DAMS, DAM REMOVAL, AND RIVER RESTORATION: A HEDONIC PROPERTY VALUE ANALYSIS

This article presents the results of a hedonic property value analysis for multiple hydropower sites along the Kennebec River in Maine, including the former site of the Edwards Dam in Augusta, Maine. The effect of the removal of the Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Maine is examined through consumer's marginal willingness to pay to be close to or distant from the dam site. Data from both before and after the dam was removed are used to estimate changes in marginal prices. A similar data set is also used to look at the effects of the remaining upstream dams on property values. This article presents one of the first (to our knowledge) ex post analyses on the economic impact of dam removal on property values. As more privately owned dams in the United States come up for relicensing, evaluating the impacts with and without the dam will become increasingly important. This work can help inform those analyses. ( JEL Q25, Q51, Q58)     

Property rights and groundwater management in the High Plains Aquifer

Groundwater is an important natural resource that needs to be managed dynamically. Ideally, institutions governing property rights to the groundwater of low-recharge aquifers should not discourage or disincentivize groundwater users from dynamic management. We develop an empirical model to examine whether agricultural groundwater users faced with prior appropriation property rights to groundwater in western Kansas exhibit dynamic, forward-looking behavior consistent with dynamic management. We find that although farmers are allotted a time-invariant maximum amount of groundwater that they can extract each year, they still behave in a manner consistent with dynamic management. Their groundwater extraction decisions are not significantly affected by the quantity they are authorized to extract, but are instead affected by expected future crop prices, expected future energy prices, and groundwater extraction by neighbors. Our results provide evidence that farmers manage their groundwater resource dynamically, even if their property rights do not necessarily encourage or incentivize them to do so.     

地下水灌溉系统产权制度的创新与理论解释——小型水利工程的实证研究

水资源管理制度和政策越来越被认为是解决日益严重的水资源短缺问题的重要手段。本项研究的主要目的是分析我国地下水灌溉系统产权制度的创新过程和诱导因素 ,为国家引导和制定合理的水资源管理政策提供理论和实证依据。本项研究采用了定量研究的方法 ,建立了地下水灌溉系统产权制度创新模型 ,分析数据来源于作者对河北省 3县 3 0个村的实地调查。研究结果表明 ,80年代以来 ,以河北省为代表的地下水灌溉系统的产权制度逐渐从集体产权向非集体产权演变。影响地下水灌溉系统产权制度创新的主要因素是水资源开发利用程度、生存环境、社区经济条件、社区人力资本、市场发育程度、水利财政政策和水利信贷政策等因素。本项研究还对如何引导产权制度创新更快更有效的发展提出了一些政策建议。     

Amenity values of proximity to National Wildlife Refuges: An analysis of urban residential property values

This research quantifies the property value benefits of National Wildlife Refuges near urban areas on the eastern coast of the U.S.A. Our approach is made possible through access to confidential U.S. Census data identifying property values surrounding all refuges with high geographic resolution. Results from hedonic property value models suggest that the amenity values of refuges located near urbanized areas are capitalized into the value of homes in very close proximity, averaging $11 million per refuge. These capitalized values add directly to the local tax base and are considerable complements to the annual economic value created by the refuge system.     

Can Stigma Explain Large Property Value Losses? The Psychology and Economics of Superfund

This research documents the long term impacts of delayed cleanup on property values in communities neighboring prominent Superfund sites. The research examines the sale prices of nearly 34,000 homes near sites in three metropolitan areas for up to a 30-year period. To our knowledge, no other property value studies have examined sites in multiple areas with large property value losses over the length of time used here. The results are both surprising and inconsistent with most prior work. The principal result is that, when cleanup is delayed for 10, 15, and even up to 20 years, the discounted present value of the cleanup is mostly lost. A possible explanation for these property value losses is that the sites are stigmatized and the homes in the surrounding communities are shunned. The results suggest that expedited cleanup and minimizing the number of stigmatizing events would reduce these losses. This research was supported by the USEPA under cooperative agreement CR 824393-01-0. The authors wish to thank Alan Carlin for his patience and support along with Shelby Gerking, Kip Viscusi and three anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments. We also would like to thank Christian Coerds, Graham Crawford, Rachel Deming, Karen Grace-Martin, Brian Hurd, Joe LaVerde, Eleanor Smith, and Matt Todaro for their support on this project and the participants of the Risk Perception, Valuation and Policy conference at the University of Central Florida and the AERE Workshop in Estes Park, Colorado, for their helpful feedback.     

DOES SMALL DAM REMOVAL AFFECT LOCAL PROPERTY VALUES? AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS

This paper uses hedonic analysis to examine the impact of small dam removal on property values in south-central Wisconsin. Data on residential property sales were obtained for three categories of sites: those where a small dam remains intact, those where a small dam was removed, and those where a river or stream has been free-flowing for at least 20 yr. The primary conclusions that emerge from the data are that shoreline frontage along small impoundments confers no increase in residential property value compared to frontage along free-flowing streams and that nonfrontage residential property located in the vicinity of a free-flowing stream is more valuable than similar nonfrontage property in the vicinity of a small impoundment. ( JEL Q2, Q25, Q5, Q51)     

THE IMPACT OF STADIUM ANNOUNCEMENTS ON RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY VALUES: EVIDENCE FROM A NATURAL EXPERIMENT IN DALLAS-FORT WORTH

We investigate the impact of a potential new sports venue on residential property values, focusing on the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys' search for a new host city in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. We find that residential property values in the city of Dallas increased following the announcement of a possible new stadium in the city. At the same time, property values fell throughout the rest of Dallas County, which would have paid for the proposed stadium. These patterns reversed when the Dallas stadium proposal was abandoned. Subsequently, a series of announcements regarding a new publicly subsidized stadium in nearby Arlington, Texas, reduced residential property values in Arlington. In aggregate, average property values declined approximately 1.5% relative to the surrounding area before stadium construction commenced. This decline was almost equal to the anticipated household sales tax burden, suggesting that the average expected amenity effect of hosting the Cowboys in Arlington was not significantly different from zero. ( JEL L83, R53, H73)     

Impacts of transportation infrastructure on single-family property values

New or long-standing public infrastructure such as highways, airports, and ports of entry (POE) can increase adjacent property values generating a value premium for private developers and adjacent property owners. States and local governments aim to determine the geographic footprint and anticipate the economic value created by transportation infrastructure proximity and accessibility since it represents an opportunity to capture some infrastructure costs. Hence, it is desirable to understand the degree of correlation between transportation infrastructure proximity and changes in real property values in a spatial context particularly when defining economic development zones where transportation investments are planned and where governments expect to recover some of the infrastructure cost from increases in real property values. This research applies geographically weighted regression (GWR) analysis to determine the geographic footprint and quantify the impacts of transportation infrastructure proximity and accessibility on real property values in El Paso, Texas using a 2013 cross-sectional data set. The presence of spatial nonstationarity and heterogeneity confirms that transportation infrastructure proximity and accessibility might generate premiums on real property values, but that such premiums are not always positive and are occasionally negative. GWR shows that benefits from a transportation facility can be capitalized by non-adjacent parcels. Finally, GWR maps can help better policy development by estimating how much value is added by infrastructure proximity and accessibility throughout particular locations.     

Stopping the Drain: Third-party Responses to California's Water Market

Concerns over potential adverse effects of a state-sponsored water market have prompted many rural California counties to adopt ordinances restricting groundwater exports since the early 1990 s. Results from panel regressions that rely on original water market and institutional data indicate that these local restrictions have significantly reduced water exports. The optimality of this policy is assessed. In the presence of a water market, export restrictions appear as a low-cost management alternative to common property within source regions. The substantial statewide benefits of a market weigh in favor of broader public support to more comprehensive, non-discriminatory groundwater management initiatives. (JEL Q25 , Q21 )     

COSTS OF CALIFORNIA's CORRELATIVE RIGHTS DOCTRINE AS A SOLUTION TO GROUNDWATER OVERDRAFT

This paper reports the present value of groundwater use under alternative institutional structures for the eastern portion of California's San Joaquin Valley. The Gisser-Sanchez model, with data from the California Department of Water Resources, produced these results. The paper, through the use of an optimal control model, shows that private property rights outperform common property rights as an institutional guide to groundwater use. Furthermore, the paper shows that adjudicating groundwater rights under claim of adverse possession gives rise to a discounted flow of future income which, when compared with that of common property, gives the incentive to adjudicate groundwater rights.     

Water Security and Irrigation Investment: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Rural Pakistan

This study examines the relationship between water security features and irrigation investment using data from a field survey with a choice experiment conducted in rural Pakistan. Our results generally support Besley’s framework on the link between property right and investment incentive with an application to irrigation, although not all aspects of water security features can significantly affect farmers’ investment in irrigation. Investment increases significantly with groundwater share, but there is insufficient evidence to support that farmers’ investment is significantly and positively affected by surface water reliability. Farmers who own land or who are located further down the watercourse tend to invest more than their peers do. Existing conditions on surface water reliability significantly affect this relationship. Overall, groundwater use dominates the decision-making of investment and the role of surface water source in securing irrigation water is relatively weak from a farmer’s perspective.     

A cost-benefit analysis of restoring the Em River in Sweden: valuation of angling site characteristics and visitation frequency

This article uses Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) to evaluate restoration scenarios aimed at improving angling on the Em River in Sweden. We find that none of the proposed projects are socially profitable when considering only values associated with angling. We rely on a Choice Experiment (CE) to derive utilities and estimate the monetary value of angling site characteristics and then also use the utilities derived in a visitation frequency using a two-stage budgeting approach. The visitation frequency is then used to extract values for fishing license sales and business-related income. The case study illustrates how CBA can provide useful insights into the potential economic returns of environmental restoration projects. Our case study also indicates that the results in terms of Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) and visitation frequency are general findings – i.e. they appear similar across angling sites – which is particularly useful from a policy point of view because it supports the use of benefit transfer for more cost-effective river management.     

Testing the Influence of Substitute Sites in Nature Valuation by Using Spatial Discounting Factors

This paper investigates the effect of nearby nature substitute sites on preferences for nature restoration. Contrary to prior studies, we use a respondent-centric approach to control for substitute sites. We assess each respondent-specific spatial context by computing densities of nature substitute sites within various ranges from each respondent’s home. This approach considers the use and non-use values of nature together. Data from three similar discrete choice experiments carried out in Flanders (Belgium) are compared. Different spatial discounting factors are tested to explore how the substitution effect behaves with regard to distance. Latent class analyses are performed to account for preference heterogeneity among respondents. We observe divergent behaviours across groups of respondents. The “distance-to-substitutes” affects how respondents gauge substitute sites. We find a significant influence of the squared average buffer distance but this effect varies in sign across case studies and classes of respondents. Our results demonstrate that individual-specific GIS data can significantly improve the representation of the spatial context and the transferability of value functions. However, the roles played by preference heterogeneity and nature perception on respondents’ capacity to value nature still deserves further attention in future research.     

Hazardous waste sites and property values in the state of New Jersey

The polluter pays principal is justified as a deterrent to future pollution. However, the US experience suggests that it has considerably reduced the clean up rate of existing hazardous waste sites. Coaseapos;s theorem is used as basis to propose that a partnership between the polluters and property owners near these sites will not only ease financial burden but will also speed up the pace of cleanup. A hedonic price model is used to empirically estimate the impact of siting of hazardous waste sites on property values and determine the economic feasibility of the proposed partnership. The empirical estimates are based on municipality level data from the state of New Jersey. The benefis from speedy clean up of hazardous waste sites to New Jersey property owners are observed to exceed the cleanup cost of these sites.     

The valuation of landfill disamenities in Birmingham

The disposal of waste by landfill generates community concerns, during both site operations and following the cessation of activities. Whilst previous hedonic studies have generally examined the impact on property prices of distance to the nearest active landfill site this paper presents a study for Birmingham in England in which properties are simultaneously located close to numerous active and historical landfill sites. Accounting for the proximity of historical landfill sites alters the perceived disamenity impact of active sites and furthermore, reveals evidence of significant disamenity impacts, decades after site closure, albeit over shorter geographical distances. Estimated disamenity impacts are however somewhat sensitive to assumptions regarding the geographical range of the externalities generated by landfill.     

How Property Markets Determine Welfare Outcomes: An Equilibrium Sorting Model Analysis of Local Environmental Interventions

This paper examines the pivotal role played by property markets in determining the magnitude and distribution of welfare changes resulting from localised environmental change. We address that issue using an equilibrium sorting model (ESM) calibrated, by way of example, to the circumstances of a road infrastructure project in the English town of Polegate. Previous ESM research has tended to assume that all households rent property from a fixed property stock. The narrative that arises from those models concerns environmental gentrification, wherein access to environmentally improved locations is appropriated by the relatively wealthy through their ability to out-compete the less wealthy in the rental property market. Our research shows that to be only part of a much more complex story. We develop a model that extends the sophistication with which ESMs replicate property market dynamics, allowing for households to choose whether to rent or purchase their home and introducing greater realism into housing supply responses to changing market conditions. Our research shows that property markets redistribute welfare gains across the population in complex ways in which tenure choice and housing supply constraints play central roles.     

The cost of unconventional gas extraction: A hedonic analysis

We focus on identification and estimation of potentially negative environmental impacts of unconventional natural gas extraction on property values in the United States and advance previous research by contributing new data and new identification strategies for isolating these potential impacts. Our study area consists of two counties in Pennsylvania that are home to large amounts of unconventional natural gas extraction but are otherwise isolated from other resource extraction industries or large urban areas. We deploy parametric, semi-parametric, and matching hedonic regression models that include recent quasi-experimental methods and, in contrast to previous research and much popular intuition, we fail to find robust significance that negative environmental externalities of natural gas extraction are manifested in nearby property values. While there may be plausible risks associated with unconventional natural gas extraction, we do not find consistent evidence to suggest that these risks significantly affect nearby property values.     

自然圣境的生态保护功能及其实现路径

自然圣境是对人类具有特殊精神意义的自然区域,自然圣境除了具有精神文化价值,在生态环境保护方面也发挥了重要作用。自然圣境的生态保护功能主要体现在保护生态环境和自然资源以及为珍稀濒危物种提供栖息地。目前,因旅游和工程项目过度开发、土地利用变化、所属权转移、价值观念的变化和自然环境变迁等因素,造成自然圣境的生态保护功能面临挑战。面对这些问题,应加强对自然圣境及其生态保护功能的正确认知,将自然圣境纳入保护地和生态补偿体系当中,发挥自然圣境生态文化的灵魂作用,并制定与自然圣境保护相关的法律法规。     

Flood Risk Information,Actual Floods and Property Values: A Quasi‐Experimental Analysis

Hedonic property price analysis tells us that property prices can be affected by natural hazards such as floods. This paper examines the impact of flood‐related variables (among other factors) on property values, and examines the effect of the release of flood risk map information on property values by comparing the impact with the effect of an actual flood incidence. An examination of the temporal variation of flood impacts on property values is also made. The study is the first of its kind where the impact of the release of flood risk map information to the public is compared with an actual flood incident. In this study, we adopt a spatial quasi‐experimental analysis using the release of flood risk maps by Brisbane City Council in Queensland, Australia, in 2009 and the actual floods of 2011. The results suggest that property buyers are more responsive to the actual incidence of floods than to the disclosure of information to the public on the risk of floods.     

Neutral Property Taxation

A major difficulty in implementing land/site value taxation is imputing the land value of built‐on sites. The literature has focused on two alternatives. The first, residual site value, measures postdevelopment site value as property value less structure value, with structure value measured as depreciated construction costs. Residual site value would be relatively easy to estimate, but a residual site value tax system, which taxes land value before development and residual site value after development at the same rate is distortionary, discouraging density. The second, raw site value, measures postdevelopment site value as “what the land would be worth were there no building on the site (though in fact there is).” Raw site value taxation is neutral (does not distort the timing and density of development), but the estimation of postdevelopment raw site value would be complex so that assessment would likely be less fair and more arbitrary, contentious, and prone to abuse. This paper asks the question: Is it not possible to design a property tax system (taxation of predevelopment land value, postdevelopment structure value, and postdevelopment site value at possibly different rates) that employs the administratively simpler residual definition of postdevelopment site value and achieves neutrality? Under restrictive assumptions and subject to an important qualification, the paper provides an affirmative answer, and characterizes the tax rates that achieve neutrality. It also briefly discusses issues of practical implementation.