Time and the Recreational Demand Model

Abstract

In this paper, a theoretically consistent approach to including time costs in recreational demand models is developed. The demand model is conditional on the recreationist's labor market situation. For individuals at corner solutions in the labor market, utility maximization is subject to two constraints, leading to a demand function with travel costs and travel time as independent variables. With interior solutions in the labor market, time is valued at the wage rate and combined with travel costs to produce one “full cost” variable. In an illustration, welfare measures based on the new model are estimated for a sample of sportfishermen.

Demand response to improved walking infrastructure: A study into the economics of walking and health behaviour change

“…An increasing proportion of the population being overweight or obese in most Western 2 societies is leading to a significant burden on society and contributing to the rise of 3 conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer (James et al, 2004; WHO, 4 2011). Physical activity levels are on the decline in Northern Ireland, as in other countries, 5 including England, (Farrell et al, 2013, SportNI, 2010, with 60% of the local adult population 6 not meeting the recommended levels of activity (DHSSPS, 2011).…”

“…23 Walking is the most common form of moderate-intensity physical activity among adults 1 (Siegel et al, 1995;Eyler et al, 2003;Ogilvie et al, 2007;Sport NI, 2010), is widely accessible 2 and especially appealing to obese people, who are less likely to perform vigorous-intensity 3 physical activity (Erlichman et al, 2002). It is an aerobic exercise that confers the diverse 4 health benefits of physical activity with few adverse effects (Morris and Hardman, 1997). 5 Several studies have confirmed that walking reduces the development of cardiovascular Many factors influence or facilitate the choice to walk for either travel or recreational 10 purposes, including the availability of footpaths, the attractiveness of the route (e.g.…”

“…This paper aims to quantify such benefits in monetary terms 3 and to answer the following questions. What is the monetary value and the demand for 4 walking in an individual's neighbourhood? How are these monetary benefits and demand 5 affected by the characteristics of the neighbourhood, and by its improvements?…”

“…Several studies have successfully modelled the economics of walking, spanning the well 22 developed disciplines of outdoor recreation (see Burt and Brewer, 1971, McConnell and 23 Strand, 1981, Herriges and Kling, 1999), active transportation (see Button, 2010), and health 24 related physical activity (Humphreys andRuseski, 2007 and 4 conducted a cost-benefit analysis of walking and cycling track networks in three Norwegian 5 cities taking into account insecurity, health effects and external costs of motorized traffic. 6 The health-economic benefits from both walking and cycling varied considerably between 7 the three cities and ranged between US$16million and US$258million.…”

“…22 Other studies have used the hedonic price method, focussing on "walkability" -the quality prices in more walkable neighbourhoods are about US$4,000 -US$34,000 higher than 3 houses located in areas with average levels of walkability. 4 Although the economics of walking may have been relatively overlooked by health 5 economists, it has been extensively investigated in transportation economics and the 6 economics of outdoor recreation. The transportation literature has most commonly used a 7 value of time trade-off method to compare different transportation modes including 8 walking (see Beesley, 1965;Wardman, 1998;Small and Verhoef, 2007).…”