This is a brief description of studies that exemplify the methods and approaches that have been developed and used by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) researchers in conducting integrated assessments. See the complete list of Integrated Assessment Briefs to find out more about ORNL's efforts in integrated assessment. Contact Mike Farrell (farrellmp@ornl.gov) for more information.

Estimating Visitor Use-Value of the University of Tennessee Arboretum

The estimated demand curve is shown for group visits to the University of Tennessee Arboretum.

Many studies have estimated demand for visits to recreation sites. Can an estimate of visitor use-value be obtained from interface surveys at arboreta? How might consumer use-value be estimated? What might the consumer use-value be for this nonmarket resource service? Does this value derived represent the entire value of the arboretum?

The data was collected from interface surveys of visitors at the University of Tennessee Research Arboretum. A recreation demand curve was estimated using truncated regression. The estimated demand curve represented annual visits to the arboretum per group.

It shows the predicted number of visits per group when total travel cost is allowed to vary, holding income constant at its means. The price elasticity of demand for visits per group is estimated to be -0.35, which is equal to the estimated coefficient parameter for total travel costs when the functional form estimated is log-linear. Per group consumer surplus was estimated to be $352.47. This amount was divided by the mean number of group visits per year (6.9) to estimate average consumer surplus per group visit of $51.08.

From the survey, average group size was 2.5 persons, yielding a consumer surplus estimate of $20.43 per visit. An estimate of total visitor use-value for the arboretum of $355,433 per year was obtained.

Downing, M. and R. K. Roberts. 1991. Estimating visitor use-value of arboreta: The case of the University of Tennessee Arboretum. Journal of Environmental Horticulture 9(4):207- 210.

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Integrated Assessment Briefs. 1995. ORNL/M-4227. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.