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 commonly applied to the value of natural and built resources.
Non-use value as a category may include:
Rick Freeman (1993) suggests yet another variant that he calls "pure non-use value", defined as the value that occurs for an individual when current prices preclude use of a good, but there exists some lower price at which the individual would use the good. The continued availability of the good provides some value to the individual insofar as s/he may eventually be in a position to use the good.
All of these categories are offspring of the original concept of option value that was introduced into the cost benefit analysis lexicon in 1964 by Burton Weisbrod to justify individuals' valuation of goods, assets and resources that they do not actually use. In general, it is not possible to use market prices or other revealed preference methods to measure non-use value. As a result, "stated preference"" survey methods are generally used, including most prominently contingent valuation methods (CVM).
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