The Role of Hedonic Pricing in the Analysis of Hunting Lease Fees in International and Domestic Contexts
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17108/ActAgrOvar.2025.66.2.147Keywords:
hunting lease fee, hedonic pricing, game managementAbstract
Landowners, hunting organizations and policymakers have shown growing interest in how hunting lease fees are determined. International research indicates that the hedonic pricing model provides an efficient approach for analysing the determinants of lease fees. This study reviews the theoretical foundations of this model as well as the related methodological considerations, with particular emphasis on its applications in the hunting sector. Available data suggests that lease fees are primarily influenced by the natural characteristics of the area, the size and composition of game populations, contractual conditions, and the market environment. Although findings vary across countries and regions, the main correlations appear to be consistent: the presence of large game species, habitat diversity, and better accessibility are generally associated with higher rental fees. In Hungary, the regulatory environment does not provide standardised guidelines for setting hunting lease fees which frequently results in disputes between the contracting parties. The hedonic pricing approach may therefore offer a scientifically grounded tool for developing a transparent and sustainable pricing system. This study also highlights the need for comprehensive datasets and a unified methodological framework, both of which are essential for reliable domestic studies research. Finally, it outlines directions for further research, including a more detailed examination of the role of game damage, recreational use and market mechanisms in pricing.
References
Abauji, N., Troján, Sz., Vadváriné Gál, É., & Marosán, M. (2024). Factors influencing the leasing fees of hunting grounds in Hungary. BIO Web of Conferences, 125, 01013. https://doi.org/10.1051/bioconf/202412501013
Adhikari, R. K., Poudyal, N. C., Muller, L. I., & Yoest, C. (2022). Hunters’ Willingness to Pay to Avoid Processing Costs Associated with Harvesting Infected Game. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 54(1), 93-113. https://doi.org/10.1017/aae.2021.26
Angulo, A. M., María Gil, J., Gracia, A., & Sánchez, M. (2000). Hedonic prices for Spanish red quality wine. British Food Journal, 102(7), 481-493. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070700010336445
Baen, J. (1997). The Growing Importance and Value Implications of Recreational Hunting Leases to Agricultural Land Investors. Journal of Real Estate Research, 14(3), 399-414. https://doi.org/10.1080/10835547.1997.12090909
Battay, M. B. (2020). Economic valuation of certain property rights related to agricultural land: Identification of the determinants of hunting leases [Doctoral dissertation, Szent István Egyetem].
Benson, D. E. (2001). Wildlife and recreation management on private lands in the United States. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 29(1), 359-371. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3784021
Buller, V. M., Hudson, D., Parkhurst, G., & Whittington, A. (2006). The impact of hunting package attributes on hunting package prices in Mississippi (Research Report No. 2006-01). Mississippi State University, Department of Agricultural Economics.
Casola, W. R., Peterson, M. N., Wu, Y., Sills, E. O., Pease, B. S., & Pacifici, K. (2022). Measuring the value of public hunting land using a hedonic approach. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 27(4), 343-359. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2021.1953196
Chin, T. L., & Chau, K. W. (2003). A critical review of literature on the hedonic price model. International Journal for Housing Science and Its Applications, 27(2), 145-165.
Cordell, H. K., Betz, C. J., Bowker, J. M., English, D. B., Mou, S. H., Bergstrom, J. C., & Loomis, J. B. (1999). Outdoor recreation in American life: A national assessment of demand and supply trends. Sagamore Publishing.
Cropper, M. L., & Oates, W. E. (1992). Environmental economics: A survey. Journal of Economic Literature, 30(2), 675-740. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2727701
Dickson, J. G. (2004). Wildlife and upland oak forests (Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-73, pp. 106-115). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station.
Ekeland, I., Heckman, J. J., & Nesheim, L. (2004). Identification and Estimation of Hedonic Models. Journal of Political Economy, 112(S1), S60–S109. https://doi.org/10.1086/379947
Freeman, A. M. III. (1993). The measurement of environmental and resource values: Theory and methods. Resources for the Future.
Garrod, G., & Willis, K. G. (1999). Economic valuation of the environment: Methods and case studies. Edward Elgar.
Gigliotti, L. M. (2000). A classification scheme to better understand satisfaction of Black Hills deer hunters: The role of harvest success. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 5(1), 32-51. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871200009359171
Gilbert, S. W. (2013). Applying the hedonic method (NIST Technical Note 1811). National Institute of Standards and Technology. https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1811
Gren, I.-M., & Kerr, G. (2022). A Meta-Regression Analysis of Hunters’ Valuations of Recreational Hunting. Sustainability, 15(1), 27. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15010027
Goodwin, B. K., Offenbach, L. A., Cable, T. T., & Cook, P. S. (1993). Discrete/continuous contingent valuation of private hunting access in Kansas. Journal of Environmental Management, 39(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1006/jema.1993.1049
Guynn, D. E., Jr., & Busch, F. A. (1988). Forest industry hunt-lease programs in the southern United States. In Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (Vol. 42, pp. 404-410).
Halvorsen, R., & Palmquist, R. (1980). The interpretation of dummy variables in semi-logarithmic equations. American Economic Review, 70(3), 474-475.
Harris, L. D., Sullivan, R., & Badger, L. (1984). Bottomland hardwoods: Valuable, vanishing, vulnerable. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service. Florida Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
Hussain, A., Munn, I. A., Brashier, J., Jones, W. D., & Henderson, J. E. (2013). Capitalization of Hunting Lease Income into Northern Mississippi Forestland Values. Land Economics, 89(1), 137-153. https://doi.org/10.3368/le.89.1.137
Hussain, A., Munn, I. A., Grado, S. C., West, B. C., Daryl Jones, W., & Jones, J. (2007). Hedonic Analysis of Hunting Lease Revenue and Landowner Willingness to Provide Fee-Access Hunting. Forest Science, 53(4), 493-506. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestscience/53.4.493
Hussain, A., Munn, I. A., Hudson, D., & West, B. (2010). Attribute-based analysis of hunters’ lease preferences. Journal of Environmental Management, 91(12), 2565-2571. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2010.07.004
Hussain, A., Zhang, D., & Armstrong, J. B. (2004). Willingness to pay for hunting leases in Alabama. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry, 28(1), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.1093/sjaf/28.1.21
Király, I., Marosán, M., & Gál, J. (2003). A vadászterületek haszonbérlete. Növényvédelmi tanácsok, 12(5), 33-34.
Kőhalmy, T., & Márkus, L. (1996). Vadászati ökonómia. Soproni Egyetem Kiadvány.
Lancaster, K. J. (1966). A new approach to consumer theory. Journal of Political Economy, 74(2), 132-157. https://doi.org/10.1086/259131
Legarth, J. V., Thorsen, B. J., & Lundhede, T. (2023). Værdisætning af det danske jagtlejemarked. Institut for Fødevare- og Ressourceøkonomi, Københavns Universitet. IFRO Udredning Nr. 2023/28
Legarth, J. V., Thorsen, B. J., & Lundhede, T. H. (2025). Investigating the alignment between stated motivations and revealed preferences for recreational hunting through a hedonic analysis of hunting leases. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2025.2472683
Lerose, C. S., Peterson, M. N., Larson, L. R., Levine, J. F., Casola, W., Boggess, M., Watkins, C., & Fuller, J. (2024). What are hunters willing to pay for chronic wasting disease (CWD) management? A comparison of different contingent valuation approaches. Journal of the Southeastern Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, 11, 67-75.
Little, J. M., & Berrens, R. P. (2008). The Southwestern Market for Big-Game Hunting Permits and Services: A Hedonic Pricing Analysis. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 13(3), 143-157. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871200701883580
Livengood, K. R. (1983). Value of Big Game from Markets for Hunting Leases: The Hedonic Approach. Land Economics, 59(3), 287. https://doi.org/10.2307/3145730
Loomis, J. B., & Fitzhugh, E. L. (1989). Financial returns to California landowners for providing hunting access: Analysis and determinants of returns and implications to wildlife management. In Transactions of the 54th North American Wildlife and Natural Resources Conference (pp. 196-201).
Lozano, J. E., Elofsson, K., Persson, J., & Kjellander, P. (2020). Valuation of Large Carnivores and Regulated Carnivore Hunting. Journal of Forest Economics, 35(4), 337-373. https://doi.org/10.1561/112.00000518
Lozano, J. E., Elofsson, K., & Surry, Y. (2021). Heterogeneous impacts of large carnivores on hunting lease prices. Land Use Policy, 101, 105215. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.105215
Lozano, J. E., Elofsson, K., Surry, Y., & Marbuah, G. (2023). Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Game Harvests in Sweden. Environmental and Resource Economics, 85(2), 385-408. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-023-00770-w
Lundhede, T. H., Jacobsen, J. B., & Jellesmark, B. (2008). A Hedonic Pricing Model for Hunting in Denmark. https://doi.org/10.22004/AG.ECON.198783
Lundhede, T. H., Jacobsen, J. B., & Thorsen, B. J. (2015). A hedonic analysis of the complex hunting experience. Journal of Forest Economics, 21(2), 51-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfe.2015.01.001
Martínez-Jauregui, M., Herruzo, A. C., & Campos, P. (2015). What does hunting market price reflect? The role of species, landscape and management. Wildlife Research, 42(3), 280. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR14206
Martínez-Jauregui, M., Herruzo, A. C., Campos, P., & Soliño, M. (2016). Shedding light on the self-consumption value of recreational hunting in European Mediterranean forests. Forest Policy and Economics, 69, 83-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2016.05.002
Meilby, H., Strange, N., Jellesmark Thorsen, B., & Helles, F. (2006). Determinants of hunting rental prices: A hedonic analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, 21(1), 63-72. https://doi.org/10.1080/02827580500463813
Mensah, J. T., & Elofsson, K. (2015). An empirical analysis of hunting lease pricing and value of game in Sweden [Working paper]. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
Mensah, J. T., Persson, J., Kjellander, P., & Elofsson, K. (2019). Effects of carnivore presence on hunting lease pricing in South Sweden. Forest Policy and Economics, 106, 101942. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2019.05.028
Messmer, T. A. (1998). Cooperative wildlife management units: Achieving hunter, landowner, and wildlife management objectives. Wildlife Society Bulletin, 26(2), 325-332. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3784058
Messonnier, M. L., & Luzar, E. J. (1990). A hedonic analysis of private hunting land attributes using an alternative functional form. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 22(2), 129-135. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1074070800001887
Mikó, Z., Vajai, L., & Cs. Nagy, A. (1996). A vad védelméről, a vadgazdálkodásról, valamint a vadászatról szóló törvény: Útmutató és kommentár a vadászati jog gyakorlásához, hasznosításához. Agrocent Kiadó.
Mingie, J. C. (2015). Estimating the economic value of big game hunting in Georgia: A nonmarket approach (Publication No. 18116) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Georgia]. UGA Open Scholar.
Mingie, J. C., Poudyal, N. C., Bowker, J. M., Mengak, M. T., & Siry, J. P. (2017). A Hedonic Analysis of Big Game Hunting Club Dues in Georgia, USA. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 22(2), 110-125. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2017.1263767
Mingie, J. C., Poudyal, N. C., Bowker, J. M., Mengak, M. T., & Siry, J. P. (2019). Comparing the Net Benefit of Forestland Access for Big-Game Hunting across Landownership Types in Georgia, USA. Forest Science, 65(2), 189-200. https://doi.org/10.1093/forsci/fxy045
Mozumder, P., Meghan Starbuck, C., Berrens, R. P., & Alexander, S. (2007). Lease and Fee Hunting on Private Lands in the U.S.: A Review of the Economic and Legal Issues. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 12(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871200601107817
Munn, I. A., Loden, E. K., Grado, S. C., Jones, J. C., & Jones, W. D. (2005). Comparing hunting lease prices: A price decomposition approach. In Proceedings of the 2005 Southern Forest Economics Workers (SOFEW) Annual Meeting.
Munn, I. A., & Hussain, A. (2010). Factors Determining Differences in Local Hunting Lease Rates: Insights from Blinder-Oaxaca Decomposition. Land Economics, 86(1), 66-78. https://doi.org/10.3368/le.86.1.66
Munn, I. A., & Hussain, A. (2014). Hunting leases: Markets and economic implications. In S. Kant & J. Alavalapati (Eds.), Handbook of forest resource economics (pp. 175-187). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203105290
Nesheim, L. (2006). Hedonic price functions. CeMMAP working papers CWP18/06, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies. University College London.
Palmquist, R. B. (2005). Chapter 16 Property Value Models. In Handbook of Environmental Economics (Vol. 2, pp. 763-819). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0099(05)02016-4
Pierce, R. A., II, & Milhollin, R. (2024). Landowners’ guide to lease hunting in Missouri (Revised ed.). University of Missouri Extension. https://hdl.handle.net/10355/89342
Pitts, H. M., Thacher, J. A., Champ, P. A., & Berrens, R. P. (2012). A Hedonic Price Analysis of the Outfitter Market for Trout Fishing in the Rocky Mountain West. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 17(6), 446-462. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871209.2012.677939
Pope, C. A., & Stoll, J. R. (1985). The Market Value of Ingress Rights for White-Tailed Deer Hunting in Texas. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0081305200017192
Poudyal, N. C., Adhikari, R. K., Henderson, J. E., Tanger, S. M., Grala, R. K., Muller, L. I., Hunt, K. M., & Bhattarai, S. (2025). A hedonic analysis of chronic wasting disease’s effect on hunting lease prices. Forest Policy and Economics, 178, 103573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2025.103573
Rhyne, J. D. (2007). Factors determining per acre market value of hunting leases on Sixteenth Section Lands in Mississippi [Master’s thesis, Mississippi State University].
Rhyne, J. D., Munn, I. A., & Hussain, A. (2009). Hedonic Analysis of Auctioned Hunting Leases: A Case Study of Mississippi Sixteenth Section Lands. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 14(4), 227-239. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871200902736678
Rosen, S. (1974). Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets: Product Differentiation in Pure Competition. Journal of Political Economy, 82(1), 34-55. https://doi.org/10.1086/260169
Rónai, F., & Samu, L. (2013). Vadászati jog. Nemzeti Agrárszaktanácsadási, Képzési és Vidékfejlesztési Intézet.
Shrestha, R. K., & Alavalapati, J. R. R. (2004). Effect of Ranchland Attributes on Recreational Hunting in Florida: A Hedonic Price Analysis. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 36(3), 763-772. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1074070800027000
Soliño, M., Farizo, B. A., & Campos, P. (2017). Hunters’ preferences and willingness to pay for driven hunts in southern Europe. Wildlife Research, 43(8), 649. https://doi.org/10.1071/WR16044
Standiford, R. B., & Howitt, R. E. (1993). Multiple Use Management of California’s Hardwood Rangelands. Journal of Range Management, 46(2), 176. https://doi.org/10.2307/4002277
Stribling, H. L., Caulfield, J. P., Lockaby, B. G., Thompson, D. P., Quicke, H. E., & Clonts, H. A. (1992). Factors Influencing Willingness to Pay for Deer Hunting in the Alabama Piedmont. Southern Journal of Applied Forestry, 16(3), 125-129. https://doi.org/10.1093/sjaf/16.3.125
Szerényi, M. Zs. (2005). A természetvédelemben alkalmazható közgazdasági értékelési módszerek. Komáromi Nyomda és Kiadó.
Taylor, L. O. (2003). The Hedonic Method. In P. A. Champ, K. J. Boyle, & T. C. Brown (Eds.), A Primer on Nonmarket Valuation (Vol. 3, pp. 331-393). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0826-6_10
Thill, R. E. (1990). Managing southern pine plantations for wildlife. In Proceedings of the XIX World Congress of the International Union of Forestry Research Organizations (pp. 58-68). Canadian IUFRO World Congress Organizing Committee.
Viscusi, W. K. (1993). The value of risks to life and health. Journal of Economic Literature, 31(4), 1912-1946.
Waugh, F. V. (1928). Quality Factors Influencing Vegetable Prices. Journal of Farm Economics, 10(2), 185. https://doi.org/10.2307/1230278
Zhang, D., Hussain, A., & Armstrong, J. B. (2006). Supply of Hunting Leases from Non-Industrial Private Forest Lands in Alabama. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 11(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10871200500470910
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
