Using a geographic information system to estimate an hedonic price model of the benefits of woodland access

Abstract

Summary -The hedonic price method may be used to investigate the effect that the attributes of a product have on its market price. In the case of housing, this methodology has been used to look at the premium that the amenity offered by nearby woodland adds to house prices. The interpretation of the results of these studies is difficult and is the subject of some debate. In particular, it has been argued that the aesthetic benefits of woodland, as a component of landscape, cannot be enumerated using the hedonic approach. This paper adopts a broader approach and uses hedonic pricing to estimate the amenity benefits gained by local residents from access to woodland. To accomplish this a geographic information system is used to improve the data available to the hedonic price model from which estimates of the residential access benefits of woodland are derived. forests has largely been ignored. Recently, it has In addition to their commercial value, forests become more widely accepted that such nonand woodlands are an integral part of the market values should be taken into account British landscape and an important source of when making decisions likely to lead to changes recreational amenity. Unlike more conventional in environmental quality. forest outputs such as timber, the benefits asso- A number of techniques are available to esticiated with landscape and informal recreation mate the non-market benefits of woodland, cannot conveniently be measured as they do not Contingent valuation methods can be used to usually attract a market price. In the past, this elicit how much the public is willing to pay for has meant that the economic value of any of the improvements to woodland quality or for so-called non-market goods associated with improved access. Revealed preference C Institute of Ounered ForcKerj, 1997