The Value of Beach Conditions Information

Daniel Petrolia, Jerrod Penn, Ruth Quainoo, Rex H. Caffey and J. Matthew Fannin

No 285022, Working Papers from Mississippi State University, Department of Agricultural Economics

Abstract: We estimate the value of beach conditions information in the hands of the public prior to taking beach trips. We designed and administered a contingent-valuation survey to the beach-going population of the five U.S. Gulf Coast states that features a region-wide beach conditions monitoring system currently proposed by the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System (GCOOS). We also test two hypothetical-bias mitigation strategies: a "budget and substitutes Q&A" treatment, and a "cheap talk Q&A" treatment. To preview our results, we find that although respondents perceive that such a service would be beneficial, many perceive that the information provided is already available elsewhere, and so the proportion of respondents willing to pay for access to the service is quite low. Nevertheless, we estimate that the aggregate value of the benefits associated with the service would still exceed the estimated cost of provision.

Keywords: Environmental Economics and Policy; Resource/Energy Economics and Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 41
Date: 2019-03-15
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:misswp:285022

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.285022

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