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Abstract
The first purpose of this thesis was to measure economic value and consumer surplus of natural resource commodities for citizen groups in both Georgia and Trinidad. A regression was run for the dichotomous choice model; the results showed that Trinidad respondents were very interested in supporting natural resource protection projects in Nariva Swamp, much more than Georgia respondents. Next, a separate regression was conducted for the open-ended model; the results for Georgia and Trinidad respondents were very similar. A similar WTP value was found and response trends were much alike. The second purpose was to test post-materialist theory. For one of the multi-part questions in the survey, trend graph analysis, response analysis, and a regression analysis of responses were conducted. The goal was to determine differences, if any, between Georgia and Trinidad respondents. A second multi-part question was similarly analyzed for the same purpose; in this case trend graph analysis, regression analysis, and mean value analysis of responses were conducted. Results suggest that Georgia and Trinidad respondents have very similar ideas about environmental values. In fact, contrary to theory, Trinidad respondents showed a stronger interest in environmental values than did Georgia respondents in most cases.