Consumers' willingness to pay for organic foods in Asian cities : an economic valuation approach and its contribution to sustainable development policy- making

Abstract

In this presentation, preliminary research results on the preferences and willingness to pay for organic foods of the consumers in Tokyo, Beijiing, Bangkok, and Manila are described. The foci of the presentation are the private- and public-good attributes of organic foods, applicable economic valuation techniques for organic food, and potential contributions of the information produced from economic valuation techniques for sustainable development policy-making. The promises and challenges of using economic valuation approaches, such as contingent valuation techniques, to measure environmental impacts in monetary terms, to predict consumers' welfare changes, and to understand future changes in organic food price, environmental quality, environmental consciousness, community development, and government intervention are discussed