Citizens’ Perception of Past Environmental Damage and Liability in Countries with Transition: Evidence from Kemerovo, Russia

This paper analyzes citizens’ perception of past environmental damage and liability through the estimation of willingness to pay for the implementation of decontamination and land rehabilitation of the damaged site. The paper takes the Russian Federation as a case of country in transition and focuses on Kemerovo region as one of the most affected regions in the country. The major analytical tool employed in the study is choice experiment, data for which was collected through a household survey. Primary conclusion of the analysis is that citizens' willingness to financially support the implementation of environmental quality improvement projects is not high though individuals in the studied area express high level of concern over the issue in focus.