The hedonic pricing model is widely accepted as a method for estimating the marginal willingness to pay for spatially delineated amenities. Empirical applications typically rely on one of three functional forms—linear, semi-log, and double-log—and rarely involve rigorous specification testing. This phenomenon is largely due to an influential simulation study by Cropper, Deck and McConnell (CDM) (1988) that found, among other things, that simpler linear specifications outperformed more flexible functional forms in the face of omitted variables. In the 20 years that have elapsed since their study, there have been major computational advances and significant changes in the way hedonic price functions can be estimated. The purpose of our paper is to update and... |