How Valuable are National Parks? Evidence from a Proposed National Park Expansion in Alaska

Michael Spanbauer, Lindsay Johnson () and Patrick Button
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Lindsay Johnson: KIPP McDonogh 15 School for the Creative Arts

No 1707, Working Papers from Tulane University, Department of Economics

Abstract: We estimate the national average passive use value for Alaskan National Parks. Passive use refers to the value that individuals get from the existence of a public good without actually using it. We fi eld a questionnaire asking respondents, using the contingent valuation method, how much they would pay for a 5% expansion of Denali National Park. We fi nd that respondents are willing to pay $115 to $409 for this expansion, according our preferred speci cations. Respondents answers to questions about what motivated their support and questions about their connections to Alaska indicate that support for the expansion is driven by passive use values.

Keywords: National Parks; willingness-to-pay; nature conservation; contingent valuation; biodiversity; environmental policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q24 Q28 Q51 Q57 Q58 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-07, Revised 2018-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-env
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http://repec.tulane.edu/RePEc/pdf/tul1707r.pdf Revised Version, March 2018 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tul:wpaper:1707

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