An estimate of the money and paperwork spent complying with environmental regulations could be compared to the advantages of cleaning up pollution. This method of determining the value of the environment is known as .

Contingent valuation.

Explanation:

An estimate of the money and paperwork spent complying with environmental regulations could be compared to the advantages of cleaning up pollution. This method of determining the value of the environment is known as contingent valuation.

Contingent valuation can be defined as a survey based method which is typically used to determine the economic value of a non-market resource such as the impact of pollution and preservation of the environment.

This ultimately implies that, contingent valuation is used for the valuation of resources and goods that are not being traded in marketplaces. Therefore, it is mostly related to the environmental and natural resources found around us on planet Earth.

Generally, this environmental and natural resources usually do not have a market price but various individuals derive utility or satisfaction from them.

Hence, the contingent valuation method is aimed at seeking people's opinions by asking questions on how much money they're willing to pay or receive for the preservation of an environmental resource.

For instance, many people derive pleasure from visiting tourist attractions sites such as zoo, recreational facilities, parks etc and would be willing to pay for this natural resources.