Spatial substitution patterns in forest recreation

We combine mixed logit models of recreational choice, including spatially defined substitution effects between sites, with GIS to allow an assessment of the spatial pattern of economic benefits arising from forest policy initiatives. The paper reports on a recreation survey of Danish forest sites. A comparison between a conditional logit and a mixed logit model is made. The results show that the different specifications identify similar preferences for the measured forest attributes. However, the spatial evaluation of the models shows that the mixed logit model captures a larger proportion of the spatial variation of economic benefits from forest policy initiatives. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.