Benefits and ancillary costs of natural infrastructure: Evidence from the New Jersey coast

TitleBenefits and ancillary costs of natural infrastructure: Evidence from the New Jersey coast
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2017
AuthorsJ.Dundas, S
JournalJournal of Environmental Economics and Management
Volume85
Start Page62
Pagination80
Abstract

This paper empirically estimates the economic impacts of a large-scale public investment in natural infrastructure aimed at adapting to climate change and increasing coastal resilience. I utilize temporal and spatial variation in investment in dunes to provide a hedonic property value estimate of the economic benefits. I identify the net effect of treatment utilizing the doubly robust Oaxaca-Blinder estimator and show that coastal housing price increases attributable to constructed dunes are approximately 3.6%. A decomposition of the average impact suggests that the policy intervention generates ancillary costs related to impaired ocean views and privacy concerns that partially offset large protection benefits.