title: Investigating public decisions about protecting wetlands.
abstract: Quantitative analyses of species protection decisions taken by public authorities regularly show that ecological factors, such as the probability of extinction, often play a minor role in the decision-making process. The taxonomy of the species or its potential conflict with economic development is a more powerful factor. This paper presents quantitative empirical research on the protection of wetlands in Austria. Econometrically estimated models show that geographical and ecological factors (such as the size of the area, elevation and importance for biodiversity) play a significant role in the protection of wetlands. Additional influences include conflict variables encoding the negative effects of the primary economic sector (agriculture) or tourism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, University of Klagenfurt, Universitätsstrasse 65-67, A-9020 Klagenfurt, Austria. michael.getzner@uni-klu.ac.at
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Getzner
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D003657:Decision Making; D004777:Environment; D017059:Models, Econometric; D009042:Motivation; D011639:Public Opinion; D011998:Recreation; D014481:United States; D014873:Water Pollutants; D014881:Water Supply
chemical_list: D014873:Water Pollutants