This paper studies the economic effects of the US National Park System, the largest national conservation entity in the world. We assemble a new dataset on the history of the system, and show that parks increase overall employment and income in the local economy. The data allows us to study several specific mechanisms. Economic effects appear to be driven by visitors, and they cannot be explained by direct government spending on park budgets or by various substitution effects. Our findings provide evidence relevant to conservation policy in the US and elsewhere.

中文翻译：

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国家公园与经济发展

本文研究了世界上最大的国家保护实体美国国家公园系统的经济影响。我们收集了有关该系统历史的新数据集，并表明公园增加了当地经济的整体就业和收入。这些数据使我们能够研究几种具体的机制。经济效应似乎是由游客驱动的，不能用政府在公园预算上的直接支出或各种替代效应来解释。我们的研究结果提供了与美国和其他地方的保护政策相关的证据。