Economic valuation of coastal ecosystem services mitigating climate impacts: A choice experiment in South Korea

Climate change threatens coastal ecosystem services (ES) through intensified natural disasters, marine biodiversity loss, and proliferation of harmful organisms like jellyfish. This study provides the first discrete choice experiment (CE) valuation of South Korean households’ willingness to pay (WTP) for policy-relevant ES enhancements—marine animal and plant diversity preservation, jellyfish advisory day reductions, and coastal disaster damage mitigation—using a nationwide survey of 1,000 respondents and a familiar payment vehicle (additional income tax). Mixed logit models yield significant positive marginal WTP values: KRW 3.03 (US¢ 0.21) per 1%p decrease in animal diversity loss, KRW 4.83 (US¢ 0.33) for plant diversity, KRW 3.84 (US¢ 0.27) per fewer jellyfish advisory day, and KRW 6.86 (US¢ 0.48) per 1%p disaster damage reduction. Relative importance rankings prioritize jellyfish reduction (42%) and disaster mitigation (37%), with aggregate national WTP reaching KRW 412 billion (USD 286 million) annually under optimal scenarios. These estimates directly inform coastal environmental management by prioritizing jellyfish control and disaster mitigation in South Korea’s adaptation plans, enabling cost-benefit analyses for ecosystem-based strategies.