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Livy Dissertation.pdf (3.7 MB)

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Assessing the Impact of Environmental Amenities on Residential Location Choice

Livy, Mitchell R
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1434722062

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics.
This dissertation investigates the influence of policies involving environmental amenities on residential location decisions. We develop and implement unique econometric models focused on controlling for differences in spatial scale when estimating non-market values. These models are applied to evaluate existing and proposed policies that impact the environment in the Chesapeake Bay region. The first chapter provides new evidence of the capitalized value of local parks by estimating the impact associated with renovations of specific local park attributes on surrounding home prices. These results shed light on an empirical puzzle in the existing literature that single-family residential homeowners have a surprisingly low valuation associated with living in close proximity to local parks. Using property fixed effects models with time-varying renovations data, we disaggregate the bundle of amenities comprising local parks and find that the capitalization of renovations is heterogeneous and depends on the specific park attributes undergoing renovation. In the second chapter, we investigate the role of spatial scale in recovering preferences using models of residential location choice. While the existing Tiebout sorting literature has largely focused on a single spatial unit, it is expected that homeowners face different tradeoffs across the spatial spectrum. To explore these tradeoffs we develop a multi-spatial residential location choice model using a nested logit framework. Testing the model empirically, we find that including multiple spatial scales of sorting leads to significantly different estimates of willingness to pay for environmental amenities and school quality compared to single-spatial sorting and hedonic models, and that future research should explicitly consider the spatial hierarchy of decision making. The third chapter examines the implications of proposed taxes on impervious surface by using the model of residential sorting developed in the second chapter. Investigating location choice at both the school attendance boundary and residential neighborhood levels, we demonstrate that the influence of environmental amenities on the location choice of households is complex, having varied implications depending on spatial scale. Furthering this analysis, partial and general equilibrium welfare simulations on impervious surface tax scenarios and environmental amenity creation provide evidence that tradeoffs interact across space in diverse ways to determine household well-being.
H. Allen Klaiber (Advisor)
146 p.
Environmental Economics
hedonic; residential sorting; nested logit

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Livy, M. R. (2015). Assessing the Impact of Environmental Amenities on Residential Location Choice [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1434722062

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Livy, Mitchell . Assessing the Impact of Environmental Amenities on Residential Location Choice. 2015. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1434722062.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Livy, Mitchell . "Assessing the Impact of Environmental Amenities on Residential Location Choice." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1434722062

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1434722062
1,402
© 2015, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.