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Does Tourism Eco-Certification Pay? Costa Rica’s Blue Flag Program

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  • Blackman, Allen
  • Naranjo, María Angélica
  • Robalino, Juan
  • Alpízar, Francisco
  • Rivera, Jorge

Abstract

According to advocates, eco-certification can stem environmental damages from tourism in developing countries. Yet we know little about tourism operators’ economic incentives to get certified. To help fill that gap, we use detailed panel data to analyze the Blue Flag beach certification program in Costa Rica where nature-based tourism has caused significant environmental damage. We use new hotel investment to proxy for private benefits, and fixed effects and propensity score matching to control for self-selection bias. We find that Blue Flag certification spurs significant new hotel investment, particularly in luxury hotels and in economically advantaged communities.

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  • Blackman, Allen & Naranjo, María Angélica & Robalino, Juan & Alpízar, Francisco & Rivera, Jorge, 2014. "Does Tourism Eco-Certification Pay? Costa Rica’s Blue Flag Program," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 41-52.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:58:y:2014:i:c:p:41-52
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2013.12.002
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    2. Francisco J. André & Jorge A. Valenciano-Salazar, 2020. "Becoming Carbon Neutral in Costa Rica to Be More Sustainable: An AHP Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-18, January.
    3. Ki-Hoon Lee & Minwoo Lee & Nuwan Gunarathne, 2019. "Do green awards and certifications matter? Consumers’ perceptions, green behavioral intentions, and economic implications for the hotel industry: A Sri Lankan perspective," Tourism Economics, , vol. 25(4), pages 593-612, June.
    4. Cristina Bernini & Augusto Cerqua, 2020. "Are eco‐labels good for the local economy?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 99(3), pages 645-661, June.
    5. Morgan, Edward A. & Buckwell, Andrew & Guidi, Caterina & Garcia, Beatriz & Rimmer, Lawrence & Cadman, Tim & Mackey, Brendan, 2022. "Capturing multiple forest ecosystem services for just benefit sharing: The Basket of Benefits Approach," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    6. Jorge A. Valenciano-Salazar & Francisco J. André & Mario Soliño, 2021. "Paying for Sustainable Coffee in a Developing Country: Consumers’ Profile in Costa Rica," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-15, August.
    7. Bernini, Cristina & Cerqua, Augusto, 2019. "Do sustainability policies finance local economies?," MPRA Paper 91882, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. S. Capacci & A. E. Scorcu & L. Vici, 2014. "Eco labels and tourism flows: How much is a Blue Flag worth?," Working Papers wp917, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Universita' di Bologna.
    9. Stephan Grapentin & Maureen Ayikoru, 2019. "Destination Assessment and Certification: Challenges and Opportunities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-24, July.
    10. Capacci, Sara & Scorcu, Antonello E. & Vici, Laura, 2015. "Seaside tourism and eco-labels: The economic impact of Blue Flags," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 88-96.
    11. Figen SEVINÇ & Tülay GÜZEL, 2017. "Sustainable Yacht Tourism Practices," Management and Marketing Journal, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 0(1), pages 61-76, May.
    12. Guillaume Gruère, 2015. "An Analysis of the Growth in Environmental Labelling and Information Schemes," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 1-18, March.
    13. Marola, Elena & Schöpfner, Judith & Gallemore, Caleb & Jespersen, Kristjan, 2020. "The bandwidth problem in telecoupled systems governance: Certifying sustainable winemaking in Australia and Chile," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    14. Qubbaj Abdullah & Signes Angel Peiro, 2022. "The Importance of Environmental Certificates for Green Hotel: Bibliometric and Network Analysis," Foundations of Management, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 7-24, January.
    15. Amelia Bilbao-Terol & Celia Bilbao-Terol, 2020. "Measuring the Economic Impact of a Voluntary Sustainable Tourism Certification," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-18, July.
    16. Broad, Robin & Cavanagh, John, 2015. "Poorer Countries and the Environment: Friends or Foes?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 419-431.
    17. Jennifer Kunz & Stephanie May & Holger J. Schmidt, 2020. "Sustainable luxury: current status and perspectives for future research," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(2), pages 541-601, July.
    18. Lucrezi, Serena & Saayman, Melville & Van der Merwe, Peet, 2015. "Managing beaches and beachgoers: Lessons from and for the Blue Flag award," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 211-230.
    19. Litzow, Erin L. & Pattanayak, Subhrendu K. & Thinley, Tshering, 2019. "Returns to rural electrification: Evidence from Bhutan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 75-96.
    20. Hampton, Mark P. & Jeyacheya, Julia, 2015. "Power, Ownership and Tourism in Small Islands: Evidence from Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 481-495.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Costa Rica; eco-certification; propensity score matching; tourism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness
    • Q20 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - General
    • Q26 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Recreational Aspects of Natural Resources
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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