This paper describes the progression from a standard monocentric model of a city to its analog in the quantitative spatial framework recently reviewed by Redding and Rossi-Hansberg (forthcoming). In this progression, we preserve the basics of preferences, technology, and endowments across...

More than 100 natural disasters strike the United States every year, causing extensive fatalities and damages. We construct the universe of US federally designated natural disasters from 1920 to 2010. We find that severe disasters increase out-migration rates at the county level by 1.5...

This paper studies the sources of agglomeration economies in cities. We begin by introducing a simple dynamic spatial equilibrium model that incorporates spillovers within and across industries, as well as city-size effects. The model generates a dynamic panel-data estimation equation. We...

This paper studies the effect of minimum wage changes on spatial equilibriums in local labor markets. Using data for the U.S. and minimum wage variation across state borders, I analyze how commuting, residence, and employment locations change in response to local minimum wage changes. I find...

This paper discusses a mechanism underlying the input allocations and income distributions across Russian cities of different ages. The empirical strategy is based on using the extended version of the Glaeser-Gottlieb model to guide the interpretation of regression estimates. The results are in...

We develop a simple partial-equilibrium model of endogenous city structure formation. No production externalities are at work, the only two forces shaping the spatial configurations of the city being love for variety (on the consumer side) and seeking for a better access to the market (on the...

As one of world's fastest growing cities, Dhaka faces acute challenges in housing its growing population and developing a more productive economy. Central to this is the scarcity of high-quality urban land. Yet a vast tract of land near the heart of the city, East Dhaka, currently remains...

Empirical research on cities starts with a spatial equilibrium condition: workers and firms are assumed to be indifferent across space. This condition implies that research on cities is different from research on countries, and that work on places within countries needs to consider population,...

We study how place-based land allocation policy can create spatial misallocation. Combining microdata and a spatial equilibrium model, we investigate a major policy change of distributing more land to underdeveloped inland regions in China. First, by a method combining RD and DID, we show causal...

Children’s education and economic opportunities differ substantially across US neighborhoods. This paper develops and estimates a spatial equilibrium model that links children’s education outcomes to their childhood location. Two endogenous factors determine education choices in each...