Spatial Components of Environmental Quality:
Watersheds and Housing Markets
Abstract:
This paper examines the spatial components of various environmental disamenities for an urban, coastal watershed using a hedonic property value model. We expect that proximity to water bodies may be an asset to homeowners but that the relative quality of water and land may result in disamenities. This paper also explores issues related to spatial dependence, a characteristic expected with geographically referenced data sets. The study is carried out within the Quinnipiac watershed, capturing the effect of living near the waterfront and being affected by the numerous polluting sites located along the Quinnipiac river. It also provides a comparison of the level of potential bias introduced in the marginal implicit value associated with environmental variables due to differences in lot sizes.
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Keywords: environmental disamenities, hedonic property values, spatial dependence, urban watersheds
JEL Classification: Q25, Q51, Q53