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Valuing nuclear energy risk: Evidence from the impact of the Fukushima crisis on U.S. house prices

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  • Tanaka, Shinsuke
  • Zabel, Jeffrey

Abstract

Behavioral economics suggests that individuals overweight recent unexpected and/or rare events when updating beliefs. This study investigates the effect of such an event, the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011, on the learning process of a local environmental risk by evaluating how perceptions of the risk of a nuclear accident are capitalized into house prices near nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the U.S. Our results provide new evidence on the dynamics of the effect – spatially, the impact was concentrated in a 4-km radius around NPPs, and temporally, it peaked a half year later and dissipated one year after the crisis.

Suggested Citation

  • Tanaka, Shinsuke & Zabel, Jeffrey, 2018. "Valuing nuclear energy risk: Evidence from the impact of the Fukushima crisis on U.S. house prices," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 411-426.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:88:y:2018:i:c:p:411-426
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2017.12.005
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Nitsch, Volker & Wendland, Nicolai, 2019. "Ease vs. noise: Long-run changes in the value of transport (dis)amenities," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Tang, Chuan & Czajkowski, Jeffrey & Heintzelman, Martin D. & Li, Minghao & Montgomery, Marilyn, 2020. "Rail accidents and property values in the era of unconventional energy production," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    4. Wun-Jheng Wu & Pei-Ing Wu & Je-Liang Liou, 2021. "Boon or Bane: Effect of Adjacent YIMBY or NIMBY Facilities on the Benefit Evaluation of Open Spaces or Cropland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, April.
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    6. Mei, Yingdan & Gao, Li & Zhang, Wendong & Yang, Feng-An, 2021. "Do homeowners benefit when coal-fired power plants switch to natural gas? Evidence from Beijing, China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    7. Jarvis, Stephen, 2021. "The economic costs of NIMBYism: evidence from renewable energy projects," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113653, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Wen‐Chi Liao & Yilan Luo & Yajie Sun, 2022. "Information shock of disaster and hazard: Impact of Kaohsiung gas explosions and risk disclosure on the equalizing difference in the housing market," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(6), pages 1492-1531, November.
    9. Stephen Jarvis & Olivier Deschenes & Akshaya Jha, 2022. "The Private and External Costs of Germany’s Nuclear Phase-Out," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(3), pages 1311-1346.
    10. Daniel Melser, 2023. "The housing market reaction to the combustible cladding crisis: Safety or financial concerns?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 60(4), pages 620-637, March.
    11. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Volker Nitsch & Nicolai Wendland, 2019. "Ease versus noise: long-run changes in the value of transport (dis)amenities," CEP Discussion Papers dp1631, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    12. Tripathi, Ishita, 2022. "Are terrorists responsible for anti-immigrant sentiments? Evidence from Europe," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    13. Jaromir Vrbka & Tomas Krulicky & Tomas Brabenec & Jan Hejda, 2020. "Determining the Increase in a Building’s Appreciation Rate Due to a Reconstruction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-13, September.
    14. Wang, Shanyong & Wang, Jing & Lin, Shoufu & Li, Jun, 2020. "How and when does information publicity affect public acceptance of nuclear energy?," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Learning; Information processing; Nuclear energy risk; Hedonic price; Model; Fukushima;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty
    • D83 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief; Unawareness
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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