Measuring the Value of Urban Consumption Amenities : A Time-Use Approach

Assessing the benefits of local consumption amenities is faced with two challenges. First, the benefits of consumption amenities (e.g. restaurants) are often spatially diffused. Evaluating the impact of consumption amenities on residents requires an understanding of how the amenity benefits diffuse through distance. Second, evaluating how each type of amenity (e.g. restaurants vs. gyms vs. museums) contributes to residents' welfare requires the identification of residents' preference for these amenities. I use an alternative approach to overcome these challenges by estimating a model of amenity choice using time-use surveys and geocoded data of amenity establishments. I then use the model to evaluate the welfare impact of consumption amenities. In the model, I allow agents at each location to choose bundles of visits to various types of consumption amenities based on their taste for each type of amenities, the substitutability between choices of amenity establishments, cost of visits and travel time. The model microfounds spatial diffusion and preference for amenities and empirically links these features to amenity visit patterns, which are observable in the time-use data. After estimating the model parameters, I use the model to assess the welfare effect of local consumption amenities