Working Paper: NBER ID: w29718
Authors: Michael Coury; Toru Kitagawa; Allison Shertzer; Matthew Turner
Abstract: We estimate the impact of piped water and sewers on property values in late-19th century Chicago. The cost of sewer construction depends sensitively on imperceptible variation in elevation, and such variation delays water and sewer service to part of the city. This delay provides quasi-random variation for causal estimates. We extrapolate ATE estimates from our natural experiment to the area treated with water and sewer service during 1874-1880 using a new estimator. Water and sewer access increases property values by more than a factor of two. This exceeds costs by about a factor of 60.
Keywords: piped water; sewers; property values; 19th century; Chicago
JEL Codes: L97; N11; O18; R3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| access to piped water and sewers (L95) | property values (R33) |
| spatial discontinuity in sewer construction timing (L74) | access to piped water and sewers (L95) |
| spatial discontinuity in sewer construction timing (L74) | property values (R33) |
| access to piped water and sewers (L95) | benefits exceed costs (H43) |