Does the construction of biogas plants affect local property values?

Marco Modica

GSSI - Gran Sasso Science Institute, Viale F. Crispi, 7, 67100 L’Aquila - Italy

CNR-IRCRES, National Research Council, Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth, via Corti, 12, 20133 Milan - Italy

corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Abstract

Although biogas is considered a renewable source of energy, the social acceptability of biogas plants is controversial due to resistance from local communities who are afraid of potential local negative externalities. This paper aims to investigate this claim, by means of a diff-in-diff model, using evidence from the housing market of Piedmont, where 167 biogas plants were opened between 2006 and 2015. The results show no significant impact of the opening of a biogas plant on housing values in neighboring areas.

Keywords

Urban housing market; biogas plant; undesirable facilities; quasi-experiment.

JEL codes: O18, Q42, Q51, R31

DOI: 10.23760/2421-7158.2018.006

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How to Cite this Article

Modica M., 2018. Does the construction of biogas plants affect local property values?, Working Paper IRCrES, 4(6). http://dx.doi.org/10.23760/2421-7158.2018.006