From the inbox:
29-May-2014
Dear Dr. Whitehead:
It is a pleasure to accept your manuscript entitled "Dubious and Dubiouser: Contingent Valuation and the Time of Day" in its current form for publication in Economic Inquiry.
Thank you for your fine contribution. On behalf of the Editors of Economic Inquiry, we look forward to your continued contributions to the Journal.
Sincerely,
Dr. Yoram Bauman
Co-Editor, Economic Inquiry
[email protected]
Here is the abstract (I think Tim may have suggested the last sentence):
We collect contingent valuation data from 524 student survey respondents over a three day, 72 hour period. Data analysis of a hypothetical campus referendum focuses on time of day effects on willingness to pay for a renewable energy project. We find that subjects responding to the survey during the night time hours (i.e., between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.) do not display the law of demand, offering theoretically invalid responses to questions with important policy implications. Results from this research may have serious implications for the contingent valuation method. In short, just like your father said, nothing good happens after midnight when using the contingent valuation method.
The co-author is David Dickinson. The paper will be published in the Miscellany section:
A “Miscellany" section is available in Economic Inquiry and intended for humor and curiosities. Economic Inquiry has a venerable tradition in humor, dating at least to the publication of Axel Leijonhufvud’s 1973 “Life Among the Econ.” ...
The referees don't think the paper is funny (at all) but there are a couple parts that still make me laugh out loud. Also, finally, I've managed to include "cromulent" in a paper.
