  An increasing number of countries and institutions are investing in
large-scale research infrastructures (RIs) and in basic research. Scientific
discoveries, which are expected thanks to RIs, may have a non-use value, in
analogy with environmental and cultural public goods. This paper provides, for
the first time, an empirical estimation of the willingness to pay (WTP) for
discoveries in basic research by the general public. We focus on the Large
Hadron Collider (LHC), the largest particle accelerator worldwide, where in
2012 the Higgs boson was discovered. Nobody knows the practical value of such
discovery, beyond knowledge per se. The findings of our study are based on a
dichotomous choice contingent valuation (CV) survey carried out in line with
the NOAA guidelines. The survey involved 1,022 undergraduate students enrolled
in more than 30 different degrees (including the humanities) at five
universities located in four countries (Italy, France, Spain, UK). We ask two
main research questions: Which are the determinants of the WTP for the LHC
discoveries? What is the average contribution that the respondents would be
willing to pay? Our results confirm that income, interest and attitudes towards
basic research are positively associated with the WTP, while other potential
explanatory variables play a limited role. The estimated mean of WTP for basic
research in particle physics is EUR 7.7 per person una-tantum. Although this is
a small amount compared to other CV studies for environmental and cultural
goods, it points to positive social attitudes for basic science as a public
good.
