Does nationality matter? The effect of cross-border information on willingness to pay for migratory species conservation

Abstract

Few contingent valuation surveys have studied whether households in one country would be influenced by information on how citizens in another country invest in the same project. This study aims to fill this gap. We estimated the change in Israeli and Polish citizens’ willingness to pay (WTP) to protect the habitat of a trans-border migratory species, the white stork, when given new information. In our study, we randomized split samples with and without information on cooperation. Despite significant WTP for that species, the role of information on cooperation was mixed. Although in Israel, this information increased WTP, in Poland, it did not significantly alter it. Tentative explanations of these mixed behaviors are analyzed using socio-demographic variables.