PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Duff, Cameron
AU  - Giguere, Chris
AU  - Murray, Jason
TI  - Smart Device Recreation Data
AID  - 10.3368/le.102.3.011626-0005
DP  - 2026 Mar 11
TA  - Land Economics
PG  - 011626-0005
4099  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/early/2026/03/05/le.102.3.011626-0005.short
4100  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/early/2026/03/05/le.102.3.011626-0005.full
AB  - Human mobility data (MD) from smartphones may offer a scalable alternative to fieldwork for Natural Resource Damage Assessments (NRDAs) and non-market valuation. We test MD's utility for estimating recreational demand changes after a 2019 Houston tank fire. We apply count regressions and zonal travel cost models to calculate welfare losses. While this MD dataset reflects expected temporal patterns, comparisons with reference data reveal that "coverage rates" vary significantly across sites. This measurement error complicates counterfactual predictions. Economists should use caution when deriving absolute recreational value from MD.