Non-market Valuation of Motorized Emission Reductions and Air Quality Improvements in Nairobi, Kenya

This thesis employs stated preferences to estimate the non-market value of motorized emission reductions and air quality improvements in the city of Nairobi, Kenya. Firstly, it uses contingent valuation (CV) method to evaluate peoples' preferences that would be associated with motorized emission reductions in the city together with an account of how these preferences are affected by respondent uncertainty. Secondly, it employs the discrete choice experiments (DCEs) to analyze the implicit prices that motor vehicle owners in the city would be willing to pay towards specific motorized emission reduction attributes. Thirdly, it analyzes the relative performance of several DCE models and how well they are able to account for preference variation in the analysis of choice data. Lastly, it uses the DCE data to access the underlying statistical relationship between choice certainty and consistency in the choices made by individuals. Notably, in the contingent valuation framework, three formats are used to draw preferences from individuals, namely, the conventional payment card format, which assumes the respondents are certain about their preferences; then the stochastic payment card and the polychotomous card formats, which both assume that respondents are uncertain about their preferences. The details of both CV and DCE analysis are discussed in four separate sections that follow, which together complete this thesis.