MEASURING THE VALUE OF COMMUNITY

This paper presents a method for obtaining quantitative measures of the value of a community environment in terms of the change in income which would equalize utility across locations. It is applied in a longitudinal study of factory workers. The evaluations of community are presented both as changes in weekly wage income and as the present discounted value of the changes over the subject's future work life. The evaluations are substantially greater than the tangible costs of migration (e.g., moving expenses). Results are examined by race, sex, age, income, and homeownership. Analysis of the end-period data on the actual migration trends of the sample support the reliability of the measures. © 1979.