The amenity value of climate to households in Germany

Despite the importance of as comprehensive as possible damage cost estimates to cost benefit analyses of global attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, few researchers have attempted to monetize the direct impact of climate change on households. This study uses the hedonic technique to measure the amenity value of the climate to German households. Evidence suggests that the amenity value of climate variables is capitalized mainly into hedonic house price differentials. Overall, German households appear to prefer warmer winters with less rainfall. Combining estimates of amenity values with the predicted changes in climate associated with the IPCC's A2 emissions scenario we find that the overall impact of climate change on German households, whilst negative, is typically not statistically different from zero. This occurs in part because the prediction is for warmer but wetter winters and also because the amenity value of some climate variables cannot be measured with sufficient precision.