This paper studies the political economy of cordon tolls in a monocentric city consisting of three zones: center, mid-city and suburbs. The cordon toll may give rise to several interrelated conflicts: between residents within and outside the cordon, between car and public transport users,...

We develop a spatial equilibrium model to study the political economy of pricing downtown parking space when special interest groups (retailers, local residents) lobby the city government. Parking fees penalize downtown retailers, but benefit suburban stores that provide free parking. We show...

We develop a positive theory of pricing car access (by parking fees or cordon tolls) to downtown commercial districts. The model accounts for the special interests of downtown retailers and competing superstores at the edge of the city, and studies how lobbying by both groups shapes the...