Estimating ecological damage caused by green tides in the Yellow Sea: A choice experiment approach incorporating extended theory of planned behavior

Abstract

The green tide, which has been a major marine disaster in the coastal areas of the Yellow Sea, severely damages oceanic ecological balance, marine environment and recreation function. This study employed a choice experiment (CE) to investigate the public willingness to pay (WTP) for the governance of green tides and to determine whether socioeconomic factors and psychometric measures of environmental attitudes can explain the differences in the individual's preferences and values regarding the governance of green tides. The theory of planned behavior (TPB) and some additional concepts (moral attitudes and environmental concerns) are employed to empirically measure constructs that predict the stated choices. The analysis is based on the primary data from 298 samples collected in Jiaozhou bay in 2018. The results demonstrate a significant preference heterogeneity among the Jiaozhou Bay population for the ecological attributes of restoration. The incorporation of socioeconomic as well as latent psychological factors from the TPB contributes to enhancing the understanding of why some individuals value ecosystem services while others do not. Based on the results from the random parameter logit (RPL) models, the average willingness to pay per respondent household in Jiaozhou Bay was 214.56 China Yuan (CNY) each year for green-tide ecological restoration. The study results provided important evidence regarding the valuation of ecological and recreational damage caused by green tides and supported the inclusion of new constructs in the TPB, which has improved the predictive power of the proposed choice model in determining the respondents' intention to pay for the improvement of ecological services.