Benefit-Transfer and Spatial Equilibrium

Compelling empirical evidence suggests that people move in response changes in pollution and that firms move in response to regulation. We investigate the problem of benefit estimation and transfer in the context of a simple model where firms and people can move in response to regulation and pollution. Including these margins of adjustment changes the problem of benefit-transfer. It requires the evaluation of policies that affect more than one region at a time. This suggests an important role for evaluation strategies based on easily observable indicators of local welfare like total population, real income net of real estate, or the use of elementary standardized models of spatial equilibrium.