| By: |
Anna Bartczak (Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw; Warsaw Ecological Economics Center) |
| Abstract: |
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of an individual trait
of altruism on social preferences and hence willingness to pay (WTP) for
changes in forest management strategies in the Białowieża Forest in Poland. We
used data from a discrete choice experiment (CE), where attributes described
changes in the quality of the forest and recreation and were framed to capture
the respondents’ non-use and use motivations. Patterns in the individual
differences in altruistic behavior were elicited using a self-reported
questionnaire developed by Rushton et al. (1981) concerning the frequency of
an engagement in different altruistic behaviors. The application of the choice
experiment technique allowed for the disentangling of the effect of a trait of
altruism with regard to different attributes and their levels. The
parameterization we employed in the survey was a WTP-space model (Train and
Weeks 2005). Results show that the level of altruism has a significant effect
on the valuation of restrictions in the forest visitor numbers; however, the
altruism influence on the existence and bequest value from improving nature
preservation depends on the current status of the forest. |
| Keywords: |
altruism, Choice Experiment, forest naturalness, number of visitors, use and non-use value, WTP-space model |
| JEL: |
Q23 Q51 Q56 Q57 |
| Date: |
2013 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:war:wpaper:2013-20&r=tur |