We estimate the value of water quality improvements for recreational activities on and near the Brandywine Creek in Delaware. We divide water-based recreational activities into two groups: water-contact and non-water-contact. We then consider the behavioral change of the recreationists in each group when faced with water quality improvements posed in a stated preference (contingent behavior) survey. We use five common physical attributes of water quality in the contingent behavior analysis: water clarity, catch rate of fish, safety of eating fish, safety for swimming, and ecological health. The survey was constructed in such a way that each of these attributes of water quality is valued. The per-trip value for water quality improvements ranged from $4 to $63 for contact use and from $4 to $29 for non-contact use depending on which and how many attributes of water quality improve. Even though we measure sizable benefits, rough cost estimates appear to make it difficult for incremental improvements to exceed costs unless attribute improvement is widespread.

In this paper, a travel cost model was applied to the case of firewood collection to assess how the inclusion of household fixed effects and how assumptions regarding conditions in the local labor market impacted resulting welfare estimates. To assess these impacts, a unique household panel data set from Kagera, Tanzania was used. It was estimated that, under the assumption of constrained labor markets, households in the Kagera region of Tanzania are willing-to-pay, on average, $120 per year (2016 USD) for access to local forests. These estimated figures were nearly 50 per cent higher when household fixed effects were excluded and nearly 10 per cent higher under the assumption of perfect labor markets. In addition, these results support previous research showing that, in many developing countries, households' demand for firewood is inelastic and that households would be willing to spend a significant amount of their resources on forest access.

This study extends the joint estimation of revealed and stated preference data literature by accounting for truncation in the revealed preference data. The analytical model and estimation procedure are used to estimate the value of recreational red snapper fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. This recreational red snapper valuation is decomposed into its direct and indirect components. As expected, the value of recreational red snapper fishing using the joint revealed-stated preference model proposed in this analysis is bracketed on the upper limit by the value obtained using the contingent valuation method and on the lower limit by the travel cost method. The results also indicate that the joint model improves the precision of estimated recreational red snapper valuation.

Two benefit-transfer approaches are used to estimate welfare losses from closure of Lake Erie beaches. We identify conditions for which the function transfer, which is more time-consuming and data-intensive, is worth the effort relative to a simple value transfer. The function transfer was essential for estimating beach demand (trips) and demand elasticity (change in trips); when evaluating individual beach closures with known trip demand, the two methods yielded similar results. Results produced by the two transfer methods deviated (up to 106 percent) when multiple beaches were closed simultaneously because value transfer did not account for the loss of beach substitutes.

This study examines per trip consumer surplus associated with guided Whitewater rafting on two southern rivers. First, household recreation demand functions are estimated based on the individual travel cost model using truncated count data regression methods and alternative price specifications. Findings show mean per trip consumer surplus point estimates between $89 and $286, depending on modeling assumptions and river quality. Magnitudes of these surpluses are very dependent on assumptions about the opportunity cost of time.

Although monetary valuation of natural ecosystems is difficult, such valuation helps to draw attention to their importance, and highlight conservation needs, especially in developing countries. The recreational value of Khecheopalri, a lake situated in the West District of Sikkim State, India, which has recreational, biodiversity and sacredness values, was assessed. The demand curve function for recreation increased with decreases in travel cost and distance for Sikkimese visitors. The recreational value of the lake was similar to other protected sites in India; however, all these sites had very low values compared to sites elsewhere in the world. Willingness to pay for maintenance and preservation of the lake by all types of visitors ranged from US$ 0.88 for members of the local community to US$ 7.19 for international tourists. The lake showed high recreational/sacredness values that were attributed to conservation of the site for biodiversity and pilgrimage. A large number of lakes in the Hindu-Kush Himalayan region, if properly managed and marketed for ecotourism, can bring economic development that can be linked with conservation.