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Estimating willingness to pay in order to prevent external intangible effects of dust in Yazd-Ardakan plain
Fattahi Ardakani, A.
Abstract
Although intangible effects on natural environments
are not visible and only become apparent over a
long period of time, they may cause irreparable damages
whose estimation is not always feasible. However, people’s
willingness to pay (WTP) for the prevention of adverse
environmental effects can be determined. The present study
addresses the issue of the effect of dust in Yazd-Ardakan
Plain. It aims at the valuation of local people’s WTP in
order to prevent extra-regional intangible effects of dust in
Yazd-Ardakan Plain in 2010. The study was based on data
collected from 479 questionnaires completed by people in
the affected area. Factors affecting local people’s WTP and
their expected WTP were estimated by logit regression
model. It was revealed that among the studied variables,
income, education, and environment importance had significant
positive effects, and that household size, type of
residence, and bid had significant negative effects on
people’s WTP. Also, the WTP for the conservation of the
region was estimated as to be 93.4 billion Iranian Rials
(IRR) per year. In other words, it is necessary to invest at
least 93.4 billion IRR to prevent the adverse impacts of
dust on the plain. Given the 183 billion IRR expenditure
for stabilizing sand in the region and the estimated 93.4
billion IRR protection value for the plain, 50 % of
expenses would be paid by people living in the region,
which paves the way for the fulfillment of conservation
programs by experts using public contributions.
Keywords
Willingness to pay; Dust; External effects; WTP; Yazd-Ardakan plain
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