A Model for Estimating Values of Recreational Activity Time in Multi-Sites

Abstract

A value of time for recreational activity (VOTA) is an important welfare-based index for evaluating recreational site management projects. Empirical studies on environmental economics calculate VOTAs on a site-by-site basis, thus taking much time and money to implement multi-site valuation research in a region. This paper examined the capacity of the Kuhn–Tucker model (KT) and the repeated discrete choice model (RDC) to value VOTAs at multi-sites. A dataset of recreational activities at 26 beaches in Miyagi prefecture, Japan, was employed for estimation. The results indicated that the models examined in this paper would be able to value VOTAs and that those calculated by the KT and RDC ranged from JPY 0.3861 (USD 0.0033) per minute to JPY 13.5995 (USD 0.1179) per minute and from JPY -0.3057 (-0.0027) per minute to JPY 10.4397 (USD 0.0906) per minute, respectively.