Full Citation

Title: Are Big Cities Really Bad Places to Live? Improving Quality-of-Life Estimates across Cities

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2009

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Abstract: The standard revealed-preference hedonic estimate of a city's quality of life is proportional to that city's cost-of-living relative to its wage-level. Adjusting the standard hedonic model to account for federal taxes, non-housing costs, and non-labor income produces quality-of-life estimates different from the existing literature. The adjusted model produces city rankings positively correlated with those in the popular literature, and predicts how housing costs rise with wage levels, controlling for amenities. Mild seasons, sunshine, and coastal location account for most quality-of-life differences; once these amenities are accounted for, quality of life does not depend on city size, contrary to previous findings.

Url: http://closup.umich.edu/files/closup-wp-5-cities-qol.pdf

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Authors: Albouy, David

Series Title: CLOSUP Working Paper Series

Publication Number: 5

Institution: University of Michigan

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Publisher Location: Ann Arbor

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Migration and Immigration, Other

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