Economic Cost Estimation of Environmental, Agricultural and Social Damages of Kermanshah Railway Based on Individual Stated Preferences

Economic valuation of environmental, agricultural and social impacts is one of the tools of ecosystem management aimed at achieving sustainable development, emphasizing the need for its use in large construction projects. Therefore, the main purpose of the present study is to investigate the environmental, agricultural and social effects of Kermanshah Railway in terms of stated preferences. 200 questionnaires were distributed and completed among the inhabitants of the adjacent areas of the railway in different seasons of the year 2017. The results of the conditional logit model showed that the amount of damage caused by railway for each of the environmental (habitat characteristics and vegetation and climate), agricultural (land use) and social (vibration and noise) characteristics of the order is 79250, 60430 and 12370 Rials per person per year, respectively. Also, the highest willingness to pay for the sub-sectors was obtained for compensation of 224800 Rials for land use specificity and then 46000 Rials per year for social property per household. Finally, the total value of the damages caused by the railroad was 29685 million Rials. According to the results of the current study, people's desire for environmental protection is higher than other sectors. Which illustrates the importance of the environmental sector from the people's point of view. Finally, according to the results of the present study, it is recommended to pay attention to various social, environmental and agricultural sectors before carrying out construction projects such as railways to prevent their adverse effects.