Aggregating social benefits of endangered species protection: the case of the Cook Inlet beluga whale ...

The Cook Inlet beluga whale (CIBW) is an endangered whale found in waters off the state of Alaska that is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The federal recovery plan estimates recovery costs will total $73 million (in 2013 dollars). In this study, we use data from a stated preference...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lew, Daniel K.
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: Taylor & Francis 2024
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.26033660
https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Aggregating_social_benefits_of_endangered_species_protection_the_case_of_the_Cook_Inlet_beluga_whale/26033660
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Summary:The Cook Inlet beluga whale (CIBW) is an endangered whale found in waters off the state of Alaska that is protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The federal recovery plan estimates recovery costs will total $73 million (in 2013 dollars). In this study, we use data from a stated preference discrete choice experiment (CE) study to estimate the aggregate benefits of recovering the CIBW and generally for improving its conservation status and reducing extinction risk. Estimated CE models account and test for utility scale heterogeneity, attribute non-attendance, self-selection bias, and demographic effects. Aggregation methods that differ in adjustments made to the mean household welfare and/or to the number of population units are compared by assessing their impact on the resulting aggregate (population-level) welfare estimates. Alaska households are willing to pay between $34 million (95% CI of [$25 million, $44 million]) and $103 million ([$74 million, $131 million]) for full recovery of the CIBW, ...