Date(s): May 22, 2014, 1:00-2:30pm

Location: Room 6124, William Jefferson Clinton West Building, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC

Contact: Carl Pasurka, 202-566-2275

Presenter(s): By Lucija Muehlenbachs (University of Calgary and Resources for the Future)

Description: Using data from Pennsylvania and New York and an array of empirical techniques to control for confounding factors, we recover hedonic estimates of property value impacts from shale gas development that vary with geographic scale, water source, well productivity, and visibility. Results indicate large negative impacts on nearby groundwater-dependent homes, while piped-water-dependent homes exhibit smaller positive impacts, suggesting benefits from lease payments. At a broader geographic scale, we find that new wellbores increase property values, but these effects diminish over time. Undrilled permits cause property values to decrease. Results have implications for the debate over regulation of shale gas development.

The presentation is based on research coauthored by By Lucija Muehlenbachs (University of Calgary and Resources for the Future), Elisheba Spiller (Environmental Defense Fund), and Christopher Timmins (Department of Economics, Duke University).

Seminar Category: Environmental Economics