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Exotic Forest Insects and Residential Property Values

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Thomas P. Holmes ,
Elizabeth A. Murphy  and
Kathleen P. Bell
Thomas P. Holmes
Affiliation:
Southern Research Station at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Elizabeth A. Murphy
Affiliation:
Department of Economics and Legal Studies in Business at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma
Kathleen P. Bell
Affiliation:
Department of Resource Economics and Policy at the University of Maine, Orono, Maine
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Abstract

This paper presents a case study of the economic damages to homeowners in a northern New Jersey community due to an exotic forest insect—the hemlock woolly adelgid. Hedonic property value methods are used to estimate the effect of hemlock health on property values. A statistically significant relationship between hemlock health and residential property values is established. Moreover, there are some signs of spillover impacts from hemlock decline, as negative effects are realized on the parcels where the declining hemlock stands are located as well as on neighboring properties. These results give some indication of the benefits of potential control programs and strategies and also show support for community- or neighborhood-based programs in residential settings.

Keywords

invasive specieseconomic impactshedonic property valuesgeneral spatial model
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 35 , Issue 1 , April 2006 , pp. 155 - 166
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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