Handling excess zeros in count models for recreation demand analysis without apology

Hurdle and zero-inflated models are the two foremost methods used to deal with excess zeros. However, their reliance on the non-participation assumption is a drawback when applied to recreation demand analysis because there is not a theoretical framework convincingly explaining the presence of non-participants. This paper discusses how latent class count models represent a theoretically consistent alternative to handle excess zeros. The theoretical model behind a latent class model does not require the non-participation assumption. Instead, excess zeros are explained as the accumulation of corner solutions from individuals belonging to different classes.