Stima dei beni paesaggistici mediante la valutazione contingente : il caso dell'olivicoltura ligure

The study proposes to investigate potential applications of contingent valuation in the estimate of environmental goods produced in agricultural activity. In the first section the paper describes the methodological approach of the study and the econometric model adopted. The subject involves contingent valuation in the double-bounded dichotomous choice version, where the willingness to pay is a lineaer function of numerous characteristics that are subjective and lie within a productive contest, with a normal distribution of error.The bivariate probit model is used for this purpose. The second section describes the case study, the application methods and results of the investigation. The model used appear able to provide a statistically significant value of the willingness to pay. It is found that the WTP of agricultural growers is comparable, in size, to the contributions granted for implementation of agro-environmental provisions, highlightint how the externalities represented by environmental and landscape goods are among the main products of certain agricultural activities.