Prior to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the estimation of passive use value (Carson,
Flores and Mitchell 1999) or as it has often been previously termed, nonuse
or existence value, was an area of economic research not well known to many
economists working outside the area of benefit cost analysis of projects involving
environmental amenities and health risks. However, based on a belief that the
State of Alaska and the Federal Government intended to litigate a natural resource
damage claim for lost passive use value, the attention paid to the conceptual underpinn.