WILDLIFE RECOVERY - IS BENEFIT-COST-ANALYSIS APPROPRIATE

Benefit-cost analysis is likely to play an increasingly important role in decision-making about the recovery and protection of endangered wildlife species. However, the contingent valuation survey results presented in this paper suggest that benefit estimates are very sensitive to the method of aggregation and to whether or not species are evaluated separately or together. Moreover, many survey respondents believed that wildlife should not be valued in dollar terms, and a majority of those who were willing to pay for wildlife recovery exhibited behavior which appears inconsistent with economic theory. We therefore conclude that benefit-cost analysis should generally not be used to make decisions about wildlife recovery programs. © 1991 Academic Press Limited.