Revisiting the Boston data set (Harrison and Rubinfeld, 1978): a case study in the challenges of system articulation.

Abstract

In the extended topical sphere of Regional Science, more scholars are addressing empirical questions using spatial and spatio-temoral data. An emerging challenge is to alert “new arrivals” to existing bodies of knowledge that can inform the ways in which they structure their work. It is a particular matter of opportunity and concern that most of the data used is secondary. This contribution is a brief review of questions of system articulation and support, illuminated retrospectively by a deconstruction of the Harrison and Rubinfeld (1978) Boston data set and hedonic house value analysis used to elicit willingness to pay for clean air.