Environment, Well-Being, and Experienced Preference

Recent years have seen a sharp increase in the use of subjective well-being data in environmental economics. This article discusses the conceptual underpinnings of using such data as a tool for preference elicitation and non-market valuation. Given the connection of those data to the notion of experienced utility, we refer to this approach as the experienced preference method and discuss recent methodological advances and applications of the approach to subject areas not previously reviewed. In addition, we discuss insights concerning environmental behavior that can be gained with the help of subjective well-being data.