TY - RPRT AU - Albouy, David AU - Graf, Walter AU - Kellogg, Ryan AU - Wolff, Hendrik TI - Climate Amenities, Climate Change, and American Quality of Life PY - 2013/Apr/ PB - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA) CY - Bonn T2 - IZA Discussion Paper IS - 7339 UR - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp7339 AB - We present a hedonic framework to estimate U.S. households' preferences over local climates, using detailed weather and 2000 Census data. We find that Americans favor an average daily temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit, will pay more on the margin to avoid excess heat than cold, and are not substantially more averse to extremes than to temperatures that are merely uncomfortable. These preferences vary by location due to sorting or adaptation. Changes in climate amenities under business-as-usual predictions imply annual welfare losses of 1 to 3 percent of income by 2100, holding technology and preferences constant. KW - temperature profiles KW - quality of life KW - climate change KW - climate amenities KW - heterogeneous preferences ER -