ABSTRACT
Every human activity affects the environment in some way or another. The consequences may sometimes be negligible, but many activities result in significant environmental effects. Economists have developed methods that try to estimate at least some of the benefits of an improved environmental quality in quantitative terms. A number of empirical studies have been carried out in Lithuania, Poland and Sweden in order to obtain some information on the size of the benefits of a reduced eutrophication. Sandström has employed the travel cost method (TCM) for estimating recreational benefits from an improved water quality along the Swedish Baltic Sea coast. Both contingent valuation method (CVM) and travel-cost studies were launched in Poland and Sweden. A TCM study was also carried out in Sweden. It was based on a model of people's choice between recreational sites along the Swedish coast. Data on recreational behaviour were obtained from interviews with Swedes about their travel behaviour.
