Journal of Forest Economics > Vol 38 > Issue 3

Examining Preferences for Forest Ecosystem Services using Partial Profile Choice Experiments

Yasushi Shoji, Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Japan, yshoji@agr.hokudai.ac.jp , Takahiro Tsuge, Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Sophia University, Japan, Takahiro Kubo, Biodiversity Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan, Kohei Imamura, Global and Local Environment Co-creation Institute, Ibaraki University, Japan, Koichi Kuriyama, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Japan
 
Suggested Citation
Yasushi Shoji, Takahiro Tsuge, Takahiro Kubo, Kohei Imamura and Koichi Kuriyama (2023), "Examining Preferences for Forest Ecosystem Services using Partial Profile Choice Experiments", Journal of Forest Economics: Vol. 38: No. 3, pp 235-263. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/112.00000563

Publication Date: 23 Aug 2023
© 2023 Y. Shoji, T. Tsuge, T. Kubo, K. Imamura and K. Kuriyama
 
Subjects
 
Keywords
Forest ecosystem serviceschoice experimentpartial profilepreference heterogeneitymixed logit modellatent class model
 

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In this article:
1. Introduction 
2. Method 
3. Results 
4. Discussion 
5. Further Research 
References 

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the general public’s preferences for forest ecosystem services in Japan using partial profile choice experiments. In cases where the number of attributes being assessed by discrete choice experiment is large, an approach that narrows down the number of attributes is preferable. However, there are certainly situations in which researchers want to value many attributes simultaneously. The method was introduced as a method of adapting discrete choice experiments to handle large numbers of attributes. In this study, we examined the valuation of fifteen forest ecosystem services. The survey was conducted via a website over the period of March 2015. There were 1163 survey respondents who were general citizens from across the country. The results revealed that “Moderation of extreme events” was valued significantly higher than the other attributes. This may be because Japan has naturally steep terrain with a high risk of mudslides and mudflows. “Fresh water,” “Local climate and air quality,” “Carbon sequestration and storage,” “Erosion prevention and maintenance of soil fertility,” “Waste-water treatment,” and “Habitats for species” were also valued highly. Of the seven forest ecosystem services shown above, five were listed regulation services.

DOI:10.1561/112.00000563