Contingent Valuation to Measure the Value of Agricultural Noise in the Urban Fringe

Abstract

Contingent valuation is a commonly-used method of assessing a monetary value for a non-market good. Less studied, however, are goods that are intangible or represent the absence of something, as opposed to its presence.  This study examines the value of quiet, or the absence of noise, in an agricultural landscape. It finds the average WTP for quiet is $70.97 per year per household. This study also serves to document a conflict in the Canadian urban-rural fringe between agricultural and non-agricultural land uses and to show how economic valuation techniques can be used to help policymakers understand the magnitude of an agricultural externality.