Tel: 64 3 479 8359
Email: paul.thorsnes@otago.ac.nz
Room 523, 5th Floor, Otago Business School
Paul's research interests are primarily in the areas of urban and environmental economics and policy. Topics of recent and current research include study of interactions among urban amenities (local public goods) and residential development patterns, estimates of the values of urban amenities using data from house sales and stated choice surveys, and studies of variation in stated and revealed preferences for household energy-efficiency retrofits. Paul's teaching interests are in applied microeconomics, urban economics, and environmental economics.
Selected publications
Thorsnes, Paul, Robert Alexander and David Kidson (2015), “Low-income housing in high-amenity areas: Long-run effects on residential development,” Urban Studies, 52(2): 261-278.
Thorsnes, Paul and Tim Bishop (2013) “The value of basic building code insulation,” Energy Economics, 37: 68-81.
Thorsnes, Paul, John Williams and Rob Lawson (2012), "Consumer responses to time varying prices for electricity," Energy Policy, 49(1): 552-561.
Moore, Terry and Paul Thorsnes, with Bruce Appleyard (2007), The Transportation/Land Use Connection, Chicago: American Planning Association.
Thorsnes, Paul and John Reifel (2007), "Tiebout dynamics: Neighbourhood response to a central-city/suburban house-price differential," Journal of Regional Science, 47(4): 693-719.
McMillen, Daniel P. and Paul Thorsnes (2006), "Housing renovations and the quantile repeat sales price index", Real Estate Economics, 34(4): 567-584.
McMillen, Daniel P. and Paul Thorsnes (2003). "The aroma of Tacoma: Time varying average derivatives and the effect of a Superfund site on housing prices," Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Vol. 21(2), pp. 237-246.
Thorsnes, Paul (2002), "The value of a suburban forest preserve: Estimates from sales of vacant residential building lots," Land Economics, Vol. 78(3), pp. 426-441.
Thorsnes, Paul (2000). "Internalizing neighbourhood externalities: The effect of subdivision size and zoning on residential lot prices," Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 48, pp. 397-418.
Thorsnes, Paul and Daniel P. McMillen (1998). "Land value and parcel size: A semiparametric analysis," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Vol. 17, pp. 233-244.
Thorsnes, Paul (1997). "Consistent estimates of the elasticity of substitution between land and non-land inputs in the production of housing," Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 42, pp. 98-108.
Teaching responsibilities
Paul's teaching responsibilities include: