ECONOMIC POLICY ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH BEACH RENOURISHMENT |
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| Authors: | Frederick W. Bell |
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| Affiliation: | FREDERICK W. BELL is a Professor of Economics at Florida State University. He has done research work for the National Commission on Water Quality and was also Chief of Economic Research for the National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Department of Commerce. He has taught at Wayne State University, Clark University and the University of Maryland. His articles on natural resources and the environment have appeared in the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy;, and Journal of Environmental Economics and Management. |
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| Abstract: | Coastal beaches are a source of considerable recreational activity, but are also eroding at a rapid rate. Since beach resources are common property, there is no organized market to determine economic benefits from recreational use. Through a willingness to pay equation for beach use, this article demonstrates how proposed beach renourishment policy can be evaluated within a benefit-cost analysis framework. Benefits are estimated as the incremental willingness to pay per day for a larger beach width which is translated into annualized benefits. Annualize cost of achieving maximum benefits are calculated from a cost function. Given the existing cost of beach renourishment, it was found that all beaches in Florida that are overcrowded (i.e., had less than 112 square feet per person/day) could be renourished at a benefit-cost ratio greater than unity. In Florida, beach renourishment policy for overcrowded beaches yields more economic benefits than costs. However, this technique does not lend itself to policy analyses of uncrowded beaches that are undergoing considerable erosion. |
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