The importance of sample discrimination in using the travel cost method to estimate the benefits of improved water quality

• Published in: Land economics Vol. 60; no. 4; pp. 397 - 403
• Main Authors: Ribaudo, M.O, Epp, D.J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago University of Wisconsin Press 01-11-1984
• Subjects: Automobiles; CALIDAD DEL AGUA; Cost; Cost estimates; Demand curves; Economic benefits; Economic theory; Environmental accounting; Estimation methods; Land economics; QUALITE DE L'EAU; Recreation; RECURSOS; Regression analysis; RESOURCES; RESSOURCE; Sandbars; Studies; Travel; Travel expenses; Travel time; VERMONT; Water pollution; WATER QUALITY
• ISSN: 0023-7639; 1543-8325
• DOI: 10.2307/3145716

Attention is focused on the importance of sample discrimination in using the travel cost method to estimate the benefits of improved water quality after the quality of the recreation site has become degraded by pollution to the extent that many recreationists have shifted their water recreation to alternative sites. A problem arises in devising a sampling strategy that ensures that both current and former users are included in the survey, for there is no a priori reason to assume that those who continue to use the site and those who leave will receive the same benefits if the water quality is improved. An application of the travel cost technique with emphasis on surveying current and former users was made at St. Albans Bay on Lake Champlain in Vermont. Over the past 10-15 years, the bay has become increasingly polluted. There are several alternative sites near St. Albans Bay; interviews were conducted there, at the alternative sites, and on the open lake itself during the summer of 1982. The estimated benefits for each group are found to be significantly different from each other. The results also support both the sampling method used and the application of the travel cost model.