Pooled time‐series cross‐section travel cost models: Testing whether recreation behavior is stable over time

Abstract

An extension of the travel cost method (TCM) from previous reliance on solely cross‐section data to utilization of pooled time‐series cross‐section data is developed and implemented. The extension is illustrated by estimating recreational fishing demand on the North Fork of the Feather River in California. Using this 5‐year data set, a test for structural change in the TCM demand parameters was conducted and the parameters were found to be unstable over the 5‐year period. This indicates that recreation visitation behavior may not be stable over the 5‐year time period. Econometric issues associated with pooling time‐series and cross‐section data are also evaluated. The precision of present value estimates of future benefits is discussed.

Keywords:

• Travel behavior
• travel cost method
• demand
• regression
• economics
• fixed effects
• random effects