Existence values are a class of

economic value In economics, economic value is a measure of the benefit provided by a goods, good or service (economics), service to an Agent (economics), economic agent, and value for money represents an assessment of whether financial or other resources are ...

, reflecting the benefit people receive from knowing that a particular environmental resource, such as

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

, endangered species, or any other organism or thing exists. Existence value is a prominent example of

non-use value Non-use value is the value that people assign to economic goods (including public goods) even if they never have and never will use it. It is distinguished from use value, which people derive from direct use of the good. The concept is most commo ...

, as they do not require that

utility In economics, utility is a measure of a certain person's satisfaction from a certain state of the world. Over time, the term has been used with at least two meanings. * In a normative context, utility refers to a goal or objective that we wish ...

be derived from direct use of the resource: the utility comes from simply knowing the resource exists. The idea was first introduced by John V. Krutilla in his essay "Conservation Reconsidered."John Krutilla: ''Conservation Reconsidered''. In: The American Economic Review, Volume 57, Issue 4, Sep. 1967, pp. 777-786
As the Canadian Privy Council explains
, existence value is "A concept used to refer to the intrinsic value of some asset, normally natural/environmental. It is the value of the benefits derived from the asset's existence alone. For example, a tree can be valued in a number of ways, including its use value (as lumber), an existence value (simply being there), and an option value (value of things that it could be used for). Existence value is separate from the value accruing from any use or potential use of the asset." These values are commonly measured through

contingent valuation Contingent valuation is a survey-based economic technique for the valuation of non- market resources, such as environmental preservation or the impact of externalities like pollution. While these resources do give people utility, certain aspec ...

surveys and have been actionable damages in the US since . They were used in a legal assessment of damages following the

Exxon Valdez oil spill The ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill was a major environmental disaster that occurred in Alaska's Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989. The spill occurred when ''Exxon Valdez'', an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company, bound for Long Be ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Existence Value Environmental economics

See also

References