RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Quantifying Recreational Benefits from Fish Consumption Advisories
JF Land Economics
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP 313
OP 338
DO 10.3368/le.102.3.013026-0018
VO 102
IS 3
A1 Wan, Xibo
A1 Ren, Yongwang
A1 Zhang, Ruohao
A1 Zheng, Jiameng
A1 Zhang, Wendong
YR 2026
UL http://le.uwpress.org/content/102/3/313.abstract
AB This article examines the impact of fish consumption advisories on recreational behavior and visitor welfare using large-scale mobility data from Michigan. By integrating cell phone–based location data with a discrete-choice modeling framework, we estimate the causal effects of advisories on recreation site selection and quantify the associated welfare benefits of disclosing risks. Our findings show that advisories significantly deter recreational visits, with an average visitor willing to pay approximately $72 per visit to avoid sites under advisories. We also find that disclosure on advisories led to aggregated welfare benefits of $3.45 million annually, highlighting its broader recreational benefits.