ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the economic characteristics of outdoor recreation that facilitate the application of economic theory. Generally, economists recognize several ways of attempting to achieve economic efficiency in the allocation of scarce resources. For market goods and services, the mechanism of the market and the prices that result from the free operation of supply-and-demand forces provides one basis for determining value. If one accepts the concept of consumer sovereignty, the logic of economics suggests that consumers allocate their time and money resources among goods and services in a way so as to maximize their satisfaction. Outdoor recreation is but one portion of the consumption bundle for which time and money resources are expended. Attempts to derive empirical estimates of exchange values for outdoor recreation have been significantly complicated by the absence of a formal market-pricing mechanism. The concept of economic demand incorporates the important characteristic of price-responsive quantities demanded by individuals and groups of consumers.
