Article
Evaluation of Economic Losses Caused by Yezo Deer Based on Contingent Valuation Method and Cluster Analysis:Proposal of a New System for Mitigating Economic Losses
2016 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 1-19
Details
2016 Volume 46 Issue 1 Pages 1-19
In recent years, the Yezo deer populations in Hokkaido have doubled from the targeted manageable number. Overpopulation has resulted in damage to agricultural crops and volunteer plants. Traffic accidents have also increased. These issues are serious consequences for society and the natural environment. A fundamental causal factor is the extermination of the Hokkaido wolf. Social factors that contribute are the lack of monetary benefits from deer hunting and the older age of hunters. To encourage newcomers, a new system under which hunting has a monetary incentive is needed. However, the effects of Yezo deer culls have not been quantified, especially with respect to mitigation of the economic losses from damage to volunteer plants.
The present study used the Contingent Valuation Method （CVM） to quantify economic losses caused by Yezo deer. The economic losses from Yezo deer grazing on volunteer plants were estimated at approximately 44.7 hundred million yen per year. Social losses （sum of crop damage, volunteer plant damage and traffic accidents） caused by Yezo deer were estimated at approximately 115.3 hundred million yen per year. Furthermore, social losses per Yezo deer were estimated at approximately 19,546 yen per year. Based on these results, a new system for mitigation is proposed for these social and natural environmental issues in Hokkaido.
The authors also propose a methodology that integrates a cluster analysis method and a test of independence to analyze how personal attributes influence willingness to pay （WTP）. To verify the effectiveness of the methodology, an experiment identified two personal attributes having a significant influence on WTP:1） being strongly agreeable to culls of excessive Yezo deer, and 2） considerable concern for environmental issues. The reliability of the awareness survey was quantitatively verified through these findings.
JEL Classification: Q51, Q56
