The Benefits of Reducing Exposure to Waste Disposal Sites: A Hedonic Housing Value Approach

Abstract

A large detailed data set is used to examine the relationship between housing prices and several environmental quality indicators representing air, water, and land influences. Our primary concern is the influence of waste site proximity on housing prices. The results indicate that individuals consider waste site proximity in their housing purchases, yielding a measurable price gradient with two important characteristics. First, the price gradient levels off with distance from the waste site. Second, distance from hazardous waste sites is more valuable than distance from nonhazardous waste sites. These results are relatively robust, remaining stable as estimated functional form and sample size varies.