The paper estimates Korean people`s willingness to pay for public agricultural R&D expenditures using a contingent valuation method incorporating the impacts of the degree of understanding of agricultural issues, which is formed as a function of individual characteristics endogenously. A bivariate ordered probit CV model that takes care of the endogeneity issue is constructed and estimated. The bivariate model rejects the usual approach that estimates the mechanisms of understanding-formation and WTP-determination independently. It is shown that socio-economic characteristics of individuals affect their degree of understanding and thereby their WTPs indirectly rather than affect the latter directly.