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Abstract
This paper presents estimates of the benefits of clearing landmines in two provinces in rural
Cambodia using the contingent-valuation (CV) method. The data came from a survey where we
asked respondents referendum-type questions that elicit their willingness to pay for landmine
clearance. The survey also provides estimates of the injury risk-death risk trade-off and the
implicit value of statistical injury. These estimates suggest that the value of lives and injuries
saved from mine clearing is likely to be at least an order of magnitude greater than those used in
existing studies of mine clearing. We show that the value of lives and injuries saved is likely to
dominate benefit assessments when VSL estimates are used. Estimates previously obtained for
rural Thailand are contrasted with the results for Cambodia, and the determinants of the VSL
investigated using econometric techniques. While Harris (2000) found a significantly negative
net present value of landmine clearance in Cambodia we show that when using VSL estimates
the net present value is less negative, and the value of lives and injuries saved dominates the
benefits