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Quality Of Life, Firm Productivity, And The Value Of Amenities Across Canadian Cities

Author

Listed:
  • David Albouy

    (University of Michigan)

  • Fernando Leibovici

    (New York University)

  • Casey Warman

    (Queen's University)

Abstract

This paper presents the first hedonic general-equilibrium estimates of quality-of-life and firm productivity differences across Canadian cities, using data on local wages and housing costs. These estimates account for the unobservability of land rents and geographic differences in federal and provincial tax burdens. Quality of life estimates are generally higher in CanadaÂ’s larger cities: Victoria, Vancouver are the nicest overall, particularly for Anglophones, while Montreal and Ottawa are the nicest for Francophones. These estimates are positively correlated with estimates in the popular literature and may be explained by differences in climate. Toronto is CanadaÂ’s most productive city; Vancouver, the overall most valued city.

Suggested Citation

  • David Albouy & Fernando Leibovici & Casey Warman, 2012. "Quality Of Life, Firm Productivity, And The Value Of Amenities Across Canadian Cities," Working Paper 1287, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    • Handle: RePEc:qed:wpaper:1287
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    File URL: https://www.econ.queensu.ca/sites/econ.queensu.ca/files/qed_wp_1287.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    quality of life; firm productivity; cost-of-living; firm productivity; compensating wage differentials;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • R1 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics

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