Rent extraction by public sector workers may be limited by the ability of taxpayers to vote with their feet. But rent extraction may be higher in regions where high amenities mute the migration response. This paper develops a theoretical model that predicts such a link between public sector wage differentials and local amenities, and the predictions are tested by analyzing variation in these di...

A family with 20,000 dollars in annual earnings can obviously afford far more in Buffalo than in Boston, but economists have still hardly agreed on how to adjust local poverty measurements for local prices of living. A simple procedure might be to just use local price of living indices, but there are at least two reasons why such an adjustment could be highly problematic. First, these price adj...

The dependence of property values on a schedule of ‘amenities’ is examined in the case of a ‘small’ and ‘open’ city and in the case of a ‘closed’ city. Questions concerned with the predictability and interpretation of changes in equilibrium property values following an improvement in amenities are considered in these cases. The problem of identifying the implicit demand for amenities from a sin...

Brownfields are properties for which redevelopment is hampered by known or suspected contamination and by concerns about associated liability. Because failing to redevelop brownfields may negatively affect welfare and the environment, a number of states have created voluntary programs to reduce liability risks and encourage redevelopment of brownfields. For clean or remediated properties, the s...

Communities in both Europe and North America are encouraging the development of cultural amenities as a strategy for improving quality of life, attracting and retaining productive workers, and promoting urban revitalization. If these policies are effective then the presence of cultural amenities should increase the local demand for housing, and the value of cultural amenities should be reflecte...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the associations between natural amenities, recreation facility density, and obesity, at a national level. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to examine associations between county-level natural amenities, density of recreation facilities, and obesity prevalence among United States counties. METHODS Data were obtained from a compilation of sources within...

We use a frictionless neoclassical general-equilibrium model to explain cross-metro variation in population density based on three broad amenity types: quality of life, productivity in tradables, and productivity in non-tradables. Analytically, we demonstrate the dependence of quantities on amenities through substitution possibilities in consumption and production. Our calibrated model predicts...

Whether called ‘planning’ or ‘zoning’, land markets are regulated in many cities and countries over the world. These interventions ensure the provision of certain amenities but researchers are increasingly becoming aware of the repercussions they have in land and housing markets, as well as in other segments of the economy. This chapter introduces welfare economics – though not an approach wide...

Economists, as well as psychologists and philosophers, have become increasingly interested in self-reported measures of well-being, what they mean, and whether they might be used for policymaking. This interest parallels a renewed awareness of the limitations of standard measures of GDP (and allied measures), as well as a wish to redirect measurement away from GDP in an era when growth rates ar...