This dissertation is concerned with the potential application of stated preference methods to non-market environmental valuation in Macao. Recent studies have recognized the critical role of non-market environmental valuation to protect important environmental resources to achieve sustainable development. Stated preference methods have become the popular and useful non-market environmental valuation methods. Despite undeniable progress, the performance and consistency of stated preference methods has not been exhaustively studied. More research on stated preference methods in developing countries is critically important to the successful implementation of these methods. Macao is a special administration region of China. Environmental conservation has emerged as a policy and management objective. However, little is currently known in Macao about the benefits and, therefore, the importance of the environmental goods and services from an economic point of view. This dissertation is an attempt to fill this gap by exploring the application of stated preference methods in estimating the economic values of environmental goods and services in Macao using both theoretical and empirical analysis. The literature review identifies past studies on the total economic value typology and fundamental elements of applied welfare economics as applied to non-market valuation. Other reviewed include the non-market valuation methods and stated preference methods especially on the evolution and current state of the contingent valuation method (CVM) and choice experiment (CE) method. Some published articles that compare the welfare estimations between CVM and CE method are also reviewed. The econometric modeling of CVM and CE data is introduced within the utility theory that in turn is used to guide the empirical analysis. The empirical analysis examines two case studies. The first case study adopts a double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method (DC-CVM) and a choice experiment (CE) method to measure the social benefits of an alternative solid waste management program in Macao based on the public preferences. The estimation results show that the mean willingness to pay (WTP) for the proposed solid waste management program derived from the double-bounded DC-CVM model with covariates is about MOP16.82 (US$2.10)per person per month, including all respondents indicating a zero WTP. If only respondents with a positive value are included the mean WTP reaches up to MOP19.20 (US$2.40) per person per month. The mean WTP for the new solid waste management program derived from CE models with covariates is about MOP20.48 (US$2.56)per person per month if we assume a linear, additively-separable indirect utility function. The results suggest that there is no significant difference found from the comparison of the welfare estimations obtained from these two stated preference techniques. This is consistent with the neoclassical economic theory. The study also shows that the CE method has some promising advantages over CVM. Principle of that is the ability to provide the opportunity to elicit a deeper understanding the attributes preferred by the public which would help to achieve efficient solid waste management options. On the other hand, the advantages of the CVM are that it can directly estimate the economic values for a specific change in an environmental good or service and the statistical estimation is relatively easy. The second case study applies a single-bounded DC-CVM to estimate the economic values of the conservation of black-faced spoonbills in Macao. The empirical results suggest that the Macao people do have a positive WTP for the conservation of black-faced spoonbills in Macao. The mean WTP of the entire sample and the censored sample with protest responses excluded and uncertainty adjustment were determined by both non-parametric and parametric (logit model) estimation methods. The total benefits were estimated at about MOP75.83 (US$9.48) million in 5 years. The results also show that the mean WTP obtained from the mandatory payment vehicle is significantly higher than that from the voluntary payment vehicle. Thus the mandatory payment vehicle is moderately preferred to voluntary payment vehicle for the Macao public. One experiment is conducted to test whether the hypothetical WTP differs from the real WTP using a proxy surrogate good as the black-faced spoonbill conservation. The results show that they are not significantly different. The ratio of hypothetical WTP to real WTP is 1.22. This is a starting point for conducting experiments to test the reliability of the stated preference methods in Macao. It could be concluded from this study that reliable information can be successfully obtained from a well designed CVM or CE study in Macao. The study also suggests that both CVM and CE methods should be potentially useful for future research on the environmental valuation in Macao. Such kind of non-market environmental valuations based on the public preferences can help policy makers to make better decisions to increase the social welfare, which can facilitate the progress towards a sustainable development in Macao.