Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
Department of Economics, University of Kurdistan
Abstract
At micro level, valuation studies provide access to information concerning the structures and functions of ecosystems and their diverse, complex role in support of human convenience. At macro level, ecosystem valuation can contribute to development and modification of human convenience factors and sustainable development. Expressing the quantitative values of the functions, products, and services of an ecosystem, economic valuation, helps executive, social, and economic planners and administrators to plan the protection and sustainable exploitation of natural resources. The main purpose of economic environment valuation is to enable comparison of environmental protection and socio-economic development for optimal utilization of exceptional resources. Since environmental resources belong to all generations, long-term interests should be preferred to short-term ones. The economic approach to evaluation of environmental changes is based on people’s preference for modifications in their environmental conditions. The term value has a precise definition in economics: the price that individuals are willing to pay for goods or services. The basic economic notions of supply and demand are employed to estimate willingness to pay. In environmental economics, different methods are used to measure environmental values. There are two groups of methods for monetary evaluation of goods: methods that lead to estimation of the demand curve, used to obtain the values of non-market goods and natural resources and those leading to goods prices without estimating the demand curve. Zrebar Lake is a unique tourist attraction of the type, situated three kilometers to the west of Mariwan in Iran’s Kurdistan Province. The purpose of this study was to investigate the visitors’ willingness to pay for the entrance fee to Zrebar Lake. Simple random sampling was used in the research, along with a questionnaire for data collection. The size of a sample needs to be large enough to make it statistically representative. A total of 350 respondents participated in the study, only 307 of whom answered the questionnaire completely. A Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.86 was obtained for the questionnaire, which indicated its proper reliability. The results concerning the probability of willingness to pay indicated that 217 participants (70.68%) would not accept the first offer, being unwilling to pay 5000 Rials of their monthly income to visit Zrebar Lake, while 90 respondents (29.32%) would accept the offer. When a lower fee (1000 Rials) was offered, 36 participants (11.72%) would not accept it, while 181 respondents (58.96%) would. Those who would accept the first offer (5000 Rials) were offered a higher fee of 15000 Rials, 37 of whom (12.06%) would not accept it, while 53 (17.26%) would. A total of 88% of the respondents were willing to pay for a visit. The results obtained from the estimation of the model using logistic regression demonstrated that the variables age, travel expenses, academic degree, family size, income, and level of satisfaction had significant effects on the willingness to pay, whereas the variable payment experience exhibited no significant effect. Another finding of the study was that the entertainment value of Zrebar Lake, represented by the average expected value (WTP), was 5712 Rials per visitor.
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