The Local Economic and Welfare Consequences of Hydraulic Fracturing
Exploiting geological variation within shale deposits and timing in the initiation of hydraulic fracturing, this paper finds that allowing fracing leads to sharp increases in oil and gas recovery and improvements in a wide set of economic indicators. At the same time, estimated willingness-to-pay (WTP) for the decrease in local amenities (e.g., crime and noise) is roughly equal to -$1000 to -$1,600 per household annually (-1.9% to -3.1% of mean household income). Overall, we estimate that WTP for allowing fracing equals about $1,300 to $1,900 per household annually (2.5% to 3.7%), although there is substantial heterogeneity across shale regions.
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Copy CitationAlexander W. Bartik, Janet Currie, Michael Greenstone, and Christopher R. Knittel, "The Local Economic and Welfare Consequences of Hydraulic Fracturing," NBER Working Paper 23060 (2017), https://doi.org/10.3386/w23060.Download Citation
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Published Versions
Alexander W. Bartik & Janet Currie & Michael Greenstone & Christopher R. Knittel, 2019. "The Local Economic and Welfare Consequences of Hydraulic Fracturing," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, vol 11(4), pages 105-155. citation courtesy of 
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