In the valuation of the effect of improved air quality through the estimation of hedonic models of house prices, the potential
“errors in variables” aspect of the interpolated air pollution measures is often ignored. In this paper, we assess the extent
to which this may affect the resulting empirical estimates for marginal willingness to pay (MWTP), using an extensive sample
of over 100,000 individual house sales for 1999 in the South Coast Air Quality Management District of Southern California.
We take an explicit spatial econometric perspective and account for spatial dependence and endogeneity using recently developed
Spatial 2SLS estimation methods. We also account for both spatial autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity in the error terms,
using the Kelejian–Prucha HAC estimator. Our results are consistent across different spatial weights matrices and different
kernel functions and suggest that the bias from ignoring the endogeneity in interpolated values may be substantial.
Keywords Spatial econometrics - Hedonic models - HAC estimation - Endogeneity - Air quality valuation - Real estate markets
JEL Classification C21 - Q51 - Q53 - R31
This paper is part of a joint research effort with James Murdoch (University of Texas, Dallas) and Mark Thayer (San Diego
State University). Their valuable input is gratefully acknowledged. The research was supported in part by NSF Grant BCS-9978058
to the Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science (CSISS), and by NSF/EPA Grant SES-0084213. Earlier versions were presented
at the 5th International Workshop on Spatial Econometrics and Statistics, Rome, Italy, May 2006, the 53th North American Meetings
of the Regional Science Association International, Toronto, ON, Nov. 2006, the 2007 Meetings of the Allied Social Science
Assocations, Chicago, IL, Jan 2007, and at departmental seminars at the University of Illinois. Comments by discussants and
participants are greatly appreciated. A special thanks to Harry Kelejian for his detailed and patient clarification of the
HAC estimator. The usual disclaimer holds.