Take your swimsuit along: the value of improving urban bathing sites in the metropolitan area of Berlin

Many inhabitants of Berlin enjoy bathing in lakes and rivers during the summer. However, so far no data exist about who goes bathing and what quality bathers expect from bathing sites. In an online survey conducted during the summer of 2007 respondents were presented with a choice experiment concerning various attributes of bathing sites such as water quality or cleanliness of the beach. Applying both random parameter logit models as well as a latent class model reveals that unobserved taste heterogeneity is present among bathers, i.e. not all bathers would benefit equally from improving bathing sites. A test concerning preference consistency reveals high internal validity.