title: Valuing the commons: An international study on the recreational benefits of the Baltic Sea.
abstract: The Baltic Sea provides benefits to all of the nine nations along its coastline, with some 85 million people living within the catchment area. Achieving improvements in water quality requires international cooperation. The likelihood of effective cooperation is known to depend on the distribution across countries of the benefits and costs of actions needed to improve water quality. In this paper, we estimate the benefits associated with recreational use of the Baltic Sea in current environmental conditions using a travel cost approach, based on data from a large, standardized survey of households in each of the 9 Baltic Sea states. Both the probability of engaging in recreation (participation) and the number of visits people make are modeled. A large variation in the number of trips and the extent of participation is found, along with large differences in current annual economic benefits from Baltic Sea recreation. The total annual recreation benefits are close to 15 billion EUR. Under a water quality improvement scenario, the proportional increases in benefits range from 7 to 18% of the current annual benefits across countries. Depending on how the costs of actions are distributed, this could imply difficulties in achieving more international cooperation to achieve such improvements.
authors.affiliation: University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Dluga 44/50, 00241 Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: miq@wne.uw.edu.pl.
authors.forename: Mikołaj
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Czajkowski
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Institute Finland, Latokartanonkaari 9, 00790 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Heini
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ahtiainen
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Institute Finland, Latokartanonkaari 9, 00790 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Janne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Artell
authors.affiliation: University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Dluga 44/50, 00241 Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Wiktor
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Budziński
authors.affiliation: Environmental Social Science Group, Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
authors.forename: Berit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hasler
authors.affiliation: Enveco Environmental Economics Consultancy, Måsholmstorget 3, SE127 48 Skärholmen, Sweden.
authors.forename: Linus
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hasselström
authors.affiliation: Institute for Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, Technische Universitat Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meyerhoff
authors.affiliation: Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Centre, Lai str 34, 10133 Tallinn, Estonia.
authors.forename: Tea
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nõmmann
authors.affiliation: Center for Environmental Policy, Juozapavičiaus Str. 6/2, Building D, LT09310 Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Daiva
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Semeniene
authors.affiliation: Enveco Environmental Economics Consultancy, Måsholmstorget 3, SE127 48 Skärholmen, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Söderqvist
authors.affiliation: Stockholm Environment Institute Tallinn Centre, Lai str 34, 10133 Tallinn, Estonia.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tuhkanen
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Institute Finland, Latokartanonkaari 9, 00790 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Tuija
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lankia
authors.affiliation: Baltic International Centre for Economic Policy Studies, Strēlnieku iela 4a, LV1010 Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Alf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vanags
authors.affiliation: Environmental Social Science Group, Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zandersen
authors.affiliation: University of Warsaw, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Dluga 44/50, 00241 Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Żylicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Sustainable Development, University of St Andrews, Irvine Building, North Street, KY16 9AL, Fife, St Andrews, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hanley
mesh_terms: D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D001454:Baltic States; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000191:economics*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D011998:Recreation / Q000191:economics*; D014195:Travel / Q000191:economics*; D060753:Water Quality / Q000592:standards*
keywords: International public good; Recreational value; The Baltic Sea; Travel cost method