Richard G. Walsh

Valuing option, existence, and bequest demands for wilderness.

To assess the relative importance of current costs and future benefits of nuclear waste storage, we develop a simple model of bequest value. The basic model of nonparternalistic altruism is extended to account for the uncertain nature of the externality. ...

Option Value: Empirical Evidence from a Case Study of Recreation and Water Quality

A procedure for measuring option value and other preservation values of water quality is developed and applied to a case study area in the South Platte River Basin, Colorado. Benefits from water-based recreation activities are the focus of the study. The results provide an empirical test and confirmation of Weisbrods proposal that option value and other preservation values represent important social benefits, and should be added to the aggregate consumer surplus of recreation activities to determine the total benefit of environmental amenities to society. In the absence of such an estimate, insufficient resources would be allocated by society to preservation of unique environments such as pristine mountain streams where mineral and energy development may irreversibly degrade water quality.

Effect of distance on the preservation value of water quality

Fiscal equivalence for efficient provision of a public good requires perfect correspondence between political and economic jurisdictions. However, the spatial extent of the economic jurisdiction is an empirical question. Drawing on four survey-based ...

Benefit transfer of outdoor recreation demand studies, 1968–1988

The accumulation of studies on outdoor recreation demand creates an opportunity to apply the growing science of reviewing research for purposes of benefit transfer. The process involves developing an understanding of the variables that explain the observed difference in estimates. This paper illustrates how the results of previous studies could be adjusted to develop some tentative estimates of nonmarket values for future policy analysis. Also, the evaluation of some potentially important variables should help improve statistical analysis and the allocation of resources to new studies. The challenge is to build each subsequent work on the knowledge gained from previous ones. In this experimental phase, there is a need to examine additional variables that might conceivably be more important than those considered in the past.

Estimating the public benefits of protecting forest quality.

Abstract The results of this case study provide an empirical test and confirmation of the hypothesis that the general population is willing to pay for the protection of forest quality. In addition to recreational use, people value the option of having access to forest quality in the future, the knowledge of its existence, and its bequest to future generations. The paper demonstrates how further inquiry into the subject of public benefit could contribute to the problem of measuring the total value of forest quality.

The Consumptive Value Of Travel Time On Recreation Trips

The purpose of this article is to develop and apply a statistical procedure to estimate a demand function for the recreation activity of pleasure driving or sightseeing by car on scenic river highways in the Rocky Mountains. The consumptive value of travel time is related to several variables which can be influenced bypromotional and service programs to improve quality of the driving experience. The article presents new information on demand and benefit to assist the travel industry in the evaluation of programs to expand and enhance Americas scenic road system.

Closely Related Good Prices in the Travel Cost Model

This travel cost demand study included prices for closely related goods such as money and time costs of on-site time, on-site purchases, and other trip activities. A disequilibrium labor market model was estimated. The sample was mainly composed of persons who did not substitute earned income for leisure time. The few persons who had the capability to substitute time for money were excluded from the sample. Consumer surplus was estimated to be

Comparable estimates of the recreational value of rivers

69 per trip using the expanded model. A model using only the conventional travel cost variables resulted in estimated surplus per trip of

Comparison of alternative nonmarket valuation methods for an economic assessment of a public program

45. Copyright 1996, Oxford University Press.

Comparing long-run forecasts of demand for fish and wildlife recreation.

The contingent valuation method (CVM) and travel cost method (TCM), recommended by the federal guidelines, are applied to the problem of estimating recreational benefits in a case study of rivers in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The primary purpose is to assess the validity of the behavioral intentions reported in CVM surveys compared to actual behavior-based TCM analysis. Comparison of the two approaches has been limited by potential measurement problems including variation in the valuation question and model specification. This study evaluates CVM questions asking for both trip and annual values, versus TCM models of the number of trips per participant with and without adjustment for the probability of participation. Based on this case study, we cannot reject the hypothesis that recreation benefits estimated by the alternative methods are equal. Apparently, the ordinary CVM and individual TCM can provide as useful an approximation of the recreational economic welfare effects of river protection as the alternative procedures.