If we restore it, will they come? Will they even care? Estimating adult Mississippians' use and non-use value for restoring a culturally and historically significant site in the Mississippi Delta

Author

Kaylee Katherine Wells

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Interis, Matthew G.

Committee Member

Harri, Ardian

Committee Member

Stevens, Andrew W.

Date of Degree

8-9-2019

Original embargo terms

Worldwide

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Agricultural Economics

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Agricultural Economics

Abstract

I estimate the total economic value to Mississippians of restoring and re-using the Alcazar Hotel in Clarksdale, MS using a combined travel cost, contingent behavior, and contingent valuation method based on Eom and Larson's (2006) combined travel cost and contingent valuation method. I find that Mississippians hold a positive average total value of about $23 per person over a three-year visitation period. Using Eom and Larson's (2006) framework, I am able to calculate the use and non-use value of restoration in a theoretically consistent manner and find that the majority of the total value of restoration is non-use value. This finding suggests that the use of non-market valuation methods that require the researcher to assume away non-use value is inappropriate when valuing culturally and historically significant sites.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/14481

Sponsorship

Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area

Recommended Citation

Wells, Kaylee Katherine, "If we restore it, will they come? Will they even care? Estimating adult Mississippians' use and non-use value for restoring a culturally and historically significant site in the Mississippi Delta" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 2573.
https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/td/2573