A Review of the Meta-Analysis for Environmental Benefit Transfer

Non-market valuation has become an important source of information for environmental protection and decision-making, but time and funding for a new economic valuation study to conduct a full-scale assessment of benefits and costs are constrained. Meta-analysis for benefit transfer serves as an alternative to the entirely new primary valuation research in environment valuation and has been widely used in several fields. This article provides an introduction to the meta-analysis for benefit transfer method which can be used in the environmental valuation. Specifically, we review the definitions and applications of benefit transfer and meta-analysis techniques, the steps in conducting a meta-analysis, the advantages and disadvantages of meta-analysis, and provide further suggestions for proper use and application of benefit transfer based on meta-analysis.