

@mastersthesis {6572,
	title = {Infrastructure, property values, and housing choice: {An} application of property value models in the developing country context},
	year = {2003},
	note = {3112039},
	school = {The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill},
	type = {phdPh.{D}.},
	address = {Ann Arbor},
	abstract = {This dissertation uses hedonic and random utility models to study the value of water infrastructure in Panama City, Quito, and Guayaquil. The study contributes a conceptual model of how water infrastructure affects property values, and how property values, water tariffs, and demand for services enter into housing choice decisions. The empirical results provide more detailed information about the value of water infrastructure in developing countries than has been produced in previous property value studies, but the study highlights the many difficulties involved in using these models to study infrastructure. The first of three empirical analyses in the dissertation uses hedonic analysis to examine implicit prices (market premiums) for different levels of water infrastructure (access to the water network but no connection, a yard tap, an in-house tap, connection to a utility-run versus community-run water service). The results show (1) that property markets can and do recognize differences in water service levels, (2) that having access to the water network (and thus the potential to connect to that network) can increase the market value of homes, and (3) that the implicit price of living in a home with a water connection is greater than the average monthly water bill. Komives finds evidence, however, to suggest that the hedonic price schedule may be overestimating the value of water infrastructure. The second study in the dissertation looks at how bundles of infrastructure services (water, electricity, toilet, telephone) affect the hedonic price schedule for housing in the three cities. The results show that in some cases the value of combinations of infrastructure connections is greater than the sum of the value of individual connections. The final empirical analysis estimates willingness to pay for water connections in Guayaquil using a random utility model and examines how willingness to pay varies with income. The model suggests that households at all income levels are willing to dedicate more than 10 percent of their monthly consumption to live in a home with water service. Weaknesses in the model, however, raise doubts about the reliability of the results.},
	keywords = {0501:Economics, 0999:Area planning \& development, 0999:Urban planning, Area planning \& development, Developing countries{\textendash}LDCs, developing country, economics, Housing, Infrastructure, Property values, Social sciences, Studies, Urban planning},
	url = {http://search.proquest.com/docview/305312263?accountid=14270},
	author = {Komives, Kristin}
}
