jaue2021-021: Public willingness to pay for the protection of Qingdao beach environment

Abstract

In this paper, the double-bounded conditional valuation method was used to estimate the willingness to pay（WTP） for beach protection in Qingdao. A total of 728 samples were obtained through an online questionnaire. There were 525 valid samples, of which 203 were protest samples. The calculation results show that the willingness to pay of households in Qingdao is about 287.10 yuan/year. Also, the factors affecting WTP are discussed. Men with higher education, higher income, more concern about the environment, and having elderly and children at home tend to be more willing to spend money. Also, residents' concerns about the beach environment and access to beach environmental knowledge were collected. This study concluded that more community outreach, more beach environmental protection outreach, more government subsidies, and more related policies could help increase the public's willingness to pay for beach management and public participation in environmental protection.