Public preferences for the protection of endangered species (Case Study: sturgeon of the Caspian Sea)

Caspian Sea sturgeons are a valuable economic resource, a rare species and unfortunately endangered. In response to these factors, the present study assesses the preservation value of Caspian Sea sturgeon by applying two-stage Heckman models in order to analysis and compare individual willingness to pay. The sample size was calculated by a simple stochastic sampling method and then all the analyses were performed using information from 358 One-and-One-half-Bound Dichotomous questionnaires. The results show that, although the two-step Hackman method can distinguish the factors affecting a willingness to pay and factors affecting the accepted level of cost. The average value of willingness to pay as based on Heckman‘s two-step approach is 15,311 Rials per month per household. The preservation of annual value use as based on Heckman's two-step approach is 336.8 Million Rials.