2025/05/01 by Dylan Hogan, Eyal Frank, Joséphine Gantois +1 · 1 voice
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Environmental Science · #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies #Economic and Environmental Valuation #Species Distribution and Climate Change
paper · doi:10.1257/pandp.20251073
openalex publication_date 2025/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Global action to slow biodiversity loss is critically needed but comes at substantial cost. In this article, we assess the effectiveness of local ballot measures for land-based conservation projects in the United States as a way to increase bird abundance, a key conservation indicator. Using a citizen science dataset of bird observations, we employ an abundance model to estimate relative abundance conditional on observer effort and exploit a sharp discontinuity in land-based conservation funding at the vote threshold to estimate plausibly causal effects. We find that an approved ballot measure has modest but significant impacts that accrue over ten years.