Abstract
Benefits transfer is the application of some model of benefits estimation from one site for which data exists to a completely unrelated site for which no data exists. Researchers recognize the need to address the t feasibility of benefits transfer and the apparent restrictive conditions under which it may be tenable but there is little evidence with which to guide determination of this feasibility. The benefits transfer issue is important because sampling costs are of consideration in research budgets. Issues regarding the magnitude of the data to be collected as well as the geographic scope of the survey area are at issue. Timeliness of reports as inputs to cost-benefit analyses is critical as well. Proper identification of the resource to be valued and identification of the kind of nonmarket value to be estimated are as important when considering benefits transfer as they have been during the genesis of nonmarket valuation procedures. In the present research, conceptual and empirical issues regarding the feasibility of benefits transfer are addressed. In particular, logit estimation of contingent valuation data and estimation of travel cost data using a truncated geometric distribution are used from an identical data set to infer the feasibility of intergeographic and intertemporal benefits transfer. A general case considering a relatively homogeneous group of geographic sites and a single type of recreation experience is addressed in an attempt to establish baseline information for future comparison of the more specialized case involving heterogeneous recreation sites and different types of recreational experiences. In the empirical analysis, the transferability of estimated referendum contingent valuation willingness-to-pay functions and travel cost demand functions across eight Texas Gulf Coast bays is evaluated. Results indicate that recreational saltwater fishing contingent valuation functions are statistically transferable in 64, 61, and 57 percent of the cases compared for the years 1987, 1988, and 1989, respectively. Results also indicate that recreational saltwater fishing travel cost demand functions are statistically transferable in 30,30, and 15 percent of the cases compared for the years 1987, 1988, and 1989, respectively. A final result indicates that similar tests can confirm the presence or absence of structural change across time periods within and across defined geographical areas.
Downing, Mark Eugene (1992). Benefits transfer in nonmarket resource valuation. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -1307079.