| Chapter One utilizes a hedonic pricing model with a Box-Cox functional form to discern the importance of air quality in the housing prices of various neighborhoods in Houston, Texas. The sample of over 4000 homes employed in the model includes not only detailed physical characteristics of the various properties, but also less tangible values of ozone level, crime, education, and others, which differ according to neighborhood. Chapter Two presents the results of a survey of Houston homeowners regarding ozone levels around the city. The responses are tested, and then corrected, for statistical coherence. In Chapter Three, the subjective survey data is used in the objective (hedonic) pricing model developed in Chapter One. The compelling issue is how the perceptions of homebuyers compare to observed ozone levels in the hedonic model, and which measure offers a better fit with the housing price data. Using 2-digit United States input-output accounts, Chapter Four features calculation and detailed algebraic decomposition of the U.S. energy intensities of production from 1987 to 1997. More specifically, the chapter seeks to determine whether technology improvement or change in segments of final demand contribute most to the decline in energy intensity over the period. |
