IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v134y2017icp250-257.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Invasive Species Impacts on Human Well-being Using the Life Satisfaction Index

Author

Listed:
  • Jones, Benjamin A.

Abstract

Invasive alien species are known to be disruptive to the natural environment and can lead to sharp reductions in environmental quality, thereby affecting social welfare. However, little is known about how subjective well-being, in particular, is impacted by invasive species. This is troubling because it precludes credible empirical considerations of the full-range of social externalities when setting invasive species management policy. To address this knowledge gap, this paper provides the first estimates of invasive species impacts on subjective well-being using the life satisfaction (“happiness”) index. The approach is applied to the invasive emerald ash borer (EAB), a particularly virulent ash tree attacking pest in North America. Using a repeated cross-sectional fixed effects design, the impact of EAB detection on life satisfaction (LS) is estimated for individuals living in 189 counties in 15 US states over 2005–2011. Results suggest that after EAB detection, LS is reduced by 0.127 on a 4-point scale [95% CI: −0.002, −0.252]. The magnitude of impacts are greatest after a 5-year lag and are largest among young adults (18–24years).

Suggested Citation

  • Jones, Benjamin A., 2017. "Invasive Species Impacts on Human Well-being Using the Life Satisfaction Index," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 250-257.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:134:y:2017:i:c:p:250-257
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.01.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092180091631401X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.01.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Kahneman & Peter P. Wakker & Rakesh Sarin, 1997. "Back to Bentham? Explorations of Experienced Utility," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(2), pages 375-406.
    2. Welsch, Heinz, 2007. "Environmental welfare analysis: A life satisfaction approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(3-4), pages 544-551, May.
    3. Gregori Baetschmann & Kevin E. Staub & Rainer Winkelmann, 2015. "Consistent estimation of the fixed effects ordered logit model," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 178(3), pages 685-703, June.
    4. Alison L. Sexton Ward & Timothy K. M. Beatty, 2016. "Who Responds to Air Quality Alerts?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 65(2), pages 487-511, October.
    5. Janet Currie, 2009. "Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Socioeconomic Status, Poor Health in Childhood, and Human Capital Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 87-122, March.
    6. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    7. Paul Frijters & John P. Haisken-DeNew & Michael A. Shields, 2004. "Money Does Matter! Evidence from Increasing Real Income and Life Satisfaction in East Germany Following Reunification," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 730-740, June.
    8. Jérôme Silva & Femke de Keulenaer & Nick Johnstone, 2012. "Environmental Quality and Life Satisfaction: Evidence Based on Micro-Data," OECD Environment Working Papers 44, OECD Publishing.
    9. MacKerron, George & Mourato, Susana, 2009. "Life satisfaction and air quality in London," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1441-1453, March.
    10. Joshua Graff Zivin & Matthew Neidell, 2013. "Environment, Health, and Human Capital," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 689-730, September.
    11. Dickerson, Andy & Hole, Arne Risa & Munford, Luke A., 2014. "The relationship between well-being and commuting revisited: Does the choice of methodology matter?," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 321-329.
    12. von Möllendorff, Charlotte & Hirschfeld, Jesko, 2016. "Measuring impacts of extreme weather events using the life satisfaction approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 108-116.
    13. Welsch, Heinz, 2006. "Environment and happiness: Valuation of air pollution using life satisfaction data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 801-813, July.
    14. Jones, Benjamin A., 2016. "Work more and play less? Time use impacts of changing ecosystem services: The case of the invasive emerald ash borer," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 49-58.
    15. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, July.
    16. Liu, Lirong & Piper, Brian, 2016. "Predicting the total economic impacts of invasive species: The case of B. rubostriata(red streaked leafhopper)," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 139-146.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jones, Benjamin A. & McDermott, Shana M., 2018. "The economics of urban afforestation: Insights from an integrated bioeconomic-health model," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 116-135.
    2. Veldhuizen, Caroline, 2021. "Conceptualising the foundations of sustainability focused innovation policy: From constructivism to holism," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    3. Yao, Richard T. & Wallace, Lisa, 2024. "A systematic review of non-market ecosystem service values for biosecurity protection," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    4. C. Diagne & B. Leroy & Rodolphe Gozlan & A.-C. Vaissière & C. Assailly & L. Nuninger & David A Roiz & Frédéric Jourdain & I. Jarić & F. Courchamp, 2020. "InvaCost, a public database of the economic costs of biological invasions worldwide," Post-Print hal-03085161, HAL.
    5. Shuai Zhang & Binbin Liu & Dajian Zhu & Mingwang Cheng, 2018. "Explaining Individual Subjective Well-Being of Urban China Based on the Four-Capital Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-14, September.
    6. Li, Xiaoshu & Boyle, Kevin J. & Preisser, Evan L. & Holmes, Thomas P. & Orwig, David, 2022. "Property value effects of the Hemlock wooly adelgid infestation in New England, U.S.A," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    7. Jones, Benjamin A., 2018. "Forest-attacking Invasive Species and Infant Health: Evidence From the Invasive Emerald Ash Borer," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 282-293.
    8. Li Ma & Yueting Qin & Han Zhang & Jie Zheng & Yilei Hou & Yali Wen, 2021. "Improving Well-Being of Farmers Using Ecological Awareness around Protected Areas: Evidence from Qinling Region, China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-22, September.
    9. Jones, Benjamin A., 2023. "Can invasive species lead to sedentary behavior? The time use and obesity impacts of a forest-attacking pest," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    10. Jones, Benjamin A., 2019. "Infant health impacts of freshwater algal blooms: Evidence from an invasive species natural experiment," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 36-59.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jones, Benjamin A., 2018. "Measuring externalities of energy efficiency investments using subjective well-being data: The case of LED streetlights," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 18-32.
    2. Eleftherios Giovanis, 2019. "Worthy to lose some money for better air quality: applications of Bayesian networks on the causal effect of income and air pollution on life satisfaction in Switzerland," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 1579-1611, November.
    3. Han, Ahram & Ten, Gi Khan & Wang, Shun, 2023. "Gray skies and blue moms: The effect of air pollution on parental life satisfaction," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    4. García-Mainar, Inmaculada & Montuenga, Víctor M. & Navarro-Paniagua, María, 2015. "Workplace environmental conditions and life satisfaction in Spain," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 136-146.
    5. Welsch, Heinz & Ferreira, Susana, 2014. "Environment, Well-Being, and Experienced Preference," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 7(3-4), pages 205-239, December.
    6. Ferreira, Susana & Akay, Alpaslan & Brereton, Finbarr & Cuñado, Juncal & Martinsson, Peter & Moro, Mirko & Ningal, Tine F., 2013. "Life satisfaction and air quality in Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 1-10.
    7. Tiziana Laureti, 2014. "Life satisfaction and environmental conditions in Italy: a pseudo-panel approach," Discussion Papers 2014/192, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    8. Welsch, Heinz, 2009. "Implications of happiness research for environmental economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2735-2742, September.
    9. Dolan, Paul & Fujiwara, Daniel & Metcalfe, Robert, 2011. "A step towards valuing utility the marginal and cardinal way," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121714, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. Levinson, Arik, 2012. "Valuing public goods using happiness data: The case of air quality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(9-10), pages 869-880.
    11. Xingmin Shi & Xueping Li & Xieyang Chen & Luping Zhang, 2022. "Objective air quality index versus subjective perception: which has a greater impact on life satisfaction?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(5), pages 6860-6877, May.
    12. Zerrahn, Alexander & Krekel, Christian, 2015. "Sowing the Wind and Reaping the Whirlwind? The Effect of Wind Turbines on Residential Well-Being," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112956, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. Stöckel, Jannis & van Exel, Job & Brouwer, Werner B.F., 2023. "Adaptation in life satisfaction and self-assessed health to disability - Evidence from the UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    14. Jan Urban & Vojtěch Máca, 2013. "Linking Traffic Noise, Noise Annoyance and Life Satisfaction: A Case Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    15. Geraci, Andrea & L. Bryan, Mark, 2016. "Non-standard work: what’s it worth? Comparing alternative measures of workers’ marginal willingness to pay," ISER Working Paper Series 2016-12, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    16. Frijters, Paul & Clark, Andrew E. & Krekel, Christian & Layard, Richard, 2020. "A happy choice: wellbeing as the goal of government," Behavioural Public Policy, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 126-165, July.
    17. Katrin Rehdanz & Welsch Heinz & Daiju Naritaa & Toshihiro Okubod, 2013. "Well-being effects of a major negative externality: The case of Fukushima," Working Papers V-358-13, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Jul 2013.
    18. Stutzer, Alois & Frey, Bruno S., 2012. "Recent Developments in the Economics of Happiness: A Selective Overview," IZA Discussion Papers 7078, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Oznur Ozdamar & Eleftherios Giovanis, 2017. "The Causal Effects of Income Support and Housing Benefits on Mental Well-Being: An Application of a Bayesian Network," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(3), pages 398-424, July.
    20. Berlemann, Michael & Eurich, Marina, 2021. "Natural hazard risk and life satisfaction – Empirical evidence for hurricanes," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Life satisfaction; Invasive species; Environmental quality; Emerald ash borer; Well-being;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q57 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Ecological Economics
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:134:y:2017:i:c:p:250-257. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.