Non-market Valuation of Cultivated Land Protection Using CVM: A Case Study of Wenling City
基于CVM的耕地资源保护非市场价值研究——以浙江省温岭市为例

In recent decades, cultivated land resources are declining gradually in China and the contradiction between human and land is increasingly sharp. The most fundamental reason is that the non-market value of cultivated land protection is often ignored. This paper evaluates the non-market value of cultivated land protection using the single-bounded Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to improve the land compensation system and people's consciousness of cultivated land protection. In order to achieve this, a random sample survey on 206 respondents in Wenling City was conducted in the summer of 2010 in a face-to-face manner. Results show that residents in Wenling City have realized the existence of the non-market value of cultivated land protection, especially the social security value, but misunderstanding in the non-market value of cultivated land resources still exists. The perception of urban residents is relatively better than that of rural residents. The Binary Logistic Model was used to estimate residents'mean willingness to pay (WTP) and factors affecting it. A comparative analysis on WTP was made between urban residents and rural residents. The mean WTP of urban and rural residents was 500.18 and 193.53 Yuan per household per year, respectively. There were some differences in the factors between the two groups 'WTP. In terms of rural residents, the main factors include respondents'education, whether or not own cultivated land resources, whether or not have attended donation activity, total household income, and awareness of cultivated land functions. For urban residents, the main factors include respondents'career, whether or not have engaged in agricultural production, whether or not have attended activity of environmental protection, the number of household members above 65 year-old, and awareness of cultivated land functions. Obviously, awareness of cultivated land functions is the main factor for both of them. Therefore, strengthening the propaganda of the non-market value of cultivated land resources and environmental protection education is the top priority. Results also reveal that the total non-market value of cultivated land protection in Wenling City was 1.68×109 Yuan (51.57×103 Yuan per hectare). Comparison between the non-market value of cultivated land resources and the average economic output value (66.82×103 Yuan per hectare) indicates that the former is an important sector of the total economic value of cultivated land resources. Therefore, it is significant to take the non-market value of cultivated land protection into account when making decisions or policies on cultivated land resource protection in China.