Shale gas has grown to become a major new source of energy in countries around the globe. While its importance for energy supply is well recognized, there has also been public concern over potential risks from hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’). Although commercial development has not yet taken place in the UK, licenses for drilling were issued in 2008, signalling potential future development. This paper examines whether public fears about fracking affect house prices in areas that have been licensed for shale gas exploration. Our estimates suggest differentiated effects. Licensing did not affect house prices but fracking the first well in 2011, which caused two minor earthquakes, did. We find a 3.9–4.7 percent house price decrease in the area where the earthquakes occurred. The earthquakes were too minor to have caused any damage but we find the effect on prices extends to a radius of about 25 km served by local newspapers. This evidence suggests that the earthquakes and newspaper coverage increased awareness of exploration activity and fear of the local consequences.

页岩气已经成长为全球各国的主要新能源。尽管其在能源供应中的重要性已得到公认，但公众也关注水力压裂（“压裂”）的潜在风险。尽管英国尚未进行商业开发，但在2008年已颁发了钻探许可证，这标志着潜在的未来发展。本文研究了公众对压裂的担忧是否会影响已获得页岩气勘探许可的地区的房价。我们的估计表明差异化的影响。许可证发放并未影响房价，但2011年第一口油井的压裂却造成了两次小地震。我们发现地震发生地区的房价下降了3.9-4.7％。地震很小，没有造成任何破坏，但我们发现对价格的影响扩大到当地报纸服务的半径约25公里。这些证据表明，地震和报纸的报道增加了人们对勘探活动的认识，并增加了对当地后果的恐惧。