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Estimating Benefits from Regional Amenities: Internal Migration and Life Satisfaction

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  • Angela Faßhauer
  • Katrin Rehdanz

Abstract

This paper is the first to link economic theory with empirical life-satisfaction analyses referring to internal migration. We derive an extension of the Roback (1982) model to account for benefits from regional amenities in the utility function, while controlling for income, housing costs, and migration costs. Using highly disaggregated spatial panel information on people’s migration decisions and their life satisfaction for Germany, we provide an empirical investigation of the theoretical model by applying an individual fixed-effects model to rule out selection bias, while accounting for endogeneity of income. We find that short-term benefits from regional amenities represent about 21 percent of household income. These findings are robust to a number of alternative specifications.

Suggested Citation

  • Angela Faßhauer & Katrin Rehdanz, 2015. "Estimating Benefits from Regional Amenities: Internal Migration and Life Satisfaction," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 748, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp748
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    Cited by:

    1. Charlotte von Möllendorff & Heinz Welsch, 2017. "Measuring Renewable Energy Externalities: Evidence from Subjective Well-being Data," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 93(1), pages 109-126.
    2. Heinz Welsch & Philipp Biermann, 2019. "Poverty is a Public Bad: Panel Evidence From Subjective Well‐Being Data," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 65(1), pages 187-200, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Internal migration; regional amenities; life satisfaction; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A12 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Relation of Economics to Other Disciplines
    • C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population

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