Implicit amenity prices and the location of retirees in England and Wales

Abstract

General equilibrium models in which compensation for local amenities occurs in both housing and labour markets have been widely used to generate implicit amenity prices and regional quality of life indices. An implication and prospective test of such models is that individuals who are outside the labour market have an incentive to locate in regions where amenities are capitalised into wages. In this paper we construct a measure of the extent of amenity capitalisation into wages for each county in England and Wales. We then test the multimarket amenity model by applying this measure to county-level data on the location of retirees. Our results provide strong support for the model.

Senior Migration: Spatial Considerations of Amenity and Health Access Drivers*

“…Given this ambiguity, identifying other nontax local characteristics that may increase retiree migration is imperative. To draw these retiree migrants, the local government needs to be aware of the specific resources and amenities they have with the potential to attract retirees (Reeder, 1998;Louisiana Retirement Development Center, 2006;Lee and Stewart, 2010).…”