Fear of Nuclear Power? Evidence from Fukushima Nuclear Accident and Land Markets in China

Regional Science and Urban Economics

Hongjia Zhu, Yongheng Deng, Rong Zhu, Xiaobo He

Abstract

This paper examines whether the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Accident (FNA) changed the Chinese public's attitude toward nuclear energy by studying transactions in land markets near nuclear power plants in China. Using a data set that matched the details of all nuclear reactors in China with information on land transactions around them before and after the FNA, we find that the accident had dynamic effects on land markets in China. Land prices within 40 km of nuclear power plants dropped by about 18% one month after the nuclear accident. However, the impact of FNA decreased over the longer term, eventually becoming statistically insignificant. Also, the impacts of the disaster varied with plant characteristics such as operating status, construction year, and size.

Keywords: Fukushima nuclear accident; Nuclear energy; Environment; Land market; China

JEL classification: H50; O18; Q40; Q53; R30