Payment for environmental services gambling and residents compensation amount estimation from the Wuxijiang River reservoir area in China

The gambling phenomenon is formed by the complex relationship between sources and receptors of ecological compensation among multiple stakeholders. This paper investigates the problem of payment amount gambling, and details a method to estimate the amount of ecological compensation that should be given for impacted water resources in the Wuxijiang River reservoir area in China. Public statistics and first-hand data obtained from the field investigation were used as data sources. Estimation of the source and receptor amount of ecological compensation relevant to the water resource being investigated was achieved using the contingent valuation method. The ecological compensation object and its benefit and gambling for the Wuxijiang River water source area are also analyzed in this paper. According to the results of a Contingent Value Method (CVM) survey, the ecological compensation standard of Wuxijiang River was determined by the contingent valuation method, and the amount of compensation was estimated. Fifteen blocks downstream of the Wuxijiang River and 12 blocks in the water source areawere used as samples to administer a survey that estimated the willingness to pay and the willingness to accept the ecological compensation of Wuxijiang River for both non-parametric and parametric estimation. Finally, the theoretical value of the ecological compensation amount was estimated.