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Do entrance fees crowd out donations for public goods? Evidence from a protected area in Costa Rica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 June 2014

Francisco Alpízar
Affiliation:
Environment for Development (EfD) Center for Central America, CATIE, 7170 Turrialba, Costa Rica. Tel: (506) 2558-2215. Fax: (506) 2558-2625. E-mail: falpizar@catie.ac.cr
Peter Martinsson
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. E-mail: peter.martinsson@economics.gu.se
Anna Nordén
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Gothenburg, and Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science, Lund University, Sweden. E-mail: anna.norden@economics.gu.se

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate how different levels of entrance fees affect donations for a public good, a natural park. To explore this issue, we conducted a stated preference study focusing on visitors' preferences for donating money to raise funds for a protected area in Costa Rica given different entrance fee levels. The results reveal that there is incomplete crowding out of donations when establishing an entrance fee.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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