Estimating the cost of air pollution in South East Queensland: An application of the life satisfaction non-market valuation approach
Survey
HILDA
Author(s)
Date Issued
2013-02
Keywords
Air Pollution
Life Satisfaction
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Happiness
Abstract
Making use of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey coupled with air pollution data generated by The Air Pollution Model (TAPM), this paper employs the life satisfaction approach to estimate the cost of air pollution from human activities in South East Queensland. This paper offers at least three improvements over much of the existing literature: (1) within- (as opposed to cross-) country variations in air pollution are considered; (2) very high resolution air pollution data is employed; and (3) weather variables are included as controls within the life satisfaction function. A strong negative relationship is found between ambient concentrations of PM10 and life satisfaction, yielding a substantial willingness-to-pay for pollution reduction.
Conference Name
Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics 57th Annual Conference
Conference Location
Sydney
Conference Start date
2013-02-05
Conference End date
2013-02-08
Subjects
Subject Keywords
DSS Main category
DSS Sub-category
Type
Conference Papers
