Valuing the local impacts of a large scale wind power establishment in northern Sweden: public and private preferences toward economic, environmental and sociocultural values

Abstract

This paper estimates public and private preferences towards economic, environmental and sociocultural values associated with a planned large-scale onshore wind-power development in northern Sweden, and analyses the most important determinants of the individual's Willingness to Pay (WTP) for reducing the negative impact associated with the establishment. Sociocultural effects were deemed the most important in the private sample, whereas new job opportunities are valued most highly in the public sample. We further find that ascription to moral and social norms together with individuals’ perceptions related to general and institutional trust constitutes significant determinants of WTP.

Keywords:

• wind power
• choice experiment
• WTP
• indigenous people
• public
• private

Acknowledgements

Financial support from the Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning (FORMAS) is gratefully acknowledged [grant number 2007–1434].

Notes

1. Including a cost attribute in the experiment facilitates the interpretation of the estimated attributes as implicit prices. The fund presented in the experiment was hypothetical, and no payments to the fund will be realized. The aim was, however, that the respondents would perceive it as a realistic alternative; therefore, it was presented as one possible means to reduce the negative impact of the wind farm.

2. The estimation results, in terms of signs of the estimated coefficients and statistical significance, were however very similar to the results presented in Table 6. Details on these results can be obtained from the authors on request.