Measuring social benefits attributable to social infrastructure in boomtowns

Technical Report · Fri Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1976

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/7237573· OSTI ID:7237573

Mehr, A F

A prerequisite for evaluating alternative investment programs for urban infrastructure is some measure for the benefits attributable to such investments. In boomtowns, benefit measures are of particular importance inasmuch as investment planners may wish to compare the costs of (potentially) excess capacities in the post-boom period with the benefits of higher infrastructure stock levels during the boom. In this dissertation a methodology for developing values which might serve as benefit measures for alternative levels of urban infrastructure is developed and tested. A theoretical argument is proposed that results in a statistically testable proposition concerning trade-offs between wages and levels of urban infrastructure. In its simplest form, this proposition states that wage differentials between boomtowns and base towns are explained by urban infrastructure differentials.... Multiple linear regression techniques are used to test the hypothesis....Major conclusions of the study are, first, that urban infrastructure appears to have statistically significant impacts on wage differentials. The analyses suggest that wage differentials increase by $.04 (per week) for each dollar by which per capita urban infrastructure decreases. Second, considerable work remains in terms of data development and refinement before one can judge the potential of this method for attributing wage differentials to disaggregated classes of infrastructure.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos Scientific Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 7237573
• Report Number(s): LA-6559-T
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
COMMUNITIES
CONSTRUCTION
COST
ECONOMIC IMPACT
ENERGY POLICY
ENERGY SOURCE DEVELOPMENT
ENERGY SOURCES
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
INCOME
INDUSTRY
INVESTMENT
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MATHEMATICS
MOUNTAINS
PRODUCTION
ROCKY MOUNTAINS
SOCIAL IMPACT
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
STATISTICS
URBAN AREAS