IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/idb/brikps/3806.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

A New Way of Monitoring the Quality of Urban Life

Author

Listed:
  • Lora, Eduardo
  • Powell, Andrew

Abstract

This paper proposes a methodology to resolve the problems that result from using a combination of objective and subjective information in evaluating urban quality of life. The paper further suggests techniques to identify and rank issues of potential importance for urban dwellers. In order to combine objective and subjective information in a coherent manner and focus on the most relevant dimensions of the quality of life in a city or neighborhood, the paper attempts to exploit the complementary nature of two approaches: the "hedonic" approach, which employs market prices for housing, and the "life satisfaction" approach, which addresses subjective well-being. Results using both approaches in selected Latin American cities are discussed and compared. The paper concludes with a discussion of potential uses of the two-pronged methodology for policy analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Lora, Eduardo & Powell, Andrew, 2011. "A New Way of Monitoring the Quality of Urban Life," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 3806, Inter-American Development Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:idb:brikps:3806
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/A-New-Way-of-Monitoring-the-Quality-of-Urban-Life.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra E. Black, 1999. "Do Better Schools Matter? Parental Valuation of Elementary Education," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 577-599.
    2. Gardner, Jonathan & Andrew Oswald, 2002. "Does Money Buy Happiness? A Longitudinal Study Using Data on Windfalls," Royal Economic Society Annual Conference 2002 81, Royal Economic Society.
    3. Robert J. MacCulloch & Rafael Di Tella & Andrew J. Oswald, 2001. "Preferences over Inflation and Unemployment: Evidence from Surveys of Happiness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(1), pages 335-341, March.
    4. John M. Clapp & Stephen L. Ross, 2004. "Schools and Housing Markets: An Examination of School Segregation and Performance in Connecticut," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(499), pages 425-440, November.
    5. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-659, May.
    6. Bruno S. Frey & Simon Luechinger & Alois Stutzer, "undated". "Valuing Public Goods: The Life Satisfaction Approach," IEW - Working Papers 184, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    7. Bernard M. S. van Praag & Barbara E. Baarsma, 2005. "Using Happiness Surveys to Value Intangibles: The Case of Airport Noise," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(500), pages 224-246, January.
    8. Kenneth Y. Chay & Michael Greenstone, 2005. "Does Air Quality Matter? Evidence from the Housing Market," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(2), pages 376-424, April.
    9. Michael Greenstone & Justin Gallagher, 2008. "Does Hazardous Waste Matter? Evidence from the Housing Market and the Superfund Program," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(3), pages 951-1003.
    10. Alesina, Alberto & Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert, 2004. "Inequality and happiness: are Europeans and Americans different?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 2009-2042, August.
    11. Patrick Bayer & Fernando Ferreira & Robert McMillan, 2007. "A Unified Framework for Measuring Preferences for Schools and Neighborhoods," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 115(4), pages 588-638, August.
    12. Guillermo Cruces & Andres Ham & Martin Tetaz, 2008. "Quality of Life in Buenos Aires Neighborhoods: Hedonic Price Regressions and the Life Satisfaction Approach," Research Department Publications 3260, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    13. John F. Kain & John M. Quigley, 1975. "Housing Markets and Racial Discrimination: A Microeconomic Analysis," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number kain75-1.
    14. Matias D. Cattaneo & Sebastian Galiani & Paul J. Gertler & Sebastian Martinez & Rocio Titiunik, 2009. "Housing, Health, and Happiness," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 75-105, February.
    15. van Praag, Bernard M.S. & Gandelman, Néstor & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, Ada & Ham, Andrés & Lora, Eduardo & Tetaz, Martín & Medina, Carlos & Sanguinetti, Pablo & Cruces, Guillermo & Piani, Giorgina & Alcáza, 2010. "The Quality of Life in Latin American Cities: Markets and Perception," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 364.
    16. van Praag, B. M. S. & Frijters, P. & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A., 2003. "The anatomy of subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 29-49, May.
    17. Blomquist, Glenn C & Berger, Mark C & Hoehn, John P, 1988. "New Estimates of Quality of Life in Urban Areas," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(1), pages 89-107, March.
    18. John F. Kain & John M. Quigley, 1975. "Introduction to "Housing Markets and Racial Discrimination: A Microeconomic Analysis"," NBER Chapters, in: Housing Markets and Racial Discrimination: A Microeconomic Analysis, pages 1-8, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Luis Santos & Isabel Martins, 2007. "Monitoring Urban Quality of Life: The Porto Experience," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 80(2), pages 411-425, January.
    20. Darwin Cortés & Luis F. Gamboa & Jorge I. González, 1999. "ICV: hacia una medida de estándar de vida," Coyuntura Social 13028, Fedesarrollo.
    21. Moulton, Brent R., 1986. "Random group effects and the precision of regression estimates," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 385-397, August.
    22. Liliana Winkelmann & Rainer Winkelmann, 1998. "Why Are the Unemployed So Unhappy?Evidence from Panel Data," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 65(257), pages 1-15, February.
    23. Olga Lucía Acosta & Jose Alberto Guerra & David Mauricio Rivera, 2005. "Acceso de los hogares a los principales servicios públicos y sociales y percepciones de calidad sobre estos servicios," Borradores de Investigación 1986, Universidad del Rosario.
    24. Gyourko, Joseph & Linneman, Peter & Wachter, Susan, 1999. "Analyzing the Relationships among Race, Wealth, and Home Ownership in America," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 63-89, June.
    25. Bruno S. Frey, 2008. "Happiness: A Revolution in Economics," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262062771, April.
    26. Mingche M. Li & H. James Brown, 1980. "Micro-Neighborhood Externalities and Hedonic Housing Prices," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 56(2), pages 125-141.
    27. Roger Madrigal & Juan Robalino & Luis J. Hall, 2008. "Quality of Life in Urban Neighborhoods in Costa Rica," Research Department Publications 3263, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    28. John F. Kain & John M. Quigley, 1975. "Racial Discrimination in Urban Housing Markets," NBER Chapters, in: Housing Markets and Racial Discrimination: A Microeconomic Analysis, pages 56-91, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    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. Jarillo, Brenda & Magaloni, Beatriz & Franco, Edgar & Robles, Gustavo, 2016. "How the Mexican drug war affects kids and schools? Evidence on effects and mechanisms," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 135-146.
    2. repec:grz:wpaper:2015-05 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Mohamed A. Abdrabo & Mahmoud A. Hassaan & Rofida G. Abdelwahab, 2022. "A spatial hedonic approach for modeling the relationship between quality of urban life and housing prices, case study: Alexandria city, Egypt," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 59-77, April.
    4. Luigi Doria, 2023. "Reading cases of local quality of life assessment as incomplete and socio-politically contentious practices," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1393-1420, April.
    5. Velásquez, Liliana, 2011. "La importancia de los bienes públicos en la calidad de vida local: El caso de Manizales, Colombia," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 3121, Inter-American Development Bank.
    6. Hashem Dadashpoor & Nina Khalighi, 2016. "Investigating Spatial Distribution of Regional Quality of Life (RQoL) in Iran Between 1996 and 2011," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 1217-1248, July.
    7. František Petrovič & František Murgaš, 2021. "Description Relationship between Urban Space and Quality of Urban Life. A Geographical Approach," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Ilyes Bougouffa & Ariva Sugandi Permana, 2018. "A Study on the Linkages between Residential Satisfaction and the Overall Quality of Life in Bandar Tun Razak Area of Kuala Lumpur City, Malaysia," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(4), pages 991-1013, December.

    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. Eduardo Lora & Andrew Powell, 2011. "A New Way of Monitoring the Quality of Urban Life," Research Department Publications 4729, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    2. 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.
    3. Gibbons, Stephen & Silva, Olmo, 2011. "School quality, child wellbeing and parents' satisfaction," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 312-331, April.
    4. Kaisa Kotakorpi & Jani‐Petri Laamanen, 2010. "Welfare State and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from Public Health Care," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 77(307), pages 565-583, July.
    5. Byela Tibesigwa & Martine Visser & Brennan Hodkinson, 2016. "Effects of Objective and Subjective Income Comparisons on Subjective Wellbeing," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 361-389, August.
    6. Leonardo Becchetti & Alessandra Pelloni, 2013. "What are we learning from the life satisfaction literature?," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 60(2), pages 113-155, June.
    7. Brereton, Finbarr & Clinch, J. Peter & Ferreira, Susana, 2008. "Happiness, geography and the environment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 386-396, April.
    8. Di Tella, Rafael & MacCulloch, Robert, 2008. "Gross national happiness as an answer to the Easterlin Paradox?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 22-42, April.
    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. Leonardo Becchetti & Elena Giachin Ricca & Alessandra Pelloni, 2009. "The 60s Turnaround as a Test on the Causal Relationship between Sociability and Happiness," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 209, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    11. Jeffrey P. Cohen & Cletus C. Coughlin & Jonas C. Crews & Stephen L. Ross, 2020. "The Closing of a Major Airport: Immediate and Longer-Term Housing Market Effects," Working Papers 2020-001, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised 19 Jan 2021.
    12. Banzhaf, H. Spencer & Farooque, Omar, 2013. "Interjurisdictional housing prices and spatial amenities: Which measures of housing prices reflect local public goods?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(4), pages 635-648.
    13. 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.
    14. Verme, Paolo, 2009. "Happiness, freedom and control," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 146-161, August.
    15. Aguilar, Alexandra Cortés & García Muñoz, Teresa M. & Moro-Egido, Ana I., 2013. "Heterogeneous self-employment and satisfaction in Latin America," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 44-61.
    16. van Hoorn, Andre, 2016. "Reliability and Validity of the Happiness Approach to Measuring Preferences," MPRA Paper 79977, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Carlsen, Fredrik & Langset, Bjørg & Rattsø, Jørn & Stambøl, Lasse, 2009. "Using survey data to study capitalization of local public services," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 688-695, November.
    18. Bahadır Dursun & Resul Cesur, 2016. "Transforming lives: the impact of compulsory schooling on hope and happiness," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 29(3), pages 911-956, July.
    19. 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.
    20. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2004. "Money, Sex and Happiness: An Empirical Study," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 106(3), pages 393-415, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    IDB-WP-272; quality of life; Urban quality of life; Latin America; Well-being; city and town life; quality of life index; human development index; social develompment index; ordinary least squares; life satisfaction;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D19 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Other
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • H42 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Private Goods
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

    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:idb:brikps:3806. 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: Felipe Herrera Library (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iadbbus.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.