A gravity model to explain flows of wild edible mushroom picking. A panel data analysis

Abstract

Picking wild edible mushrooms is becomingly an increasingly widespread activity. Recent research is reporting a change in the way pickers access this resource, particularly in the more developed countries. The latest studies focus on exploring the demand functions of harvesting, with the emphasis shifting away from analyses that address the issue from a commercial standpoint. Yet these studies fail to deal with the topic from a global perspective and provide only partial information that is felt to be insufficient when attempting to manage the resource efficiently. The present work seeks to provide an approach to the problem by applying, for the first time, a gravity model to study the system governing the sale of harvesting permits (www.micocyl.es, Castilla y León-Spain). The main advantage of this application is that, for the first time, three-dimensional panel data are used to link economic variables to climate variables and their interaction to the supply and demand of picking permits. Results show that the method provides key management information. Managing the picking of wild edible mushrooms should aim to focus more on handling the tourist flows it generates.