<i>La Dolce Vita</i>: Hedonic Estimates of Quality of Life in Italian Cities

Abstract

Colombo E., Michelangeli A. and Stanca L. La dolce vita: hedonic estimates of quality of life in Italian cities, Regional Studies. This paper investigates quality of life in Italian cities using the hedonic approach. It analyses micro-level data for housing and labour markets to estimate compensating differentials for local amenities within four domains: weather, environment, services and society. Large compensating differentials in housing markets are found, whereas the effects on wages are relatively small. Quality of life varies substantially across space and is generally better in large and medium-sized cities of the Centre–North. Services and social conditions are strongly related to overall quality of life. It is also found that, across cities, quality of life is positively and significantly related to subjective well-being.