Estimation of Visitors' Willingness to Pay for the Conservation of Philippine Biodiversity and Improvements in the Services of Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center

Date

6-2018

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Economics

College

College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Adviser/Committee Chair

Dr. Asa Jose U. Sajise

Abstract

Many protected areas, like the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center (NAPWC), were established because of the alarming status of our biodiversity. The NAPWC has relied on its collection of entrance fees, parking fees, and fees for the use of facilities to conserve biodiversity and enhance the services of the park. Apart from these, NAPWC will soon be opening a Philippine biodiversity museum for the public wherein a separate entrance fee is planned to be implemented. Hence, the purpose of this study is to determine the factors that affect the value visitors put on the Philippine biodiversity and enhancement in the services of NAPWC and to recommend an appropriate entrance fee for its Philippine biodiversity museum using a single-bound dichotomous choice contingent valuation method. Contingent valuation method (CVM) estimates the value a person places on a good by eliciting his/her willingness to pay (WTP) to obtain a specified good, or willingness to accept (WTA) to give up a good.

The empirical results show that the visitor’s individual income, sex, number of years of schooling, and bid price significantly affect the likelihood of the visitor’s willingness to pay for biodiversity conservation. Furthermore, this study presented four logit regression results to compare the values of the mean willingness to pay which aimed to correct possible hypothetical biases such as protest votes, uncertainty, and both. The results also show that the lowest mean WTP was estimated when uncertainty was corrected. The recommended entrance fee ranges from PhP 95 to PhP 115.

Language

English

LC Subject

Biodiversity -- Philippines, Conservation and restoration, Willingness to Pay

Location

UPLB College of Economics and Management (CEM)

Call Number

LG 993.5 2018 E2 L28

Notes

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Document Type

Thesis

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