Systematic Variation in Waste Site Effects on Residential Property Values: A Meta-Regression Analysis and Benefit Transfer

This article presents a meta-analysis based on 727 estimates from 83 hedonic pricing studies to provide new insights on the effects of waste sites on residential property values. Relative to previous meta-analyses on this subject, estimates are corrected for publication bias and the ability of the meta-regression model to produce reliable benefit-transfer estimates is assessed. Proximity to severely contaminated waste sites has a supremely negative impact on residential property values, whereas on average the distance from non-hazardous waste sites has no effect. Correcting for publication bias has a sizeable impact, reducing the average effect size by up to 38%. Benefit-transfer errors based on the meta-regression model are fairly large and, in line with the broader literature, outperform simple value transfer when the underlying data sample is heterogeneous.