Recent economic analyses emphasize that designated open-space increases the rents on neighboring residential land, and likewise, the probability of undeveloped land converting to residential uses. This paper addresses a different question: What is the effect of local open space conservation on...

This study uses hedonic analysis to estimate the effects of a common aquatic invasive species--Eurasian Watermilfoil (milfoil)--on property values across an extensive system of over 170 lakes in the northern forest region of Wisconsin. Since milfoil is inadvertently spread by recreational...

This paper develops a theoretical model to analyze the spatial targeting of incentives for the restoration of forested landscapes when wildlife habitat can be enhanced by reducing fragmentation. The key theoretical result is that the marginal net benefits of increasing forest are convex,...

In this paper we analyze the efficiency of voluntary incentive-based land-use policies for biodiversity conservation. Two factors combine to make it difficult to achieve an efficient result. First, the spatial pattern of habitat across multiple landowners is important for determining...

This paper develops a joint econometric-simulation framework to forecast detailed empirical distributions of the spatial pattern of land-use and ecosystem change. In-sample and out-of-sample forecasting tests are used to examine the performance of the parcel-scale econometric and simulation...

Spatial externalities can affect economic welfare and landscape pattern by linking farm returns on adjoining parcels of land. While policy can be informed by research that documents spatial externalities, statistically quantifying the presence of externalities from landscape pattern is...

This paper examines the effects of environmental zoning policies on lakefront land development, sorting, and economic welfare in a model where agents are heterogeneous in preferences and income. Agents consume lakefront amenities that are endogenous to development and the sorting process yields...