banerjee_04

Sensitivity to scope has become an acid test for the validity of responses to non-market valuation scenarios. We examine the theoretical relationship between whether a subject’s responses exhibit sensitivity to scope and whether consistent preferences underlie those responses. We find that sensitivity to scope is neither necessary nor sufficient for preference consistency. Moreover, while continuous, strongly monotonic and total preferences yield scope, the converse fails to hold. Our results suggest caution in scope’s application as a survey validation tool.

Title:	The Scope Test Revisited *
Number:	04-20
Author:	Shomu Banerjee and James H. Murphy
Issue Date:	November 2004
Abstract:	Sensitivity to scope has become an acid test for the validity of responses to non-market valuation scenarios. We examine the theoretical relationship between whether a subject’s responses exhibit sensitivity to scope and whether consistent preferences underlie those responses. We find that sensitivity to scope is neither necessary nor sufficient for preference consistency. Moreover, while continuous, strongly monotonic and total preferences yield scope, the converse fails to hold. Our results suggest caution in scope’s application as a survey validation tool.