1. Suppose that the county you live in, located in Minnesota, is considering building a natural park for recreation and conservation purposes. The area has a large population of moose that would be benefited, but it will also offer recreational spaces for visitors. If the project is successfully completed, the county will receive a federal grant to cover some of the costs as detailed in the table below, in which analysts have monetized the following potential costs and benefits for the expected useful life of the natural park:

	Monetized Value (millions of dollars)
The federal grant for building a natural park	$6
Construction costs	$17
Personnel and maintenance costs	$12
Revenue from county residents paying to use the natural park	$4
Revenue from non-residents paying to use the natural park	$10
County resident value (WTP) from using the natural park	$8
Non-resident value (WTP) from using the natural park	$20
Wildlife conservation group value (WTP), located in California, from protecting moose populations	$5
County residents loss (WTA) from stopping hunting in the area	$3

                       

Assume that the federal grant is only available to the county to create the natural park, the construction costs will have to be done by an out-of-county firm (since no county-based companies have the required construction capabilities), and the personnel and maintenance jobs will be filled by county residents.

1. Assuming national-level standing, what are the net social benefits of the project? Why? 

2. Assuming county-level standing, what are the net social benefits of the project? Why? 

3. Calculate the net benefits from the perspective of a guardian in the county budget office. How does the guardian estimate differ from your calculations in parts a. and b. above? Why? 

4. Calculate the net benefits from the perspective of spender in the county recreation department. How does the spender estimate differ from your calculations in parts a. and b. above? Why? 

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

a To calculate the net social benefits of the project at a national level we need to sum up all the monetized values both positive and negative Net so... View the full answer