Valuing rural piped water services in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam: Case study at Phuoc Vinh Dong commune

Over 42 million people of Vietnam do not have access to safe water. To address the problem efficiently, we need an appropriate method to estimate people's demands for safe water supply and factors affecting their demands. This paper presents a case study of the use of the contingent valuation method (CVM), as a solution to the problem. The CVM has been considered an important method to value environmental goods, and it has been increasingly applied in developing countries since the 1980s to value water supply services and other important environmental goods. In Vietnam, however, CVM has not been officially applied for valuing water supply services. This study is the first to employ the double-bounded CVM to value rural piped water supply services in the Vietnam context. A sample of 217 households was selected using a two-stage stratified random sample method for in-person interviews. Findings of this study suggest that when designing water supply projects; policymakers, donors or private sectors in Vietnam should pay attention to the factors that affect household's willingness to pay (WTP). Another policy implication is that cost-benefit analysis based on CVM estimation can be used to design suitable program for water supply services.