The authors use time-series, cross-section, and panel data sets to see whether U.S. National Park System operating budget appropriations are related to inflation, visitation, size, region of the country, and type of park unit. The growth rate of the aggregate National Park Service (NPS) budget...

This paper uses the theory of club goods to derive efficiency conditions for managing multiple activities in a national park. The park jointly provides recreational activities for visitors and wilderness, a pure public good. The implications for user fees, self-financing of the park, and...

America’s national park system is widely admired, but the economic rationale for national parks is not compelling. The author discusses how market failures of various kinds can, in principle, be used to justify national parks. The best rationale for national parks is based on existence or...