Can the value of the marine environment be measured using the life satisfaction approach? : a Mediterranean case study

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to attempt to provide a valuation of the Mediterranean marine environment using the life satisfaction approach. This is accomplished by the gathering of primary data through a questionnaire with Maltese citizens aged 18 years and over. The average life satisfaction score for the sample is 6.62 out of 10, which indicates that generally Maltese people are fairly satisfied with their lives. Ceteris paribus, the basic regression finds life satisfaction to be significantly impacted by mental health, physical health, age, stable relationship, trust in government, engaging in religious activities and social interaction. When testing the marine exposure variables, only summer residence is significant in determining the variation in life satisfaction suggesting that exposure to marine environment does not significantly impact life satisfaction. The income variable’s lack of significance demonstrates that the marginal willingness to pay in terms of income cannot be determined. It is discovered that, if all other parameters stayed constant, a unit improvement in physical health satisfaction from being in poor health to being in good health would result in a 0.119 rise in life satisfaction of the sample when utilizing physical health instead of income to derive a value using the life satisfaction approach. A summer residence raises the life satisfaction of the sample by 0.264 points, ceteris paribus. It can be concluded that the life satisfaction approach using data coming from Maltese individuals to value the Mediterranean Sea cannot be derived for this sample using individual income and marine exposure variables.