Public preferences for cultivated land protection in Wenling City, China: A choice experiment study

This study measures the public preferences for cultivated land protection as a case study of Wenling City, China, using the choice experiment (CE) approach. The estimation results indicate that the most important attribute for cultivated land protection in Wenling City was land facility, followed by land fertility and then by landscape improvement. The monthly willingness-to-pay of a typical household for the cultivated land protection from the status quo to the highest attribute level is calculated as RMB23.79 (US$3.66), and the total annual willingness-to-pay for the entire population of the study area is RMB232 million (US$35.7 million). This study allows us to provide policymakers with quantitative information related to cultivated land protection programs. The study concludes that CE is a reliable tool in the analysis of respondent preferences for the development of suitable cultivated land protection schemes in China. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.