Methods development for assessing air pollution control benefits. Volume II. Experiments in valuing non-market goods: a case study of alternative benefit measures of air pollution control in the south coast air basin of Southern California. Final report, October 1976--October 1978

Technical Report · Thu Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1979

OSTI ID:5708461

Brookshire, D S; d'Arge, R C; Schulze, W D; Thayer, M A

This volume includes the empirical results obtained from two experiments to measure the health and aesthetic benefits of air pollution control. Each experiment involved the same six neighborhood pairs, where the pairings were made on the basis of similarities in housing characteristics, socio-economic factors, distances to beaches and services, average temperatures, and subjective indicators of housing quality. Data on actual market transactions, as registered in single-family residential property transactions, and on stated preferences for air quality, as revealed in neighborhood surveys, were collected. Given various assumptions on income, location, aggregation by areas, specific housing characteristics, and knowledge of the health effects of air pollution, both the survey and the property value experiments yielded estimates of willingness to pay for an improvement from 'poor' to 'fair' air quality of from $20 to $150 per month per household. The results, therefore, indicate that air quality deterioration in the Los Angeles area has had substantial negative effects on housing prices and that these effects are comparable in magnitude to what people say they are willing to pay for improved air quality.

• Research Organization: Wyoming Univ., Laramie (USA); New Mexico Univ., Albuquerque (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5708461
• Report Number(s): PB-293616
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
500600* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Regulations-- (-1989)
530100 -- Environmental-Social Aspects of Energy Technologies-- Social & Economic Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
CALIFORNIA
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
ECONOMIC IMPACT
NORTH AMERICA
POLLUTION
PUBLIC HEALTH
QUALITY OF LIFE
RESIDENTIAL SECTOR
SAMPLING
USA
WESTERN REGION