Travel Cost Method Considering Trip-day Counts as Integers

Kono, Tatsuhito and Yoshida, Jun (2020): Travel Cost Method Considering Trip-day Counts as Integers.

Abstract

The Travel Cost Method (TCM) is a typical benefit measurement method, using the fact that people substitute the benefit of visiting some sites for their travel cost. However, in the case of tourist sites, travelers do not choose the number of days spent in a tourist city as continuous numbers but integer numbers. We investigate how a bias could arise from ignoring integer numbers of nights in TCM. We derive the formula of what factors constitute the bias. Next, we numerically show that when measuring benefits of improving quality at sites, the maximum bias could be around 20%.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Project Evaluation, Travel cost method, Integer property
• Subjects: Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q2 - Renewable Resources and Conservation > Q26 - Recreational Aspects of Natural Resources; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q56 - Environment and Development ; Environment and Trade ; Sustainability ; Environmental Accounts and Accounting ; Environmental Equity ; Population Growth

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