Happiness, geography and the environment

Brereton, Finbarr; Clinch, J. Peter; Ferreira, Susana

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2007.07.008

Cited by 375 publications

(292 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…We argue that there might be an upward bias arising from the endogeneity of income, measurement errors and comparison effects. Externalities provided by water pollution, and proximity to landfills have a negative effect, although it is not statistically significant, as in Brereton et al (2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Data on location-specific factors were linked to individuals' SWB and characteristics by matching the respondents' electoral division (ED) using GIS (as in Brereton et al, 2008), as it is recognized that at local level "the linkage between environment and happiness is even more articulate than it is with respect to national data" (Welsch, 2006 p. 11). The use of GIS modelling provides a methodological improvement over previous studies that have studied the impact of location-specific amenities on SWB.…”

Section: Environmental Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the Use of Subjective Well-Being Data for Environmental Valuation

Ferreira

Moro

2010

Environ Resource Econ

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This paper explores the potential of using subjective well-being (SWB) data to value environmental attributes. A theoretical framework compares this method, also known as the lifesatisfaction approach, with the standard hedonic pricing approach, identifying their similarities and differences. As a corollary, we show how SWB data can be used to test for the equilibrium condition implicit in the hedonic approach (i.e., equality of utility across locations). Results for Ireland show that the equilibrium condition required by the hedonic pricing approach in Irish markets does not hold. They also show that air quality, in the baseline specification, and warmer climate, across all the specifications, have a significant positive impact on SWB. Their associated monetary estimates, however, seem too large.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Section: Environmental Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Use of Subjective Well-Being Data for Environmental Valuation

Ferreira

Moro

2010

Environ Resource Econ

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166

150

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“…With respect to use, Kroesen et al (2010) indeed found air plane users to be more satisfied living in an aircraft exposure area. Results of studies including travel time are however mixed: some found a negative relation (Choi et al, 2013), while others did not find any significant effects (Brereton et al, 2008). This brings us back to the relevance of perceptions.…”

Section: Accessibility Nuisance and Residential Satisfactionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Within this range, accessibility can be considered constant. Brereton et al (2008) for example found that people living in proximity to a major road are less happy. However, although more constant on shorter distance, accessibility effects may extend far beyond the immediate vicinity of the road.…”

Section: Accessibility Nuisance and Residential Satisfactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residential satisfaction close to highways: The impact of accessibility, nuisances and highway adjustment projects

Hamersma

Tillema

Sussman

et al. 2014

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice

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In this paper we focus on gaining insight into the residential satisfaction of households near highways, based on survey data collected among 1,225 respondents in the Netherlands living within 1,000 meters from a highway. Ordinal regression was used to study the impact of highway externalities on residential satisfaction. Moreover, we gained first insights into the reactions of people on highway adjustment projects, by studying people's expectations towards residential satisfaction as a consequence of the project with use of a multinomial logistic regression analysis. On average, 85 percent of respondents reported being satisfied with living near a highway. Regarding explanatory characteristics, subjective evaluations of air and noise nuisance and of accessibility are of comparable importance and seem to outperform objective exposure calculations or distance from the highway or access lane in explaining residential satisfaction. Moreover highway interest is directly reflected in a higher satisfaction. However, other factors such as neighborhood design, traffic safety and social cohesion are important as well. People react differently to highway adjustment plans, negative expectations being highly driven by current negative feelings towards nuisance, and positive expectations by personal interest in accessibility and a positive attitude towards cars. An important implication could be the notion that exposure is not the same as perceived nuisance, which may give reason to be cautious when making transportation planning decisions based solely on calculations. In addition, the finding that other (neighborhood) factors are also very important in explaining residential satisfaction is interesting when thinking about compensating for the negative effects of a highway in the neighborhood. Also, the results regarding reactions to an announced highway adjustment project might be used to better adjust the planning process to the characteristics of the residents in the area. Further research is necessary to deepen the results, for example through the addition of other road project locations, interviews and longitudinal data.Keywords: highway infrastructure planning, accessibility, nuisance, residential satisfaction, planned highway adjustment projects. Highlights We studied the impact of negative (nuisance) and positive (accessibility) highway externalities and a highway adjustment project on residential satisfaction near highways.  Perceived nuisance and accessibility influence residential satisfaction, but other neighborhood factors are also important.  Perceptions of accessibility and nuisance outweigh objective measures (exposure levels, distance from highway/accesslane).  Highway users show a higher satisfaction level.  Expectations towards highway adjustment projects are mixed; highway users and people who like driving in particular have more positive expectations, currently hindered people more negative expectations.3

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“…For example Lee et al (2008) relied on the Schwartz's theory of values to explain the differences between individuals in choice experiments studies. Other studies on the shaping of preferences are those on the line pointed out by Norton et al (1998) regarding institutional or by Seong-Hoon et al (2007), Brereton et al (2007) or Soliño et al (2009), following the proposal by Fishbein and Azjen (1975), which basically refer to the fact that preferences are inspired by the social and regional environment in which individuals live.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%