a randomly selected subset of respondents. This approach can help in validating the hypothetical responses and enhancing the credibility of the WTA estimates.

Tailoring to the Local Context

Utilize culturally relevant language and locally understood monetary terms. Clarify payment schedules, distinguishing between weekly and lump-sum payments. Adapt survey materials to account for varying literacy levels by incorporating visual aids and conducting oral elicitation where necessary.

Segmenting Respondents Based on Sales Dependency

Categorize respondents based on their reliance on bushmeat sales as a percentage of their total income. This segmentation will help in understanding the variability in WTA estimates and tailoring compensation packages accordingly.

Adjusting for Time Horizons

Assess WTA for different contract durations (2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks) to capture temporal variations in compensation needs. Longer durations may necessitate higher compensation due to increased perceived risks and financial pressures.

Collecting Supplementary Data

Include additional questions regarding demographic factors, business-related variables, and attitudes toward wildlife conservation. This data will aid in contextualizing WTA estimates and identifying underlying patterns that influence compensation requirements.

Integrating Mixed Methods Approaches

Combine direct questioning with indirect elicitation techniques, such as Randomized Response Techniques (RRT), to address concerns related to the sensitive nature of bushmeat sales. This combination can enhance the accuracy and honesty of responses.

Practical Implementation

Enumerator Training

Train local enumerators extensively on survey protocols, ethical considerations, and cultural sensitivities. Familiarity with local customs and language nuances will reduce social desirability bias and improve respondent comfort and cooperation.

Survey Platform and Tools

Utilize in-person surveys equipped with clear visual aids to display monetary amounts, ensuring that respondents fully understand the compensation offers. Consider using digital tools for data collection to enhance accuracy and streamline data management.

Sampling Strategy

Ensure a diverse sample of informal restaurants, including street vendors and larger establishments, to capture a wide range of business characteristics. A stratified sampling approach can enhance the representativeness of the survey results.

Implementation Timeline

Develop a detailed timeline outlining the phases of survey deployment, from pilot testing to full-scale implementation and data analysis. Allocate sufficient time for training, data collection, and quality checks to ensure a smooth execution process.

Quality Control Measures

Mitigating Social Desirability Bias

Since selling bushmeat might be stigmatized, emphasize the anonymity and confidentiality of responses. Clearly communicate that honest answers will not lead to any sanctions, encouraging more truthful participation.

Ensuring Comprehension and Consistency

Incorporate comprehension questions and attention checks within the survey to verify that respondents understand the tasks and are responding consistently. Identify and exclude inconsistent responses to maintain data integrity.

Use of Dominated Options

Include dominated options (e.g., compensation amounts that are clearly too low or too high) to detect non-serious or inattentive responses. This technique helps in filtering out unreliable data.

Random Implementation of Real Contracts

To validate hypothetical responses, randomly select a subset of participants to receive the actual compensation they stated. This real-world validation can help in adjusting and calibrating the WTA estimates.

Data Analysis

Regression Analysis

Employ regression models to analyze how different factors, such as contract duration, current bushmeat sales volume, and demographic variables, influence the WTA. This analysis will help in understanding the determinants of compensation requirements.

Sensitivity Analysis

Conduct sensitivity analyses to assess how changes in key assumptions or parameters affect the estimated WTA. This process ensures the robustness of the findings and identifies potential areas of uncertainty.

Identifying Patterns and Trends

Analyze the supplementary data to identify patterns and trends that may influence WTA estimates, such as variations across different types of restaurants or demographic segments. This insight can inform targeted compensation strategies.

Example Survey Questions

1. Introduction: Explain the purpose of the survey, emphasizing the goals of biodiversity conservation and public health. Assure participants of the confidentiality and non-punitive nature of their responses.

2. WTA Questions:

   • For each of the following durations (2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks), how much would you need to be paid per week to completely stop selling bushmeat?
   • Indicate whether you would accept or reject the following compensation amounts for each duration:
   • 2 Weeks: $X per week
   • 4 Weeks: $Y per week
   • 12 Weeks: $Z per week

3. Follow-Up Questions:

   • What factors influence your decision to stop selling bushmeat (e.g., financial benefits, legal concerns, customer demand)?
   • Do you believe that stopping bushmeat sales would impact your business negatively or positively?
   • How certain are you about your compensation requirements? (Scale of 1-10)

4. Supplementary Questions:

   • What percentage of your total income is derived from bushmeat sales?
   • How many days per week do you sell bushmeat?
   • What is your average weekly revenue from bushmeat sales?

Limitations and Considerations

Addressing Social Desirability Bias

Despite assurances of confidentiality, social desirability bias may still influence responses. Continuous emphasis on anonymity and the voluntary nature of participation can help mitigate this bias.

Handling Hypothetical Responses

Since compensation is hypothetical, respondents might overstate their WTA. Implementing incentive-compatible methods, such as real payments to a random subset, and cross-validating with alternative elicitation techniques can enhance response reliability.

Ensuring Data Quality

Robust pilot testing and continuous monitoring during data collection are essential to identify and rectify any issues related to question comprehension, response consistency, and survey administration.

Conclusion

Estimating the WTA compensation required to incentivize informal restaurant owners in Abidjan to cease selling bushmeat is a multifaceted process. By adopting a blended elicitation approach, customizing survey instruments to the local context, and implementing stringent quality control measures, researchers can obtain accurate and actionable data. This comprehensive baseline survey will inform the design of effective incentive schemes, ultimately contributing to the reduction of bushmeat consumption and the promotion of biodiversity conservation.

References

Cambridge Oryx Article on Bushmeat Consumption in Madagascar
Urban Survey Insights on Bushmeat Consumption in Nigeria
ScienceDirect Article on Elicitation Methods
ScienceDirect Article on Willingness to Accept Compensation
Semantic Scholar Study on Elicitation Methods
Rockefeller Foundation Report on Bushmeat
WildAid Nigeria Bushmeat Consumption Survey
Cambridge Oryx Article on Bushmeat Hunting in Cote d'Ivoire
CIFOR Article on Bushmeat Trade Policy
US Fish and Wildlife Service on Illegal Bushmeat Consumption