BENEFITS TRANSFER AND COUNT DATA TRAVEL COST MODELS: AN APPLICATION AND TEST OF A VARYING PARAMETER APPROACH WITH GUIDED WHITEWATER RAFTING

We combine currently popular count data methods with earlier work by Vaughan and Russell on varying parameter travel cost models to model trip demand and calculate consumer surplus. We test and reject the hypothesis that per trip consumer surplus from guided rafting is invariant to river characteristics. We then develop and test a series of benefit transfer functions against benefits derived from individual river models. Our findings suggest that this flexible form of count data model offers considerable promise as a benefit transfer function.