TARGETING PUBLIC INVESTMENT: AN APPLICATION TO RECREATIONAL PLANNING IN MINNESOTA.

摘要

The major objective of this dissertation is to develop an economic framework and operational model for evaluating investment in publicly supplied outdoor recreation. Most public agencies delegate responsibility for allocating public funds for building various outdoor recreation sites. It is postulated that micro and macro economic analysis would help avoid a poor allocation of resources.; The theoretical presentation of micro-economic analysis includes income-expenditure analysis (IEA) and benefit-cost analysis (BCA). Macro-economic analysis is represented by an Input-Output (I-O) model. This empirical research focuses on: (1) demand and benefit estimation calculated by using a travel cost model (TCM) with user-days as the dependent variable and travel cost, size of household and household income as explanatory variables, and (2) park characteristics and their relationship with investment analyzed by employing a shadow hedonic travel cost model (SHTCM).; The demand estimation, based on TCM using ordinary least squares, is examined under three functional forms: linear, semi-log and log-linear. Regression results indicate that a log-linear model produced more significant parameter estimates and greater explanatory power than the first two functional forms, both with and without travel time in travel cost. The log-linear form produced a larger consumer surplus than the linear function. There is little theoretical guidance, however, to make a choice over which functional form produces the most accurate demand and benefit estimates. Failure to include travel time would substantially underestimate benefits. Use of an actual wage rate for wage earners is proposed to value time, rather than using two-thirds of the minimum wage rate.; Total consumer surplus (willingness to pay) varies from one park to another. The scenic quality and large size of parks generate more benefits than parks with less scenic quality and small size. Estimating total and marginal benefits of each park characteristic could assist the agency in budget allocation and locational decision.