When economists turned to applied benefit-cost analysis in the 1930s and 1940s, they adopted prices as indicators of benefits. This was consistent with both neoclassical economics (in which prices are marginal values) and institutional economics (which favored a plausible market mechanism to...

The National Park Service and other agencies have argued that our recreation lands face a crisis of deferred maintenance. This paper evaluates two proposals for funding public lands, increasing gate fees and taxing recreational gear. It analyzes the joint welfare effects of such taxes and the...

The National Park Service and other agencies have argued that our recreation lands face a crisis of deferred maintenance. This paper evaluates two proposals for funding public lands, increasing gate fees and taxing recreational gear. It analyzes the joint welfare effects of such taxes and the...