2026-07-01http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/414825As the use of payments for environmental services (PES) programs for conservation has grown in developing countries, the use of stated preference methods, particularly contingent valuation (CV) surveys, to estimate the maximum amount that users of environmental services (buyers) would be willing to pay has also increased. This paper reviews 25 CV studies conducted in the context of PES programs (CV-PES) and assesses their quality and usefulness for designing PES programs. Almost all these studies attempt to estimate the demand of downstream water users for up-stream watershed protection and, more generally, for improved water services. Most studies were methodologically uninspired and generally low-quality applications of stated preference methods, with limited policy relevance. The quality and usefulness of CV-PES studies could be substantially improved at only a modest increase in costs.application/pdftext/plainCC BY 3.0 IGOhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ACCESS TO INFORMATIONAQUEDUCTSAVERAGE WATER USECALIBRATIONCLEAN WATERCOMMERCIAL WATERCOMMUNITY WATERCOMMUNITY WATER SUPPLYCONSERVATIONCONSUMERSCONTINGENT VALUATIONCONTINGENT VALUATION STUDYCOST OF WATERDECISION MAKERSDEMAND FOR WATERDISTRIBUTION SYSTEMSDOMESTIC WATERDOMESTIC WATER SUPPLYDOMESTIC WATER USERSDOWNSTREAM USERSDOWNSTREAM WATER USERSDRINKING WATERECOSYSTEMENGINEERINGEROSIONFARMERSFIXED CHARGEFIXED FEEFLOODSFORESTRYHECTARE PER YEARHOUSEHOLD DEMANDHOUSEHOLD INCOMEHOUSEHOLD WATERHOUSEHOLD WATER USEHOUSEHOLDSHYDROELECTRIC POWERHYDROPOWERINDUSTRIAL USERSIRRIGATIONIRRIGATION SYSTEMSIRRIGATORSLAND USE PRACTICESMONTHLY WATER BILLMONTHLY WATER BILLSMUNICIPALITIESNATURAL RESOURCESPCBPIPED WATERPIPED WATER DISTRIBUTIONPROGRAMSREEFSRURAL COMMUNITIESRURAL COMMUNITYRURAL WATERRURAL WATER SUPPLYRURAL WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMSSCIENCESSERVICE DELIVERYSERVICE IMPROVEMENTSERVICE IMPROVEMENTSSERVICE PROVIDERSERVICE PROVIDERSSERVICE PROVISIONSERVICE QUALITYSLUMSSMALL COMMUNITIESSMALL TOWNSSMALL WATERSHEDTARIFF INCREASETARIFF STRUCTURETOWNTOWN OFFICIALSURBAN WATERUTILITIESWASTEWATERWATER CHARGESWATER DISTRIBUTIONWATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMSWATER POLICYWATER PRICINGWATER PRICING REFORMSWATER PROGRAMSWATER QUALITYWATER RESOURCESWATER SERVICEWATER SERVICE PROVIDERSWATER SERVICESWATER SUPPLIESWATER SUPPLYWATER SUPPLY SYSTEMSWATER SYSTEMWATER TARIFFWATER TARIFFSWATER USEWATER USERWATER USERSWATER UTILITYWATERSHEDWATERSHED MANAGEMENTWATERSHEDSenvironmental services