Preference Heterogeneity and Economic Valuation of Ecosystem Conservation Programs in Yunnan Province, China

Abstract

The purpose of this study is the evaluation of ecosystems of Mount Cangshan and Lake Erhai in Yunnan Province, China. A choice experiment was applied to elicit marginal willingness to pay for a wetland restoration eco-compensation program and expansion of core zones in protected areas. A mixed logit model and a latent class model were applied to test preference heterogeneity. Consequently, those estimation results demonstrated significant improvement in the goodness-of-fit and preference variance of the expansion of core zones of Lake Erhai.