Individual preferences regarding pesticide-free management of green- spaces: a discret choice experiment with French citizens
Résumé
We elicit citizens' preferences for the transition towards pesticide-free management in urban green spaces. While the literature has focused mostly on the estimation of preferences for pesticide reduction in agricultural production by farmers and food products by consumers, the originality here is to study a pesticide-free non-agricultural good. We rely on a Discrete Choice Experiment ran on-line on a representative sample of the French urban population. This method allows to study individual preferences for alternative bundles of attributes characterizing the consequences of the transition towards pesticide-free green spaces. They include the new characteristics of these green spaces of direct interest for the users, as well as less visible characteristics such as the working conditions or the budget dedicated to the maintenance of such areas. The results account for heterogeneity in preferences. All the attributes included have a significant impact on preferences, and are consistent with the empirical and theoretical literatures.