Academic literature on the topic '140218 Urban and Regional Economics'

In this set of essays, I grapple with issues related to the core questions of urban economics. Why are people so heavily clustered in urban areas? Why do some cities grow while others decline? What explains where people live within urban areas? My first essay focuses on understanding patterns of racial segregation within metro areas. One factor that has long been hypothesized to contribute to this divide, but has proven difficult to test empirically, is that local zoning regulations have an exclusionary impact on minority residents in some neighborhoods. I focus on variation in block-level racial composition within narrow bands around zone borders within jurisdictions. My results imply a large role for local zoning regulation, particularly the permitting of dense multi-family structures, in explaining disparate racial location patterns. The second essay returns to core issues of agglomeration and the role of cities. The fact that wages tend to be higher in cities, and that this premium grows with density, has been seen as strong evidence for urban agglomeration forces enhancing productivity. In modern data this density premium seems only to exist in areas with above average levels of human capital. Agglomeration models emphasizing learning and knowledge spillovers between workers in close proximity seem most compatible with the data. Finally, I investigate the impact of local governance structure on urban growth over the last 40 years. Some economists have touted the virtues of competition between fragmented local governments in efficient provision of local public goods, while regionalists have pointed to the need to coordinate planning and infrastructure across jurisdictions, and warned of the impacts of fractionalization on segregation and sprawl. While cities with regionalized governments have grown more rapidly, a small set of strong historical correlates with local government density can account for this. Impacts on segregation are more robust.
Economics

Urban and regional development decisions have long-term, often irreversible impacts on the natural and built environment. These changes impact society’s wellbeing, yet rarely occur in the context of well understood economic costs and benefits. The cumulative effects of these individually small land use decisions are also very large. Ecological economics provides several frameworks that could inform more sustainable development patterns and practices, including ecosystem service valuation (ESV) and the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI). This dissertation consists of a series of articles addressing urban and regional development from an ecological economic perspective, using GPI, ESV, and evaluation of tax and subsidy programs. The GPI has been well developed at the national level but is of growing interest to stakeholders and citizens interested in better measuring social welfare at local and regional scales. By integrating measures of built, human, social, and natural capital, GPI provides a more comprehensive assessment of social welfare than consumption-based macroeconomic indicators. GPI’s monetary basis allows these diverse metrics to be integrated, and can also facilitate intra- and inter-regional comparisons of social welfare. Ecosystem services are also increasingly recognized as important contributors to human well-being, particularly in areas where they are becoming scarce due to rapid land conversion. Despite recent advances in measuring and valuing ecosystem services, they are often not considered in decision making because of both scientific uncertainty and the difficulty in weighing these values in tradeoffs. Techniques to speed the valuation process while maintaining accuracy are thus in high demand. As public recognition of the value of ecosystem services grows, ESV can serve as the basis for a variety of policy tools, from inclusion in traditional permitting or conservation easement programs to new programs such as payments for ecosystem services. Ideally planners, citizens, and decision makers would better weigh the diverse costs and benefits of land use decisions as part of development and conservation planning. By quantifying changes in: 1) contributors to social welfare and 2) the value of ecosystem services across the urban-rural gradient, the GPI and ESV frameworks developed as part of this dissertation can thus be used to better inform local and regional policy and planning.

The concept of Region is one of the elements which has differentiated Regional Economics from other fields of Applied Economics. In spite of this, however, researchers in this field of economic analysis have not paid a great deal of attention to this concept. All too often, Regions have been identified with the politico-administrative units into which nationstates have divided their territory and for which statistical information is widely available. However, a Region can be defined in many different ways. Frameworks which define regions according to analytical/theoretical criteria provide greater scope for applied studies and permit a more complete interpretation of the results contained therein. In this research we have proposed a concept of Region which goes beyond the administrative division of territory. Our regional aggregation has been based on agglomeration economies, one of the fundamental concepts in the fields of Economic Geography and Urban and Regional Economics. In accordance with the work of Polèse et al. (2007), the territory has been classified into analytical regions which take into account the size of the population and the distance from the main urban areas. In doing so, we achieve an aggregation which corresponds with the differences in agglomeration economies across space. However, their robustness in comparison with the administrative units commonly used has - to date - not been evaluated.The objective of the first chapter of this thesis was to prove that the functional regions defined under such economic criteria provide better defined regions - in terms of greater compactness and separation - than the administrative ones commonly used to carry out labour market studies at sub-national level. Using micro data from the last available Spanish Census, the functional and administrative regions are evaluated using the Theil index and the Davies-Bouldin Validation index. Applied to employment (by gender, industry and level of qualification and occupation), both indexes show better results for the analytical regions than for any of the ordinary administrative ones (NUTS I, II or III regions). In other words, the analytical classification generates areas where the distribution of employment is more homogeneous within and more heterogeneous between the regions. Agglomeration economies and distance (to the metropolis) seem to be relevant for understanding the patterns of distribution of employment, either by gender, by industry or by level of qualification and occupation. In practice, this provides a clearer way for identifying local labour markets and explaining their differences and similarities. In light of the results from the first chapter, we suggest the use of this alternative classification -subject, of course, to the availability of data - when carrying out Labour Economics studies that include a spatial dimension. The following chapters have provided two applications of this analytical division of the territory to Labour Economics issues: the factors affecting the probability of being employed (Chapter 2) and the effects that labour mobility and commuting have on the central regions (Chapter 3). In the second chapter, we presented a spatial analysis of employment at local level where, among other factors, the demographic and geographical characteristics can and do affect the outcome. The empirical results support the hypothesis that size - in terms of population - and location - in terms of distance to a metropolis - are explanatory variables for the probability of being employed. In other words, employment depends not only on the personal characteristics of the individuals (level of education, age, sex, etc.) but also on the type of analytical region - as defined in Chapter 1 - where they live. Regarding the importance of location, our results show a significant gap in the chances of being employed between "central" and "peripheral" types of regions, i.e., the closer the region is to the metropolis, the higher the concentration of economic activity and therefore employment. Likewise, the types of regions, i.e., the closer the region is to the metropolis, the higher the concentration of economic activity and therefore employment. Likewise, theexpected negative relationship between employment and the size of the region where the individual lives is confirmed, and this seems to be stronger for non-skilled individuals than for people with university studies. In terms of employability, the largest Spanish metropolitan areas (MA1) seem to be enjoying the full benefits of agglomeration economies while the smaller metropolitan areas (MA2) seem to be suffering their negative effects. Likewise, for urban areas that cannot be considered "metropolitan areas" (UA1 and UA2), size does not seem to be as important as their central-peripheral location. In rural areas (less than 50,000 inhabitants), both size and distance seem to be relevant determinants of employability. In other words, regardless of the level of studies, there are fewer chances of being employed in rural areas as opposed to urban areas and in peripheral rural areas as opposed to central rural areas. Recognizing the importance of these spatially differentiated results should have a significant impact on current policy discussions, shifting the focus from general solutions to more spatially customized ones where size and location are considered. Just as differences in age, gender or industrial structure are taken into account in the design of employment policies (at national or local level), these results suggest that an additional spatial dimension that somehow includes the size and location of the local area where the person lives should be considered. Some important migration policy implications can also be derived when using these alternative functional regions to analyze the direct and indirect effects that the arrival of workers has in the core regions. Spain has experienced over the last two decades an intense arrival of both immigrants and in-migrants to its central regions, and as a consequence (though not exclusively) of these inflows, we can observe internal migrations and/or commuting to some areas that might be more attractive. Using the last available Census, the estimations for Spain of an input-output multi-regional model that includes the possibility of commuting show that the arrival of in- and im-migration to the core generates a set of effects induced by the redistribution of population among other regions. The arrival of workers from the periphery to the core provokes reallocations of residence in all cases (displacement effect).However, the intensity of these reallocations increases with size, which shows the existence of some agglomeration diseconomies associated with big cities. When the possibility of commuting is also considered, the arrival of workers from the periphery to the core generates the reallocation of both jobs (economic activity) and residences. The larger cities are the ones pushing out more residents to other areas, while keeping most of the jobs. In other words, they are becoming attractive areas to work in, but not to live in (due to, among other reasons, high housing costs, congestion or other negative externalities). The oppposite is true for the smaller cities, which are attractive for residing in but for working in. The distributional pattern of residences proves to be different to the distributional pattern of jobs. These results highlight the idea that the effects of the arrival of population are not only felt by the recipient region/city but may generate comparatively far larger effects on other regions in the form of internal migration and commuting flows, something that policy makers should bear in mind. To conclude, surpassing the administrative division of the territory, this classification manages to have explanatory power in spatial Labour Economics topics while including relevant geo-economic characteristics such as location and agglomeration economies. The use of this classification has proved to offer a better understanding of the patterns of distribution of employment (by gender, by industry or by level of qualification and occupation), job opportunities, and of the probabilities of being employed depending on the level of qualification or the degree of attractiveness of a region for working or living purposes. Some other questions spatially related to the performance of regional labour markets remain unanswered. Future lines of research include the application of this classification to the study of labour economic issues such as the determinants of unemployment, inter-industrial labour mobility or the existence of overqualification taking into account spatial factors (i.e. the type of analytical region where the potential worker lives) which are usually ignored.Agglomeration economies and distance play an important role in the location of economic activity, and therefore should affect the labour outcomes once the worker has decided to live in certain type of region. Obviously, such a decision does not have to be permanent, and workers can move in order to improve their labour opportunities. Therefore, a further possible question of relevance is the internal migration decisions between and within analytical regions. That is, can certain regularities be observed? Are people moving from peripheral regions to central or metropolitan areas or the other way round? Are internal migrations better explained in terms of size, i.e. in terms as counter-urbanization or urbanization? Are these movements linked to job opportunity decisions? Can we observe any differences according to their level of qualification? Even more, workers can be employed in a certain type of region but live in another, i.e., we could observe migration on a daily basis (commuting). Is one type of analytical region attracting workers or attracting residents? Do people tend to live and work in the same type of region? Could the analytical division be improved in order to specifically include the commuting criteria used in the local labour markets literature? We believe that these questions provide a fascinating and important future research agenda.

Cette thèse porte sur l’évaluation de quatre politiques d’aménagement du territoire en France. Elle aborde également trois questions majeures de l’économie urbaine : l'influence des transports sur la localisation de l'emploi et de la population, l’élasticité de l'offre de logement et la ségrégation urbaine. La première politique publique étudiée est le Réseau express régional. Ainsi, l’amélioration des transports publics en Île-de-France a favorisé la croissance de l’emploi dans les communes de banlieue. Il n’y aurait en revanche pas de croissance globale de la population mais un possible effet de gentrification à proximité des stations. Dans un deuxième temps, cette thèse s’intéresse au rôle du train à grande vitesse dans l’organisation spatiale des entreprises multi-implantations. Il est établi que les filiales voyant le temps de parcours vers leur siège diminuer se spécialisent dans les activités de production. Cette création s'effectue au détriment des activités d'encadrement. Ensuite, ce travail évalue l’impact des zones franches urbaines. L’effet de première génération de ce dispositif sur la localisation des entreprises et sur l'emploi est massif. En revanche, il n'a que faiblement profité aux habitants de ces quartiers, soulignant un manque de ciblage de la mesure. Le dernier chapitre évalue l’effet des aides au logement sur le niveau des loyers et l’offre de logements locatifs. Il confirme que les aides au logement induisent une hausse des loyers privés. L’élasticité de l'offre de logements reste faible dans le long terme, puisque l'effet inflationniste perdure tandis que la quantité et la qualité des logements locatifs ne s'adaptent pratiquement pas
This thesis evaluates four French urban and regional policies. It also covers three major issues in urban economics: the impact of transportation on the spatial distribution of employment and population, the elasticity of housing supply and urban segregation. First, the thesis focuses on the Regional Express Rail system. The improvement of public transport in the Paris region causes employment to grow in suburban municipalities. However, there is not effect on overall population growth but a possible gentrification effect nearby RER stations. Secondly, this thesis studies the role of high-speed rail in the spatial organization of multi-plant businesses. It shows that the reduction in travel time to their headquarters subsidiaries lead the affiliate to specialize in production activities, to the expense of management tasks. Then, this work assesses the impact of the French Urban Enterprise Zones. The first generation of this program have a massive impact on firm location and employment. However, it only slightly benefited to the local residents, highlighting a lack of targeting. The last chapter evaluates the effect of housing allowance on the level of rents and the supply of rental housing. It confirms that housing subsidies cause private rents to increase. The elasticity of housing supply remains low in the long term, since the upward effect does not vanish and the quantity and the quality of rental housing do not adjust

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2000.
"February 2000."
Includes bibliographical references.
Three studies were conducted to analyze the relationship between public infrastructure investment and regional economic performance. The first study examines the literature on economic development and productivity growth. I show that conflicting results from studies by other analysts are the likely result of poor public capital data spanning to short an interval, and an inadequate modeling framework. Public investment may generate small improvements in productivity, but models understate economic impacts owing to the public goods character of some forms of public capital. The second study explores the relationship between economic distress and public infrastructure investment. I use a sample of U.S. counties to analyze public investment according to level of economic distress. With simple investment models, I estimated infrastructure needs for counties with apparent shortfalls. I analyzed the needs-estimates in a series of case studies in which jurisdiction planning and budget personnel were consulted about the accuracy of the estimates. I show that short-run economic distress is not to be linked to public infrastructure investment. Over the long-run, investment varies by level of distress, but as a consequence of private residential investment. The needs-estimating models were reasonably accurate, but missing investment data proved troublesome. Counties proved to be a poor unit of analysis for infrastructure needs, as since significant variation was observed among jurisdictions within counties. The third study demonstrates the need for better estimates of public infrastructure capital stock. I prepared new capital stock estimates for two regions using local investment data and survey-based public capital service lives. I surveyed one thousand jurisdictions in the New England region and the state of Texas. Survey-based service-lives seem to differ significantly from estimated lives. Stock estimates using local investment data and survey-based service-lives produce dramatic differences compared to estimated stocks at the state and regional level. The new data, however, performed just as poorly as other series when used to estimate aggregate production functions. Prior analysts' understanding the relationship between economic performance and public infrastructure investment has been limited because of poor data, and inadequate appreciation of infrastructure's inherent complexity. The research presented here demonstrates that significant improvements are possible and worth undertaking.
by Nicholas O. Rockler.
Ph.D.

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2003.
Special Program of Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS)
Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-145).
This thesis analyzes the perception gap between political risk assessments observed at the national level, and the different realities of sub-national city regions whose risk regime is not reflected by the national indicators, and its implication on foreign direct investment (FDI) location decisions. The purpose of this research is to understand how and why the national political risk assessments of countries with internal armed conflicts override the ability of regional investment promotion agencies to attract FDI into financially sound projects of high developmental value. This thesis complements the standard political risk underlying theories with geographical and behavioral economic theories, in order to propose a sub-national political-risk-assessment approach that could show the safer regions within riskier countries. It is based on the analysis of the Colombian Metallurgical Coke and Power Plant Project COLMECO, designed to be located in the Barranquilla Metropolitan Area, within the Atlantico Department, a region that has traditionally experienced no open internal armed conflict confrontation. The conclusions of this research prove and justify the sub-national risk assessment approach proposed.
by Alberto E. Blanco.
S.M.

The construction and development of the expressway network has far-reaching significance for the economic growth of Guizhou Province. In this paper, ArcGIS was used to calculate the nodal accessibility, daily accessibility and regional average accessibility of the expressway network in Guizhou Province, and the evolution of the spatial pattern of accessibility under the influence of expressways in Guizhou Province from 2012 to 2019 was analyzed through three different dimensions of accessibility indicators. The results show that with the continuous construction of expressways, the accessibility of the whole province continues to improve. Guiyang, as the provincial capital city, improved the accessibility of expressways the most during the last 7 years. However, due to the inequality of resources, there are still spatial differences in traffic capacity between cities and cities. Among them, Tongren and Xingyi have a small increase in the accessibility of expressways from 2012 to 2019, and the traffic conditions of Tongren and Xingyi are in the inferior position of the whole province.

The article is devoted to the study of the processes of formation of "smart" cities in Russia. The relevance of the topic is due to the need of society to renew cities, improve the quality of urban space, its ability to ensure the sustainable functioning of the city and the provision of urban services, and strengthen competitiveness. The study on the example of Yekaterinburg highlighted barriers to the introduction of "smart" solutions in the city space, which prevent the launch of processes of complex implementation of the concept "Smart City," justified recommendations for their elimination. The methodological basis of the study is based on theoretical provisions of innovation economy, strategic management, regional and spatial economy. The results of the analysis can be useful to students of higher education, postgraduate students, research scientists, specialists engaged in the development of projects for smart cities, state and municipal employees, as well as other interested persons.