Testing a meta-analysis model for benefit transfer in international outdoor recreation

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The economic values of outdoor recreation are estimated using a benefit transfer approach in which one applies existing consumer surplus measures to value the resources at a new site. In this article, a benefit transfer study was conducted based on meta-analysis of existing research in outdoor recreation use values of the United States from 1967 to 1998. The meta-analysis method was used to estimate a meta-regression model, resulting in a benefit transfer function that could be applied to estimate a wide range of recreation activity values in other countries. The estimated meta-model was tested using original out-of-sample studies from countries around the world for international benefit transfer purposes. The tests reveal that there is mixed evidence in using meta-analysis of existing studies in outdoor recreation in the United States to value the recreational resources in other countries that are used by tourists. In the best case, 18 correlation coefficients between meta-predicted and out-of-sample values were positive and significant at the 5% level or greater, but nine of the 18 t-tests indicated a significant difference between the two sets of values at the 10% level. However, the absolute average percentage error of the meta-predictions was 28%, which may be acceptable for many benefit transfer applications.