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.     

Monetary valuation of aircraft noise: A hedonic analysis around Amsterdam airport

In densely-populated countries and in particular in large metropolitan areas, the presence of so much human activity causes all sorts of negative externalities, for example traffic noise disturbance. These externalities call for corrective measures by the government. Economists have developed a number of procedures that provide reasonable estimates on the monetary value of some amenities and externalities. In this paper we develop a spatially-explicit hedonic pricing model for house prices in order to quantify the social cost of aircraft noise disturbance in monetary terms. While focusing on aircraft noise around Amsterdam airport in the urban fringe of the Amsterdam region, a key point in our analysis is that we account for background noise. We do this by taking multiple sources of traffic noise (i.e. road, railway and aircraft noise) into account simultaneously and by setting threshold values for all three sources of noise above which sound is generally experienced as nuisance. Based on our regression results we conclude that a higher noise level means ceteris paribus a lower house price. Air traffic has the largest price impact, followed by railway traffic and road traffic. These model outcomes can subsequently be used to estimate the marginal and total benefits of aircraft noise reduction in the studied area around Amsterdam airport. We find a marginal benefit of 1 dB noise reduction of 1459 Euro per house, leading to a total benefit of 1 dB noise reduction of 574 million Euros.     

Exploring the hedonic value of ambient water quality: A local watershed-based study

Non-point source water pollution of local watersheds can result from various sources but is tied most closely to runoff from impervious surfaces associated with development activities such as roadways, parking lots and large commercial structures. This research investigates the value of ambient water quality as measured by data from twenty-two monitoring stations located throughout a local watershed in Maryland; the St. Mary's River watershed. A hedonic property value model is used to investigate the marginal implicit values of the following water quality variables: total suspended solids and dissolved inorganic nitrogen. The econometric results indicate the marginal implicit prices associated with a one milligram per liter change in total suspended solids and dissolved inorganic nitrogen, are $− 1086 and $− 17,642, respectively.     

Semiparametric versus parametric hedonic wine price models: an empirical investigation

In this article, we conduct formal statistical tests to compare a semiparametric hedonic wine price model with its parametric counterpart using a Canadian data set. The relevant test results turn out to be overwhelmingly in favour of the semiparametric specification. The estimated semiparametric model also provides clear evidence of nonlinearity between wine prices and quality when other wine attributes are controlled for.     

Environmental amenities and agricultural land values: a hedonic model using geographic information systems data

Remote agricultural lands, which include wildlife habitat, angling opportunities and scenic vistas, command higher prices per hectare in Wyoming than those whose landscape is dominated by agricultural production. Geographic information systems (GIS) data are used to measure recreational and scenic amenities associated with rural land. A hedonic price model is specified with GIS measures. It is used to estimate the impact of amenity and agricultural production land characteristics on price per acre for a sample of Wyoming agricultural parcels. Results indicate that the specification performed well across several functional forms. The sampled land prices are explained by the level of both environmental amenities as well as production attributes. Statistically significant amenity variables included scenic view, elk habitat, sport fishery productivity and distance to town. This analysis permits a better estimation of environmental amenity values from hedonic techniques. Improved estimation of amenity values is vital for policies aimed at open space preservation, using agricultural conservation easements and land use conflict resolution.     

Evaluation of the profitability of quality labels in rural tourism accommodation: a hedonic approach using propensity score matching

In recent years, quality labels for the Spanish tourism sector have been developed as part of a competitive strategy focused on the differentiation of the product. Given this development, it is interesting to analyse the profitability of quality labels for the accommodation owners and managers. In particular, this article calculates the profitability of a rural tourism quality label. Through the use of the hedonic price approach, the market valuation of the quality label for rural self-catering cottages is obtained. This valuation is subsequently compared with the expenses incurred by establishments in achieving the quality label. In order to address the usual methodological problems associated with the endogeneity, prior to application of the hedonic approach, the propensity score matching is used. The results indicate that possessing a quality label has a positive impact on the profitability of rural tourism.     

Trade,product variety and welfare: a quantitative assessment for mainland China

We calculate a variety of welfare gains for Mainland China, following the approach of Romer (1994 Romer, P. 1994. New goods, old theory, and the welfare costs of trade restrictions. Journal of Development Economics, 43(1): 5–38. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), who emphasized that proper modelling of the impact of trade restrictions on the number of available product varieties is crucial for quantifying the welfare impact of trade liberalization. The empirical work presented relies on direct measures of product variety calculated from highly disaggregated trade data. The emerging conclusion is that freer trade has indeed boosted welfare.     

Beyond implicit prices: recovering theoretically consistent and transferable values for noise avoidance from a hedonic property price model

Using a two-stage hedonic pricing methodology we estimate a system of structural demand equations for different sources of transport-related noise. In the first stage, we identify market segments using model-based clustering techniques and estimate separate hedonic price functions (HPFs) for each segment. In so doing, we show how a semiparametric spatial smoothing estimator outperforms other standard specifications of the HPF. In the second stage, we control for non-linearity of the budget constraint and identify demand relationships using techniques that account for problems of endogeneity and censoring of the dependent variable. Our estimated demand functions provide welfare estimates for peace and quiet that we believe to be the first derived from property market data in a theoretically consistent manner.      

A hedonic price analysis of hearing aid technology

In this article, we study how technological components affect the price of hearing aids. The main goals are to determine which functional and technological features have the greatest influence on manufacturer-based prices in the hearing aid industry, and to analyse the price-cost margins at the dispenser level using a unique data set that is compiled from a hearing clinic in West Texas. The result shows that style and signal processing scheme are the two most important determinants of hearing aid price. Other characteristics such as directional microphone, noise cancellation, and a certain shell type are also positively related to price. Further, on average, this particular local dispenser has a markup of about 35% per hearing instrument.     

Pricing the Groove: hedonic equation estimates for rare vinyl records

ABSTRACT

This contribution adds to the economic literature on the market value of rarity in markets for cultural collectible goods by studying the price of rare audio recordings (chiefly vinyl) sold on the online marketplace Discogs. Community-based variables serve as proxies for (inverse) rarity and (potential) demand. Results show that the elasticity of price with respect to our measure of inverse rarity (demand) ranges between ?0.120 and ?0.140 (0.150 and 0.160). In addition, effects of hedonic characteristics such as the popularity or collectibility of an artist can be identified. Finally, the study provides evidence for premia for rarity at the top end of the distribution of prices.     

The amenity value of woodland in Great Britain: A comparison of economic estimates

Forests produce benefits over and above the revenue yielded from timber and other wood based products. Most important among these may be the recreational benefits for visitors, which have been examined in several studies. Total benefits for residents are perhaps more accurately captured in property values since, ceteris paribus, the price of a house reflects willingness to pay to live near an environmental amenity such as a forest to gain access to it, and also the amenity (non-use) value of the forest in so far as it creates a pleasant landscape. However, the total non-priced value of forestry is not the sum of HPM and ITCM benefit estimates. Recreational benefits will typically be less, and will be subsumed in the HPM estimates, since the hedonic price is partly induced by the value of recreational access.     

Hedonic models and air pollution: Twenty-five years and counting

This paper reports a meta analysis of how effectively hedonic property models have detected the influence of air pollution on housing prices. Probit estimates are reported describing how data, model specification, and local property market conditions in cities represented in thirty-seven studies influence the ability of hedonic models to uncover negative, statistically significant relationships between housing prices and air pollution measures.Partial support for this research was provided by the Russell Sage Foundation. Thanks are due David Cordray, Heidi Hartman, and Larry Hedges of the Foundation's Meta-Analysis Panel for constructive comments, to Ray Palmquist for suggestions and assistance in assembling the results from his studies, to Rick Freeman and Tom Tietenberg and two anonymous referees for comments on the research, and to Barbara Scott for constructive editing of earlier drafts of this paper.     

What to show on the wine labels: a hedonic analysis of price drivers of Sicilian wines

Unlike previous literature, we construct a hedonic model of wine price that incorporates all the main categories of variables simultaneously to enable a better evaluation of their importance on wine price formation. A comprehensive model has the advantage of providing more reliable estimates of the attributes' implicit prices thereby facilitating firms' pricing and improving effectiveness of wine production and marketing decisions. We utilize two different datasets of Sicilian wines collecting data from influential wine guides. Our results suggest that wine price strongly depends on objective features such as vintage, alcoholic content, geographical origin, grape variety, producer size and cellaring potential. In addition, use of containers like tonneaux and barrique positively affects prices, whereas use of concrete containers has a negative influence. No univocal indications emerge with regard to the effect of the type of company, type of viticulture and firm age. As for sensorial characteristics, our analysis provides novel evidence of the importance of olfactory variables such as aroma intensity and the presence of particular smells in the wine. Finally, current guides’ grades and firm reputation play a crucial role in determining wine prices as well.     

Identification of strategies to improve goat marketing in the lowlands of Ethiopia: a hedonic price analysis

This article aims at identifying factors that determine market prices of goats and analyse potential mechanisms by which smallholder goat producers could maximize their benefits. Data on 357 farm households and 2103 goat transactions were collected in three major goat markets in the lowlands of Ethiopia. Hedonic price models adjusted for heteroscedasticity were employed to analyse the observed price data. Model results showed the relative importance of different factors in determining goat prices. Animal attributes including age, sex, live weight, body condition and presence of horn as well as types of buyer and market outlet targeted and time of selling were found to be important. Particularly, goats marketed during festive periods where demand for meat increases (e.g. Ethiopian New Year) command higher prices. These results imply that interventions such as systematic selection schemes targeting traits demanded by the market, improved linkages to markets, easy access to market information systems and creating conducive environment including incentive mechanisms can enhance smallholder farmers’ and pastoralists’ ability to take advantage of seasonal and spatial price changes and become market responsive with effective marketing strategies. Such changes can be potent in improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and pastoralists.     

Related variety and industrial growth: evidence from U.S. commuting zones

This article uses industrial employment data at U.S. commuting zone level to test two widely debated propositions about related variety and industrial growth. Our empirical investigations confirm that related variety and specialization have positive interaction effects on industrial employment growth and that the impacts of related variety on industrial growth are much stronger in manufacturing sectors than in nonmanufacturing sectors.     

Hedonic and environmental quality: A hybrid model of product differentiation

In this paper, we analyze how strategic competition between a green firm and a brown competitor develops when their products are differentiated along two dimensions: hedonic quality and environmental quality. The former dimension refers to the pure (intrinsic) performance of the good, whereas the latter dimension has a positional content: buying green goods satisfies the consumer's desire to be portrayed as a socially worthy citizen. We consider the case in which these quality dimensions are in conflict with each other so that the higher the hedonic quality of a good, the lower the corresponding environmental quality. We characterize the equilibrium configurations and discuss the policy implications deriving from our analysis.     

The private value of plant variety protection and the impact of exemption rules

Plant Breeders Rights (PBRs) are sui generis IPRs intended to promote plant variety creation. Two characteristics distinguish PBRs from patents: the research and the farmers' exemptions. This article attempts to assess the impact of these exemption rules on the private value of PBRs. For this purpose, a microeconometric model of PBRs renewals is developed and estimated. This model extends previous models of patents renewals by allowing the use of PBRs-specific variables. It is argued that simple tests on the coefficients associated with key PBRs-specific variables can provide insights into the impact of the two exemption rules. Implementation to PBRs in France over the period 1973–2011 for six major crops suggests that neither the farmers' exemption nor the research exemption have a clear-cut effect on the private value of PBRs. We conclude that there is no evidence to argue in favor of a reform of PBRs.     

消费模式转型:国际金融危机视角下的反思

美国长期奉行的过度消费模式是本次国际金融危机的重要诱因.这种过度消费模式的形成既有其传统习惯的原因,也有其理论渊源和政府政策的引导.反观中国的消费模式,尽管已经发生或正在经历转型,但总体来说还是一种谨慎型消费,正是这种谨慎型消费,成为了中国抵御本次国际金融危机的一道屏障.在国际金融危机背景下中国应加快消费转型的步伐,大力促进适度消费,以实现经济又好又快发展.     

Ready to run: price determinants of thoroughbreds from 2 year olds in training sales

This article utilizes data from the complete set of U.S. thoroughbred 2-year-old in-training sales held in 2013 and estimates the determinants of prices for 1806 two-year-old thoroughbreds. The results reveal that the time in which these prospective racehorses run a standardized distance is the most statistically significant determinant of market price. Other individual horse characteristics, pedigree quality variables and sale quality are also found to be price determinants. An additional result of interest is the significant premium buyers are willing to pay for horses by sires of unknown quality.     

Relating the environmental impact of consumption to household expenditures: An input-output analysis

In this paper we evaluate the relationships between household expenditures and the environmental impact categories climate change, acidification, eutrophication and smog formation, by combining household expenditures with environmentally extended input-output analysis. Expenditure elasticities are examined with regression analysis, and are compared and interpreted on the basis of insight at the product level. With data from the Netherlands in the year 2000, we find that environmental impact increases with increasing household expenditures, although the degree to which the environmental impact increases differs per impact category. Climate change and eutrophication increase less than proportionally with increasing expenditures. Acidification increases nearly proportionally with increasing expenditures, whereas smog formation increases more than proportionally. It appears that the mix of necessities and luxuries to which an environmental impact is related is essential in explaining the relationship.