Assessing the Efficiency of Local Open Space Provision

This paper tests the efficiency of local provision of land conservation. I examine how housing prices, which capitalize open space amenities and future tax obligations, change after municipalities vote on referendums for conservation spending. Using a dynamic regression discontinuity based on voting outcomes, results suggest that average housing prices increase about 0.68–1.12% for every $1000 per household of open space spending authorized, which indicates inefficiency and underprovision of conservation. I also examine tax capitalization and supply side explanations for estimated capitalization

Do Weather Fluctuations Cause People to Seek Information about Climate Change?

Learning about the causes and consequences of climate change can be an important avenue for supporting mitigation policy and efficient adaptation. This paper uses internet search activity data, a distinctly revealed preference approach, to examine if local weather fluctuations cause people to seek information about climate change. The results suggest that weather fluctuations do have an effect on climate change related search behavior, however not always in ways that are consistent with the projected impacts of climate change. While search activity increases with extreme heat in summer and extended periods of no rainfall and declines in extreme cold in winter, search activity also increases with colder winter and spring average temperatures. Some of the surprising results are magnified when heterogeneity by political ideology and educational attainment in responsiveness is modeled, which could suggest that different people have different perceptions about what types of weather define climate change or that climate science deniers seek information through Google. However, the results also indicate that for all groups in the political and educational spectrum, there exist weather events consistent with the predicted impacts of climate change that elicit increased information seeking

Heterogeneous Transport Costs and Spatial Sorting in a Model of New Economic Geography

Transportation costs are of central importance in the New Economic Geography literature, though assumptions about transportation costs continue to be simplistic. This paper begins to address these simplifications by assuming that transportation costs for manufactured goods are heterogeneous. Basic results are consistent with standard models showing dispersion of economic activity for high transport costs and eventual agglomeration as transport costs decline. However, several novel features arise too. Many unstable, dispersed equilibria exist for high average transport costs, but converge to a stable equilibrium path as transport costs decrease. Equilibrium paths smoothly transition from dispersion to agglomeration and do so at an increasing rate. Additionally, transport costs directly influence firms’ location decisions and firms spatially sort by transport cost

The Dynamics of House Price Responsiveness and Locational Sorting: Evidence from Air Quality Changes

Despite extensive use of housing data to reveal valuation of non-market goods, the process of house price adjustment remains vague. Using the restricted access American Housing Survey, a high-frequency panel of prices, turnover, and occupant characteristics, this paper examines the time path of prices and preference-based sorting in response to air quality changes caused by differential regulatory pressure from the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. The results suggest that owner-occupied units capitalize changes quickly, whereas rent prices lag behind amenity levels. The delayed but sharp rent response temporally coincides with evidence of sorting, indicating a strong link between location choices and price dynamics

Advanced Microwave Precipitation Radiometer (AMPR) Calibration and Geophysical Retrievals

No abstract availabl

House of the rising sun: The effect of utility-scale solar arrays on housing prices

While utility-scale solar energy is important for reducing dependence on fossil fuels, solar arrays use significant amounts of land (about 5 acres per MW of capacity) and may create local land use disamenities. This paper seeks to quantify the externalities from nearby solar arrays using the hedonic method. We study the states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which have high population densities and ambitious renewable energy goals. Using difference-in-differences, repeat sales identification strategies, results suggest that houses within 0.6 miles depreciate 1.5–3.6% following construction of a solar array. However, additional analysis reveals that this average effect is primarily driven by solar developments on farm and forest lands and in rural areas, which is intuitive given the composite impact of solar, loss of open space, and loss of rural character. For these states, the local disamenities are the same order of magnitude as the global benefits of abated carbon emissions, which helps explain local opposition to siting

The Mitigating Effect of Strategic Behavior on the Net Benefits of a Direct Load Control Program

Demand response is an important tool for utilities to manage load during peak periods. While the effects of demand response programs on peak load reductions are well studied and intuitive, assessments typically fail to recognize the potential for off-peak behavioral responses that may mitigate the total benefits of the program. Using smart meter consumption data on residential air conditioning units enrolled in a direct load control program, this paper examines changes in consumption prior to and after curtailment events. The results suggest substantial increases in off-peak consumption, which reduce energy, monetary, and environmental benefits of the program by over 40%

Are Fulbright Applicants Idealists or Opportunists?

The Fulbright program attracts applicants passionate about service and research abroad. Applicants apply to one country. To aid their decisions, competition statistics giving approximate probabilities of being awarded a scholarship are released for each country. This paper examines how competition statistics influence country choices. In aggregate, our results suggest that applicants are not swayed to apply to countries with low competition or deterred from countries with high competition. However, accounting for the difference in scholarship types and the macroeconomic context, there is strong evidence of opportunistic behavior by teaching applicants and for all applicants when the unemployment rate is high

Learn to Conserve: The Effects of In-School Energy Education on At-Home Electricity Consumption

Environmental education for school students, including lessons on recycling, water conservation, and energy reduction, is a popular measure aimed at increasing environmental knowledge, promoting environmental attitudes, and increasing pro-environmental behaviors. Despite the prevalence of such education, there is little empirical evidence to support the efficacy of these programs on tangible outcomes outside of school. This paper contributes an empirical analysis of a series of energy lessons in the United States. Using a differences-in-differences approach with a rich panel data set, we find evidence for short-term reductions on the order of eight percent in electricity use the day of a lesson regarding energy conservation via reducing phantom electric loads (standby power), with evidence of deferment in electricity use rather than true conservation. We find no effect of lessons on energy pathways or wind energy on the days of the lessons. Despite limited evidence of conservation, our results do indicate a connection between lessons learned in school and measurable behavior at home. Importantly, this research indicates that energy education could be a potentially valuable tool for policy regarding energy conservation and efficiency, though future research is needed to optimize the timing and content of such lessons

Seafood consumption during harmful algal blooms: The impact of information regarding safety and health

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can cause massive fish kills all over the world. However, some commercially caught species are safe to eat. The fish safe for consumption are vastly different from the fish that wash up on shore. Prior research finds this difference in edibility is mostly unknown by consumers, and that the misperception of unhealthy and unsafe fish is the dominant paradigm. To date, there has been minimal research on the effect of disseminating this information regarding seafood health to consumers, and how consumption habits would change during a bloom. We implement a survey that presents respondents with information explaining the health and safety of certain commercially caught seafood during a HAB, specifically red grouper. It is a particularly popular, large, deep-sea fish. Our results suggest that respondents receiving this information are 34 percentage points more likely to say that they would be willing to consume red grouper during a bloom, relative to consumers who were not provided this added information. Prior knowledge of this information suggests long-term outreach programs may be more effective than last minute “point of sale” information campaigns. The results demonstrated the importance of correct knowledge and awareness regarding HABs, as it pertains to efforts to stabilize local economies dependent on seafood harvesting and consumption