Willingness to pay for treated mosquito nets in Surat, India: the design and descriptive analysis of a household survey

For willingness to pay (WTP) studies to have an appropriate impact on policy making, it is essential that the design and analysis are undertaken carefully. This paper aims to describe and justify the design of the survey tool used to assess hypothetical WTP for treated mosquito nets (TMN) in rural Surat, India and report its findings. Results from qualitative work were used as an input for developing the WTP questionnaire. A total of 1200 households belonging to 80 villages in rural Surat were selected for the study. A bidding format was used to elicit WTP values, using three different starting bids. The scenario was constructed in a way to reduce the possibility of respondents acting strategically. The response rate was 100%. About 79% of the respondents were willing to buy TMNs and the mean WTP was Rs57. Descriptive results of economic and other taste and preference variables are also presented, which include preventive measures used by households and treatment seeking behaviour for malaria. It is observed that WTP as well as demographic variables and prevention methods differ significantly across arms of the trial. This paper suggests that policy-makers could use the evidence following further analysis, along with information on costs of implementation, to ascertain the levels of subsidy that may be needed at different levels of coverage.