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Protected areas and economic welfare: an impact evaluation of national parks on local workers' wages in Costa Rica

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  • Robalino, Juan
  • Villalobos, Laura

Abstract

The number of protected areas around the world has significantly increased. However, the effects of this policy on the wellbeing of local households are still under debate. Using pre-treatment characteristics and household surveys with highly disaggregated geographic reference, we explore how national parks affect the wages of local workers in Costa Rica. We use matching techniques to control for the endogenous location of parks. We find that parks' effects on wages are, on average, positive and significant, but the magnitudes vary. Wages close to parks are higher for local workers living near tourist entrances. However, there is no robust evidence of positive effects for those close to parks but far away from tourist entrances. With our individual-level data, we also show that the positive effects on local households might not be as large as suggested by previous studies that use aggregated level data containing both local and immigrant households.

Suggested Citation

  • Robalino, Juan & Villalobos, Laura, 2015. "Protected areas and economic welfare: an impact evaluation of national parks on local workers' wages in Costa Rica," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 283-310, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:endeec:v:20:y:2015:i:03:p:283-310_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Miguel Cantillo, 2015. "Dynamic Investment with Adverse Selection and Moral Hazard," Working Papers 201501, Universidad de Costa Rica, revised Mar 2015.
    2. Alexander Pfaff & Juan Robalino, 2017. "Spillovers from Conservation Programs," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 299-315, October.
    3. Reynaert, Mathias & Souza-Rodrigues, Eduardo & van Benthem, Arthur A., 2024. "The environmental impacts of protected area policy," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    4. Laura Villalobos & Juan Robalino & Catalina Sandoval & Francisco Alpízar, 2023. "Local Effects of Payments for Ecosystem Services on Rural Poverty," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 84(3), pages 753-774, March.
    5. Estifanos, Tafesse Kefyalew & Polyakov, Maksym & Pandit, Ram & Hailu, Atakelty & Burton, Michael, 2020. "The impact of protected areas on the rural households’ incomes in Ethiopia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Sims, Katharine R.E. & Alix-Garcia, Jennifer M., 2017. "Parks versus PES: Evaluating direct and incentive-based land conservation in Mexico," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 8-28.
    7. Vélez, Maria Alejandra & Robalino, Juan & Cardenas, Juan Camilo & Paz, Andrea & Pacay, Eduardo, 2020. "Is collective titling enough to protect forests? Evidence from Afro-descendant communities in the Colombian Pacific region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    8. Yergeau, Marie-Eve & Boccanfuso, Dorothée & Goyette, Jonathan, 2017. "Reprint of: Linking conservation and welfare: A theoretical model with application to Nepal," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 229-243.
    9. Juan Robalino & Alexander Pfaff & Laura Villalobos, 2015. "Deforestation spillovers from Costa Rican protected areas," Working Papers 201502, Universidad de Costa Rica, revised Sep 2015.
    10. Mastronardi, Luigi & Cavallo, Aurora & Romagnoli, Luca, 2022. "A novel composite environmental fragility index to analyse Italian ecoregions’ vulnerability," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    11. Yergeau, Marie-Eve, 2020. "Tourism and local welfare: A multilevel analysis in Nepal’s protected areas," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    12. Chidakel, Alexander & Child, Brian & Muyengwa, Shylock, 2021. "Evaluating the economics of park-tourism from the ground-up: Leakage, multiplier effects, and the enabling environment at South Luangwa National Park, Zambia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    13. D’Arco, Mario & Lo Presti, Letizia & Marino, Vittoria & Maggiore, Giulio, 2021. "Is sustainable tourism a goal that came true? The Italian experience of the Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    14. Shang Xu & H. Allen Klaiber & Daniela A. Miteva, 2023. "Impacts of forest conservation on local agricultural labor supply: Evidence from the Indonesian forest moratorium," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(3), pages 940-965, May.
    15. Juan Robalino & Katrina Mullan & Matías Piaggio & Marisol Guzmán, 2023. "Does Green Infrastructure Work? Precipitation, Protected Areas, Floods and Landslides," Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 457-482, November.
    16. Heidi J. Albers, 2022. "Protected Area Network Expansion and Management: Economics to improve conservation outcomes," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 83(4), pages 955-972, December.
    17. Yergeau, Marie-Eve & Boccanfuso, Dorothée & Goyette, Jonathan, 2017. "Linking conservation and welfare: A theoretical model with application to Nepal," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 95-109.
    18. Albers, H. Jo & Campoverde, P. David & King, Bethany & Newbold, Stephen & Sills, Erin & Alais, Lemiani & Bugni, Victoria & Mtenga, Erica, 2022. "Public Good Projects in Ngorongoro Conservation Area: Maasai Women’s Valuation in Terms of Grain," EfD Discussion Paper 22-16, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    19. Albers, H. Jo & Campoverde, P. David & King, Bethany & Sills, Erin & Alais, Lemiani & Kirama, Stephen & Kreinbrink, Victoria & Lokina, Razack & Mtenga, Erica, 2022. "Status and Perspectives of Maasai Women in Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania," EfD Discussion Paper 22-17, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.

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