IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/regeco/v68y2018icp268-276.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Valuing sunshine

Author

Listed:
  • Fleming, David
  • Grimes, Arthur
  • Lebreton, Laurent
  • Maré, David
  • Nunns, Peter

Abstract

Sunlight influences people's housing decisions, but city intensification may reduce sunlight exposure for neighboring properties, causing a negative externality. There are hitherto no rigorous estimates of the cost of this externality. Using over 5000 observations on house sales in Wellington, New Zealand, we derive the willingness to pay for an extra daily hour of sunlight, on average, across the year. After controlling for locational sorting and other considerations in an hedonic regression, we find that each extra daily hour of sunlight exposure is associated with a 2.6% increase in house sale price. This estimate is robust to a variety of alternative specifications in which we test for non-linearities and amplifying factors by interacting sunlight with a range of other influences. Our results can be used to price negative externalities caused by new development, so replacing or augmenting regulations designed to address impacts of development on neighbors’ sunshine.

Suggested Citation

  • Fleming, David & Grimes, Arthur & Lebreton, Laurent & Maré, David & Nunns, Peter, 2018. "Valuing sunshine," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 268-276.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:68:y:2018:i:c:p:268-276
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2017.11.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166046217302387
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2017.11.008?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    • David Fleming & Arthur Grimes & Laurent Lebreton & David C Maré & Peter Nunns, 2017. "Valuing Sunshine," Working Papers 17_13, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Edward L. Glaeser, Jed Kolko, and Albert Saiz, 2001. "Consumer city," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 1(1), pages 27-50, January.
    2. Rappaport, Jordan, 2007. "Moving to nice weather," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 375-398, May.
    3. Dastrup, Samuel R. & Graff Zivin, Joshua & Costa, Dora L. & Kahn, Matthew E., 2012. "Understanding the Solar Home price premium: Electricity generation and “Green” social status," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(5), pages 961-973.
    4. Kwong-Wing Chau & S.K. Wong & Y. Yau & A.K.C. Yeung, 2007. "Determining Optimal Building Height," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(3), pages 591-607, March.
    5. Olga Filippova, 2009. "The influence of submarkets on water view house price premiums in New Zealand," International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 2(1), pages 91-105, March.
    6. Yan Kestens & Marius Thériault & François Des Rosiers, 2004. "The Impact of Surrounding Land Use and Vegetation on Single-Family House Prices," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 31(4), pages 539-567, August.
    7. Mark D. Partridge, 2010. "The duelling models: NEG vs amenity migration in explaining US engines of growth," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(3), pages 513-536, August.
    8. Jacob Macdonald & Sofia Franco, 2016. "Tree canopies, urban green amenities and the residential real estate market: Remote sensing and spatial hedonic applications to Lisbon, Portugal," ERSA conference papers ersa16p640, European Regional Science Association.
    9. Arthur Grimes & Eyal Apatov & Larissa Lutchman & Anna Robinson, 2016. "Eighty years of urban development in New Zealand: impacts of economic and natural factors," New Zealand Economic Papers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(3), pages 303-322, September.
    10. Wei Li & Jean-Daniel Saphores, 2012. "A Spatial Hedonic Analysis of the Value of Urban Land Cover in the Multifamily Housing Market in Los Angeles, CA," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(12), pages 2597-2615, September.
    11. Kuminoff, Nicolai V. & Jarrah, Abdul Salam, 2010. "A new approach to computing hedonic equilibria and investigating the properties of locational sorting models," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 322-335, May.
    12. Sylvia Kämpfer & Michael Mutz, 2013. "On the Sunny Side of Life: Sunshine Effects on Life Satisfaction," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(2), pages 579-595, January.
    13. Mark Ferguson & Kamar Ali & M. Rose Olfert & Mark Partridge, 2007. "Voting with Their Feet: Jobs versus Amenities," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1), pages 77-110, March.
    14. Paul Cheshire & Stefano Magrini, 2006. "Population growth in European cities: Weather matters - but only nationally," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(1), pages 23-37.
    15. Bayer, Patrick & Timmins, Christopher, 2005. "On the equilibrium properties of locational sorting models," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 462-477, May.
    16. Glaeser, Edward L & Gyourko, Joseph & Saks, Raven, 2005. "Why Is Manhattan So Expensive? Regulation and the Rise in Housing Prices," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 48(2), pages 331-369, October.
    17. Robert J. Hill, 2013. "Hedonic Price Indexes For Residential Housing: A Survey, Evaluation And Taxonomy," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(5), pages 879-914, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Skyscrapers and Shadows: The Value of Sunshine in the City
      by Jason Barr in Skynomics Blog on 2019-03-13 12:35:33

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Barr, Jason, 2022. "The economics of skyscrapers: A synthesis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    2. Richard H. Rijnks & Stephen Sheppard, 2018. "Occupant Well-Being and House Values," Department of Economics Working Papers 2018-05, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    3. Cuberes, David & Roberts, Jennifer & Sechel, Cristina, 2019. "Household location in English cities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 120-135.
    4. Jason Barr & Jennifer Johnson, 2020. "Skyscrapers and the Happiness of Cities," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 344-377, April.
    5. Panduro, Toke Emil & Jensen, Cathrine Ulla & Lundhede, Thomas Hedemark & von Graevenitz, Kathrine & Thorsen, Bo Jellesmark, 2018. "Eliciting preferences for urban parks," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 127-142.

    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. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Tobias D. Ketterer, 2012. "Do Local Amenities Affect The Appeal Of Regions In Europe For Migrants?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 535-561, October.
    2. Kate Preston & David C Maré & Arthur Grimes & Stuart Donovan, 2018. "Amenities and the attractiveness of New Zealand cities," Working Papers 18_14, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    3. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2014. "The Growth of Cities," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 5, pages 781-853, Elsevier.
    4. Harry Garretsen & Gerard Marlet, 2011. "The Relevance of Amenities and Agglomeration for Dutch Housing Prices," CESifo Working Paper Series 3498, CESifo.
    5. Ernest Miguélez & Rosina Moreno, 2014. "What Attracts Knowledge Workers? The Role Of Space And Social Networks," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 33-60, January.
    6. Alessandra Faggian & M. Rose Olfert & Mark D. Partridge, 2011. "Inferring regional well-being from individual revealed preferences: the 'voting with your feet' approach," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 5(1), pages 163-180.
    7. Ye Liu & Jianfa Shen, 2014. "Spatial patterns and determinants of skilled internal migration in China, 2000–2005," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(4), pages 749-771, November.
    8. Bianca Biagi & Alessandra Faggian & Philip McCann, 2011. "Long and Short Distance Migration in Italy: The Role of Economic, Social and Environmental Characteristics," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(1), pages 111-131.
    9. repec:elg:eechap:14395_22 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Tobias Ketterer & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2015. "Local quality of government and voting with one’s feet," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 55(2), pages 501-532, December.
    11. Huasheng Song & Min Zhang & Ruqu Wang, 2016. "Amenities and spatial talent distribution: evidence from the Chinese IT industry," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 9(3), pages 517-533.
    12. Klaus Desmet & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2013. "Urban Accounting and Welfare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2296-2327, October.
    13. Hilber, Christian A.L. & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2013. "On the origins of land use regulations: Theory and evidence from US metro areas," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 29-43.
    14. Kahn, Matthew E. & Walsh, Randall, 2015. "Cities and the Environment," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 405-465, Elsevier.
    15. Luca Verginer & Massimo Riccaboni, 2021. "Stem cell legislation and its impact on the geographic preferences of stem cell researchers," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(1), pages 163-189, March.
    16. Heather M. Stephens & Mark D. Partridge, 2015. "Lake Amenities, Environmental Degradation, and Great Lakes Regional Growth," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 38(1), pages 61-91, January.
    17. Lenzi, Camilla, 2016. "Co-invention networks and inventive productivity in US citiesAuthor-Name: Breschi, Stefano," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 66-75.
    18. Mark D. Partridge, 2010. "The duelling models: NEG vs amenity migration in explaining US engines of growth," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(3), pages 513-536, August.
    19. Allen J. Scott, 2010. "Jobs or amenities? Destination choices of migrant engineers in the USA," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(1), pages 43-63, March.
    20. Puga, Diego & Duranton, Gilles, 2019. "Urban growth and its aggregate implications," CEPR Discussion Papers 14215, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Bo Feng & Mark Partridge & Mark Rembert, 2018. "The Perils of Modelling How Migration Responds to Climate Change," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Roger R. Stough & Karima Kourtit & Peter Nijkamp & Uwe Blien (ed.), Modelling Aging and Migration Effects on Spatial Labor Markets, chapter 0, pages 53-75, Springer.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    R2; R3; Sunlight; House price; Hedonic model; View; Elevation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets
    • N50 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - General, International, or Comparative

    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:eee:regeco:v:68:y:2018:i:c:p:268-276. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: . General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/regec .

    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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/regec .

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.