Evaluating the homogeneity of preferences across resident and nonresident elk hunters in Colorado
Date
2016
Authors
Hogan, Patrick J., author
Suter, Jordan, advisor
Loomis, John B., committee member
Manfredo, Michael, committee member
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Abstract
Competition between resident and nonresident elk hunters in Colorado vying for hunting permits has led to much debate about the equitability of the current allocation of permits between the two parties. This study evaluates whether or not resident and nonresident hunters have the same preferences for elk permits, evidenced by application rates. While many studies have examined the reasons why hunters choose this form of recreation, this study goes a step further in examining how these reasons might differ between residents and nonresidents. Because nonresident hunters have greater expenditures per recreation day, analyzing whether or not residents and nonresidents prefer the same hunts will allow for a better understanding of how Colorado Parks and Wildlife could reallocate permits in order to ensure a greater economic impact throughout Colorado. In order to allow for different levels of spatial correlation, two models are estimated with one model for resident applications and one with nonresident applications. Upon finding that there is spatial correlation of OLS residuals, spatial error models are fitted to the resident and nonresident models. With the coefficient estimates and standard errors from the spatial error models, Z-tests are calculated in order to determine if the independent variables have different effects on the respective dependent variables. While many of coefficient estimates calculated in this analysis are not significantly different for residents and nonresidents, illustrating that these two groups of hunters are alike in many ways, there are some differences present between resident and nonresident propensities to apply for specific hunts. Although further analysis would be necessary in order to disentangle the welfare effects of a reallocation of permits, this study does demonstrate that resident and nonresident hunters do not have equal preferences for specific hunt codes.
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Subject
spatial econometrics
recreation economics