open_access
Refine
Has Fulltext
- yes (1)
Year of publication
- 2023 (1)
Document Type
- Article (1)
Language
- English (1)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (1)
Keywords
- travel cost (1) (remove)
Institute
Shark incidents are rare and graphic events, and their
consequences can influence the behavior of beach users,
including bathers, to a great extent. These incidents can
be thought of as a fearsome risk that may lead decision
makers to overreact or respond with inaction. This paper
examines the reaction of recreational beach users, includ-
ing bathers, to changes in the risk of shark incidents. In
addition to valuing recreational visits to Durban Beach,
South Africa, we study the reaction of beach visitors to a
hypothetical scenario in which protective shark nets,
deployed in coastal waters to protect bathers, are to be
removed. To examine potential heterogeneity of the treat-
ment effect in a travel cost-contingent behavior model, we
develop a semiparametric multivariate Poisson lognormal
(MPLN) model to jointly analyze observed and stated visit
counts. Results show that removing protective shark nets
at Durban beach would decrease recreational visits by
more than 20%. Applying the semiparametric MPLN
model we further find that both the value of a recreational
visit and the predicted change in visitation rates vary as a
function of whether recreationists usually enter the water,
whether they have heard of previous shark incidents, and
their general risk attitude.