NEW ESTIMATES OF CLIMATE DEMAND - EVIDENCE FROM LOCATION CHOICE

We develop and apply to Census data a new method for estimating climat e demand. The method is useful for ranking quality of life based upon a willingness to pay criterion. Our two major findings are that the wi llingness to pay quality of life index is correlated with the hedonic approach's ranking but that the migration approach generates much larg er estimates of willingness to pay for a more moderate climate. This f inding is relevant for evaluating the economic impact of global warmin g. (C) 1997 Academic Press.