The Valuation of Grassland Ecosystem Services in Inner Mongolia of China and Its Spatial Differences

Jing Ning, Jianjun Jin, Foyuan Kuang, Xinyu Wan, Chenyang Zhang and Tong Guan
Additional contact information
Jing Ning: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology (ESPRE), Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Jianjun Jin: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology (ESPRE), Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Foyuan Kuang: School of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Xinyu Wan: School of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Chenyang Zhang: School of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
Tong Guan: School of Natural Resources, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 24, 1-14

Abstract: Economic valuation of grassland ecosystem services is important for protecting and restoring grassland ecosystems. This study aims to investigate Chinese netizens’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) for protecting grassland ecosystem services in Inner Mongolia by using the contingent valuation method. The results indicate that 61.55% of respondents expressed a positive WTP. The mean WTP was estimated to be CNY 170.76 (USD 25.11) per person per year. We found that there is a significant spatial difference in respondent’s WTP. Factors such as respondent age, education, household income and concern about grassland protection significantly affected their WTP. Younger, more educated and wealthier respondents have a higher probability of willingness to pay, and those who are concerned about grassland protection present a higher WTP. The regression results also show that distance from the grassland negatively affects the probability and values of people’s WTP. Findings of this research provide useful policy implications for decision-makers involved in grassland protection and management.

Keywords: grassland; ecosystem services; contingent valuation method; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/24/7117/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/24/7117/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:24:p:7117-:d:297032

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().