Revisiting the Boston data set - Changing the units of observation affects estimated willingness to pay for clean air

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.