Premium
Quality of life, firm productivity, and the value of amenities across Canadian cities
Author(s) -
Albouy David,
Leibovici Fernando,
Warman Casey
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
canadian journal of economics/revue canadienne d'économique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1540-5982
pISSN - 0008-4085
DOI - 10.1111/caje.12017
Subject(s) - metropolitan area , census , productivity , wage , geography , land values , value (mathematics) , agricultural economics , demographic economics , socioeconomics , economics , economic growth , labour economics , land use , demography , sociology , population , civil engineering , archaeology , machine learning , engineering , computer science
We estimate quality‐of‐life and productivity differences across Canada's metropolitan areas in a hedonic general‐equilibrium framework. These are based on the estimated willingness‐to‐pay of heterogeneous households and firms to locate in various cities, which differ in their wage levels, housing costs, and land values. Using 2006 Canadian Census data, our metropolitan quality‐of‐life estimates are somewhat consistent with popular rankings, yet find Canadians care more about climate and culture. Quality of life is highest in Victoria for anglophones, Montreal for francophones, and Vancouver for allophones, and lowest in more remote cities. Toronto is Canada's most productive city; Vancouver is the overall most valuable city.