Working Papers

The WNE Working Papers series has been published by the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw since 2008.

The WNE Working Papers series provides a fast, open channel for disseminating research conducted at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw. The papers hosted here are working versions (pre-prints) and may evolve as authors refine their analyses, incorporate feedback, or progress through formal peer-review. What you read is the current version released by the authors, timestamped and assigned DOI/ISSN identifiers to ensure precise citation and version tracking. Copyright remains with the authors, who may, at any time, upload a revised file or add a note directing readers to a later, peer-reviewed publication.

The Working Papers series accepts articles by research employees of the Faculty and publications from conferences organised at the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw. Articles should be original research papers which have not been previously published, on the subject of economics.

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Number of Results 5

WP(25/2026)519. Biodiversity-oriented forest management aligns with societal preferences across Europe

Authors: Giergiczny Marek, Jacobsen Jette Bredahl, Glenk Klaus, Meyerhoff Jürgen, Abildtrup Jens, Taye Fitalew Agimass, Budziński Wiktor, Czajkowski Mikołaj, Draus Borys, Faccioli Michela, Gajderowicz Tomasz, Getzner Michael, Hackbarth Tom X., Janiec Piotr, Lundhede Thomas, Mayer Marius, McVittie Alistair, Oh Rachel, Olschewski Roland, Pereira Henrique M., Quaas Martin, Socha Jarosław, Strange Niels, Ščasný Milan, Valasiuk Sviataslau, Wasiak Adam, Fernández Néstor
Forests across Europe are undergoing rapid transformation as biodiversity loss and climate change reshape priorities for forest management. Strategies that promote biodiverse and structurally complex forests are increasingly advocated to enhance ecol…

WP519. Biodiversity-oriented forest management aligns with societal preferences across Europe

Forests across Europe are undergoing rapid transformation as biodiversity loss and climate change reshape priorities for forest management. Strategies that promote biodiverse and structurally complex forests are increasingly advocated to enhance ecological resilience, yet they are often assumed to conflict with societal preferences, potentially limiting public support for conservation and restoration. We examined whether forest characteristics associated with biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation are consistently valued by society across Europe. We combined a visual discrete choice experiment involving 11,622 respondents from twelve European countries with a travel cost model to evaluate whether stated societal preferences were reflected in observed recreational behaviour. We then integrated harmonized preference estimates with continental forest inventory and remote-sensing data to map the spatial distribution of societal values associated with forest ecosystem condition. Across all countries, respondents consistently preferred forests characterized by taller canopies, greater tree-species richness, heterogeneous age structures, and more deadwood. These preferences closely aligned with observed visitation behaviour despite substantial differences in geography, accessibility, and recreational traditions. Spatial analyses further showed that forests with greater structural complexity consistently exhibited higher societal value. Our findings demonstrate that biodiversity-oriented forest management and societal values largely converge across Europe, suggesting that many interventions promoting ecological resilience can simultaneously strengthen public support for forest conservation and restoration, providing a stronger foundation for adaptive, multifunctional forest governance under global environmental change.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.33138/2957-0506.2026.25.519
Giergiczny Marek, Jacobsen Jette Bredahl, Glenk Klaus, Meyerhoff Jürgen, Abildtrup Jens, Taye Fitalew Agimass, Budziński Wiktor, Czajkowski Mikołaj, Draus Borys, Faccioli Michela, Gajderowicz Tomasz, Getzner Michael, Hackbarth Tom X., Janiec Piotr, Lundhede Thomas, Mayer Marius, McVittie Alistair, Oh Rachel, Olschewski Roland, Pereira Henrique M., Quaas Martin, Socha Jarosław, Strange Niels, Ščasný Milan, Valasiuk Sviataslau, Wasiak Adam, Fernández Néstor
biodiversity conservation forest management structural complexity forest recreation ecosystem services discrete choice experiment travel cost method

WP(17/2016)208. Using geographically weighted choice models to account for spatial heterogeneity of preferences

Authors: Budziński Wiktor, Campbell Danny, Czajkowski Mikołaj, Demšar Urška, Hanley Nick
In this paper we investigate the prospects of using geographically weighted choice models for modelling of spatially clustered preferences. The data used in this study comes from a discrete choice experiment survey regarding public preferences for th…

WP208. Using geographically weighted choice models to account for spatial heterogeneity of preferences

In this paper we investigate the prospects of using geographically weighted choice models for modelling of spatially clustered preferences. The data used in this study comes from a discrete choice experiment survey regarding public preferences for the implementation of a new country-wide forest management and protection program in Poland. We combine it with high-resolution geographical information system data related to local forest characteristics. Using locally estimated discrete choice models we obtain location-specific estimates of willingness to pay (WTP). Variation in these estimates is explained by the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents and characteristics of the forests in their place of residence. The results are compared with those obtained from a more typical, two stage procedure which uses Bayesian posterior means of the mixed logit model random parameters to calculate individual-specific estimates of WTP. The latter approach, although easier to implement and more common in the literature, does not explicitly assume any spatial relationship between individuals. In contrast, the geographically weighted approach differs in this aspect and can provide additional insight on spatial patterns of individuals’ preferences. Our study shows that although the geographically weighted discrete choice models have some advantages, it is not without drawbacks, such as the difficulty and subjectivity in choosing an appropriate bandwidth. We find a number of notable differences in WTP estimates and their spatial distributions. At the current level of development of the two techniques, we find mixed evidence on which approach gives the better results.


Budziński Wiktor, Campbell Danny, Czajkowski Mikołaj, Demšar Urška, Hanley Nick
discrete choice experiment contingent valuation willingness to pay spatial heterogeneity of preferences forest management passive protection litter tourist infrastructure mixed logit geographically weighted model weighted maximum likelihood local maximum likelihood

WP(30/2015)178. Choice experiment assessment of public preferences for forest structural attributes

Authors: Giergiczny Marek, Czajkowski Mikołaj, Żylicz Tomasz, Angelstam Per
The objectives of forest policy have been broadened from tangible products, such as wood and fiber, to ecosystem services. This broadening emphasizes the need to also estimate the value of biodiversity and the social benefits of tourism and recreatio…

WP178. Choice experiment assessment of public preferences for forest structural attributes

The objectives of forest policy have been broadened from tangible products, such as wood and fiber, to ecosystem services. This broadening emphasizes the need to also estimate the value of biodiversity and the social benefits of tourism and recreation. While research on the species’ requirements has a long history, the issue of which habitat humans select to engage in tourism and recreation lags behind. In both cases, a major challenge is to consider the complete range of forest structure from a managed to a natural dynamic. Combining the approach used in landscape research with non-market valuation techniques, the aim of this study is to document human habitat selection for recreational purposes in a gradient of forest naturalness. The results indicate that respondents prefer older stands with vertical layering, irregularly spaced trees and a greater number of tree species. Our study thus indicates that forests that are managed (or left unmanaged) for biodiversity purposes are also likely to be attractive to humans. To conclude, while greater management intensity was associated with higher disutility regardless of the model employed, we do not perceive a risk of conflict between forest management designed to protect biodiversity and management targeting recreational value. Consequently, there is a need for spatially differentiated forest management that discriminates among different functions. The state ownership of all larger Polish forest massifs makes this zoning approach feasible.


Giergiczny Marek, Czajkowski Mikołaj, Żylicz Tomasz, Angelstam Per
social preferences forest characteristics forest management discrete choice experiment multifunctional forestry

WP(6/2015)154. Spatial heterogeneity of willingness to pay for forest management

Authors: Czajkowski Mikołaj, Budziński Wiktor, Campbell Danny, Giergiczny Marek, Hanley Nick
The paper investigates spatial heterogeneity of the public’s preferences for the implementation of a new country-wide forest management and protection program in Poland. Spatial econometric methods and high resolution geographical information s…

WP154. Spatial heterogeneity of willingness to pay for forest management

The paper investigates spatial heterogeneity of the public’s preferences for the implementation of a new country-wide forest management and protection program in Poland. Spatial econometric methods and high resolution geographical information system (GIS) data related to forest characteristics are used to explain individual-specific willingness to pay (WTP) values, derived from a discrete choice experiment (DCE) study. We find that respondents’ WTP is higher the closer they live to their nearest forest, and the scarcer forests are in the area where they live. Interestingly, the more highly ecologically valuable forests in respondents’ area, the more they prefer extending areas of national forest protection. In addition, we investigate spatial patterns in individual-specific WTP scores and in latent class membership probabilities, finding that preferences are indeed spatially clustered. We argue that this clustering should be taken into account in both benefits analysis and policy-making.


Czajkowski Mikołaj, Budziński Wiktor, Campbell Danny, Giergiczny Marek, Hanley Nick
discrete choice experiment contingent valuation willingness to pay spatial heterogeneity of preferences forest management passive protection litter tourist infrastructure mixed logit Kriging spatial-lag

WP(8/2012)74. Learning and Fatigue Effects Revisited. The Impact of Accounting for Unobservable Preference and Scale Heterogeneity on Perceived Ordering Effects in Multiple Choice Task Discrete Choice Experiments

Authors: Czajkowski Mikołaj, Giergiczny Marek, Greene William H.
Using multiple choice tasks per respondent in discrete choice experiment studies increase the amount of available information. However, treating repeated choice data in the same way as cross-sectional data may lead to biased estimates. In particular,…

WP74. Learning and Fatigue Effects Revisited. The Impact of Accounting for Unobservable Preference and Scale Heterogeneity on Perceived Ordering Effects in Multiple Choice Task Discrete Choice Experiments

Using multiple choice tasks per respondent in discrete choice experiment studies increase the amount of available information. However, treating repeated choice data in the same way as cross-sectional data may lead to biased estimates. In particular, respondents' learning and fatigue may lead to changes in observed utility function preference (taste) parameters, as well as its error term variance (scale). Substantial body of empirical research offers mixed evidence in terms of whether (and which) of these ordering effects are observed. In this study we point to a significant component in explaining these differences - we show how accounting for unobservable preference and scale heterogeneity can influence the magnitude of observed ordering effects, especially if combined with too few choice tasks used for the analysis. We do this by utilizing the state-of-the-art modeling methods (H-MNL, S-MNL, H-RPL, G-MNL) which we modify to accommodate choice task specific scale parameter. In addition, we investigate possible bias resulting from not accounting for ordering effects. Our empirical study was based in the context of environmental protection - management changes in the protection of Polish forests.


Czajkowski Mikołaj, Giergiczny Marek, Greene William H.
ordering effects learning fatigue preference and scale heterogeneity forest management recreation biodiversity
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