IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aare16/235236.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The hedonistic cost of the Black Saturday bushfires

Author

Listed:
  • Ambrey, Christopher L.
  • Fleming, Christopher M.
  • Manning, Matthew

Abstract

This study employs the experienced preference method to quantify the hedonistic cost of the Black Saturday bushfires, which started on and around the 7th of February 2009 in Victoria, Australia. Using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey and data from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) this study explores the spatial and temporal dimensions of the hedonistic costs of the Black Saturday Bushfires, a natural experiment. Specifically, this study reveals the size and nature of the psychological cost borne by those living near fire effected land. In doing so, this study makes a distinct contribution to both the non-market valuation literature and the economics of happiness literature. It is envisaged that the findings of this study will help inform decision makers, public debate and public policy on the magnitude and characteristics of the psychological costs associated with Black Saturday bushfires. Furthermore, these findings are more generally pertinent to understanding how the increased risks of bushfires caused by anthropogenic climate change may adversely affect human welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Ambrey, Christopher L. & Fleming, Christopher M. & Manning, Matthew, 2016. "The hedonistic cost of the Black Saturday bushfires," 2016 Conference (60th), February 2-5, 2016, Canberra, Australia 235236, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aare16:235236
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.235236
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/235236/files/the%20hedonistic%20upload.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.235236?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Loomis, John, 2004. "Do nearby forest fires cause a reduction in residential property values?," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 149-157, November.
    2. Christopher Ambrey & Christopher Fleming, 2014. "Life Satisfaction in Australia: Evidence from Ten Years of the HILDA Survey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(2), pages 691-714, January.
    3. Susana Ferreira & Mirko Moro, 2010. "On the Use of Subjective Well-Being Data for Environmental Valuation," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 46(3), pages 249-273, July.
    4. A. Westerling & B. Bryant & H. Preisler & T. Holmes & H. Hidalgo & T. Das & S. Shrestha, 2011. "Climate change and growth scenarios for California wildfire," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 109(1), pages 445-463, December.
    5. Bruno S. Frey & Simon Luechinger & Alois Stutzer, 2010. "The Life Satisfaction Approach to Environmental Valuation," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 139-160, October.
    6. E. Stavros & John Abatzoglou & Donald McKenzie & Narasimhan Larkin, 2014. "Regional projections of the likelihood of very large wildland fires under a changing climate in the contiguous Western United States," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 126(3), pages 455-468, October.
    7. Derek T. O'Donnell & Tyron J. Venn & David E. Calkin, 2014. "Are wildfire management resources in the United States efficiently allocated to protect resources at risk? A case study from Montana," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 318-332.
    8. Ambrey, Christopher L. & Fleming, Christopher M., 2014. "The causal effect of income on life satisfaction and the implications for valuing non-market goods," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 131-134.
    9. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell, 2013. "Happiness economics," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 35-60, March.
    10. Welsch, Heinz, 2009. "Implications of happiness research for environmental economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2735-2742, September.
    11. Richardson, Leslie A. & Champ, Patricia A. & Loomis, John B., 2012. "The hidden cost of wildfires: Economic valuation of health effects of wildfire smoke exposure in Southern California," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 14-35.
    12. Ng, Yew-Kwang, 1997. "A Case for Happiness, Cardinalism, and Interpersonal Comparability," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(445), pages 1848-1858, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Athukorala, Wasantha & Martin, Wade & Wilson, Clevo & Rajapaksa, Darshana, 2019. "Valuing bushfire risk to homeowners: Hedonic property values study in Queensland, Australia," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 44-56.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. García-Mainar, Inmaculada & Montuenga, Víctor M. & Navarro-Paniagua, María, 2015. "Workplace environmental conditions and life satisfaction in Spain," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 136-146.
    2. Welsch, Heinz & Ferreira, Susana, 2014. "Environment, Well-Being, and Experienced Preference," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 7(3-4), pages 205-239, December.
    3. O'Donnell, Gus & Oswald, Andrew J., 2015. "National well-being policy and a weighted approach to human feelings," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 59-70.
    4. Oswald, Andrew J., 2012. "The Value to the Environmental Movement of the New Literature on the Economics of Happiness," Economic Research Papers 270625, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    5. Ambrey, Christopher L. & Fleming, Christopher M. & Chan, Andrew Yiu-Chung, 2014. "Estimating the cost of air pollution in South East Queensland: An application of the life satisfaction non-market valuation approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 172-181.
    6. Eleftherios Giovanis, 2019. "Worthy to lose some money for better air quality: applications of Bayesian networks on the causal effect of income and air pollution on life satisfaction in Switzerland," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 1579-1611, November.
    7. Ambrey, Christopher L. & Fleming, Christopher M. & Manning, Matthew, 2016. "The hedonistic cost of the Black Saturday bushfires," 2016 Conference (60th), February 2-5, 2016, Canberra, Australia 235304, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    8. Welsch, Heinz & Biermann, Philipp, 2016. "Measuring nuclear power plant externalities using life satisfaction data: A spatial analysis for Switzerland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 98-111.
    9. Yuan, Liang & Shin, Kongjoo & Managi, Shunsuke, 2018. "Subjective Well-being and Environmental Quality: The Impact of Air Pollution and Green Coverage in China," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 124-138.
    10. Pan Zhang & Zhiguo Wang, 2019. "PM 2.5 Concentrations and Subjective Well-Being: Longitudinal Evidence from Aggregated Panel Data from Chinese Provinces," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-13, March.
    11. Emilio Colombo & Alessandra Michelangeli & Luca Stanca, 2014. "La Dolce Vita : Hedonic Estimates of Quality of Life in Italian Cities," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(8), pages 1404-1418, August.
    12. Bertram, Christine & Rehdanz, Katrin, 2015. "The role of urban green space for human well-being," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 139-152.
    13. Ambrey, Christopher L. & Chan, Andrew Yiu-Chung & Fleming, Christopher M., 2013. "Estimating the cost of air pollution in South East Queensland: An application of the life satisfaction non-market valuation approach," 2013 Conference (57th), February 5-8, 2013, Sydney, Australia 152133, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    14. Ambrey, Christopher L. & Fleming, Christopher M., 2011. "Valuing scenic amenity using life satisfaction data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 106-115.
    15. Edsel L. Beja, 2017. "The Asymmetric Effects of Macroeconomic Performance on Happiness: Evidence for the EU," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 52(3), pages 184-190, May.
    16. Ólafsdóttir, Thorhildur & Ásgeirsdóttir, Tinna Laufey & Norton, Edward C., 2020. "Valuing pain using the subjective well-being method," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    17. Christopher Ambrey & Christopher Fleming, 2014. "Valuing Ecosystem Diversity in South East Queensland: A Life Satisfaction Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 115(1), pages 45-65, January.
    18. Juncal Cuñado & Fernando Gracia, 2013. "Environment and Happiness: New Evidence for Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 549-567, July.
    19. Gustavo Ahumada & Victor Iturra & Mauricio Sarrias, 2020. "We Do Not Have the Same Tastes! Evaluating Individual Heterogeneity in the Preferences for Amenities," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 53-74, January.
    20. Tanner, Sophia & Garnache, Cloe, 2017. "The Cost of Wildfires in Heavily Urbanized Areas: A Hedonic Approach," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 259167, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Risk and Uncertainty;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ags:aare16:235236. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaresea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.