Fri., Oct. 25, 2024: AGI Seminar “Aversion to “Bads” and Neglect of “Goods”: Effect of Enhanced Public Environmental Awareness on Housing Prices” (online) [finished]

We invite researchers who are engaged in research on Asia and hold AGI Seminars. Your participation is more than welcome!

*This seminar will be online and free of charge.

*Please refer to the following for details.

Date and Time

Friday, October 25, 2024 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
*A question-and-answer session is scheduled at the end of the presentation.

Presenter

Dr. Jing LAN, Professor, Nanjing Agricultural University, China

Title

Aversion to “Bads” and Neglect of “Goods”: Effect of Enhanced Public Environmental Awareness on Housing Prices

Abstract

This study investigates the influence of the increased public environmental awareness on housing prices in Shanghai, using data on second-hand housing transactions and industrial pollution sources. To estimate this impact, we adopt a regression discontinuity design and exploit the “environmentally sensitive” period as a quasi-natural experiment when public environmental awareness experienced a notable boost due to the whole society’s heightened recognition of the importance of environmental protection. Our results indicate that, after controlling for the effects of other neighborhood amenities and disamenities, the enhanced public environmental awareness leads to a differentiation in housing prices based on environmental quality. Specifically, the increase in public environmental awareness has a significant negative impact on housing prices near industrial pollution sources (i.e., areas with poorer environmental quality), but the impact on housing prices further away from industrial pollution sources (i.e., areas with better environmental quality) is not significant. This impact is observed within a distance threshold of 0.5 kilometers, suggesting that the increase in societal environmental consciousness generates a loss sensitivity effect among the public towards environmental products. This reveals the true attitude of the public towards environmental products and services, as represented by monetary value, which is to avoid pollution but not willing to pay for a better environment.

Language

English presentation and material(s)

Presenter Biography

Dr. Jing Lan is a professor at Nanjing Agricultural University in China. She received her Ph.D. in Public Economics from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Japan in 2013 and began her tenure at Nanjing Agricultural University in China as an Associated Professor in April 2014. Her expertise lies in policy analysis within environmental and resource economics. She has led and participated in several major research projects, including those on poverty alleviation, farmland transfer, and social networks in agriculture, supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Environmental Protection, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Lan has published over 50 academic papers, including more than 30 SSCI/SCI articles and 3 highly cited ESI (Essential Science Indicators) papers, in journals such as Environment and Resource Economics, World Development, Land Use Policy, Resources and Energy Economics, and Journal of Environmental Management. She is also dedicated to student development and has been recognized with awards such as the Outstanding Young Backbone Teacher of the ‘Qing Lan Project’ of Jiangsu Provincial Government and the ‘Zhongshan Academic New Talents’ of Nanjing Agricultural University.