The impact of traffic noise on the capitalization of public walking area: A hedonic analysis of Vienna, Austria.

Traffic noise is a burden at home and outdoors. Economic literature confirms mostly negative effects of traffic noise on house prices, often based on distance between high noise and house location. We extend this literature using rich micro data to examine not only the impact of traffic noise at the house but also provide new results on the impact of traffic noise in public areas surrounding a home. Using Hedonic regression in Vienna, Austria, we confirm that very loud traffic noise (≥65 dB) experienced at the house reduces housing prices and further show that the value of public walking areas near a home, while positive overall, are substantially reduced when exposed to noise. Our findings help to establish spatial patterns in noise capitalization reflecting household exposure and the impact on the capitalized values of public areas in a context where active transportation (e.g. walking, biking) is an important mode of transportation. For policymakers, our findings help quantify and raise important questions as how to address and link the public bad nature of noise pollution to nearby residents.

Spread externalities and the implications of heterogeneous ecological capacity constraints.

We develop a spatial-dynamic model of resource management in the presence of externalities, such as the spread of harmful invasive species, and show that ecological capacity constraints influence optimal management strategies across space. We use integer-programming methods to solve for optimal control strategies in both homogeneous and heterogeneous landscapes. Using the spread of gypsy moths as an application, our results show that optimal levels of control vary over space in landscapes with heterogeneous capacity constraints. Optimal outcomes depend on the marginal costs and damages associated with the externality and the emergence of spread externalities from relative differences in population levels between adjacent patches. In models with high degrees of heterogeneity, we show that a naïve policy assuming homogeneous carrying capacity results in a significantly higher welfare losses from the externality.

The impact of intensity on perceived risk from unconventional shale gas development.

The recent boom in the extraction of natural gas from subsurface shale deposits due to advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling technologies has raised concern around environmental risks. Reliable measures of how residents view these risks are therefore a necessary first step in evaluating policies that regulate the industry through risk mitigation measures. We conduct a choice experiment targeting residents in an area of Ohio with significant shale drilling activity, and find that households are willing to pay to avoid high intensities of shale development and truck traffic. Our analysis presents new policy-relevant evidence of preferences associated with unconventional shale gas reserves, and highlights the tradeoffs between activity intensity at each site and the number of sites in aggregate.

Reeling in the damages: Harmful algal blooms' impact on Lake Erie's recreational fishing industry.

Lake Erie is one of the most valuable natural resources in the United States, providing billions of dollars in benefits each year to recreationalists, homeowners and local governments. The ecosystem services provided by Lake Erie, however, are under threat due to harmful algal blooms. This paper provides recreational damage estimates using spatially and temporally varying algae measures and monthly fishing permit sales collected between 2011 and 2014. Results indicate that fishing license sales drop between 10% and 13% when algal conditions surpass the World Health's Organization's moderate health risk advisory threshold of 20,000 cyanobacteria cells/mL. For Lake Erie adjacent counties experiencing a large, summer-long algal bloom, this would result in approximately 3600 fewer fishing licenses issued and approximately $2.25 million to $5.58 million in lost fishing expenditures. Our results show a discrete jump in reduced angling activity upon crossing this threshold, with limited additional impacts associated with more severe algal blooms. This suggests that policies aimed at eliminating, rather than mitigating, algal levels are most beneficial to the Ohio angling industry.