PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Blanchette, Alex
AU  - Lang, Corey
AU  - VanCeylon, Jarron
TI  - Variation in Valuation: Open Space and Geography
AID  - 10.3368/le.97.4.011720-0005R
DP  - 2021 Oct 08
TA  - Land Economics
PG  - 011720-0005R
4099  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/09/28/le.97.4.011720-0005R.short
4100  - http://le.uwpress.org/content/early/2021/09/28/le.97.4.011720-0005R.full
AB  - We estimate hedonic valuation models of local open space separately for 215 cities in the Eastern US, and derive city-specific marginal willingness to pay (MWTP). We then examine variation in MWTP and city-level determinants. Valuation is largely local – relatively large changes in income or existing conservation lead to modest changes in MWTP – suggesting validity of benefit transfer across regions. However, geographic features that naturally limit development do correlate with MWTP. As a result, we examine geographic features as instrumental variables, and find that on average steep slope and water/wetlands yield valuation coefficients of opposite sign, consistent with a LATE interpretation.