This paper analyzes how the dynamics of house prices are affected by the option to rebuild or enlarge existing dwellings. The nonlinear functional form for option value and zoning limits provides identification of changes in option value over the cycle. For homes with high development potential,...

Despite widespread recognition that housing renovation is influenced by “neighborhood effects”, virtually all empirical studies have failed to identify a positive feedback effect between renovation activity and neighborhood quality. By explicitly modeling the spatial interdependence of...

There have been dramatic swings in retail gasoline prices over the past decade, along with reports in the media of consumers changing their driving habits — providing a unique opportunity to examine how consumers respond to changes in gasoline prices. This paper exploits a unique and extremely...

This paper uses quantile regression, while accounting for spatial autocorrelation, to examine the simultaneous space–time impact of foreclosures on neighborhood property values. We find that negative price externalities associated with neighborhood foreclosures are greatest (1) among...

This paper shows that a job contains a different task package in a large city than the same job in a small city. We question whether the division of tasks is more extensive in large cities. Most datasets hinder such an empirical analysis as they lack spatial variation in job content. Using...

We examine job matching as a potential source of urban agglomeration economies. Focusing on college graduates, we construct two direct measures of job matching based on how well an individual's job corresponds to their college education. Consistent with matching-based theories of urban...

We study how in a city either opposite social norms remain or a particular code of behavior spreads and ultimately prevails. We develop a multicommunity model with overlapping generations. When young, an individual chooses a certain level of educational effort. The crucial feature is that the...

In this paper, I analyze the distribution of rental prices in Berlin using quantile estimates and decomposition methods. These methods have been rarely applied in the field of housing economics but have proven to offer relevant insights into the evolution of price distributions. The shift of...

We examine the relation between housing prices in an MSA and its urban economic base. We create and employ new forward-looking employment growth indices that measure the urban economic strength of an MSA and find that it accounts for a significant and sizeable portion of the house price...

This paper examines the spillover effects of infill developments, which involve developing vacant or under-used parcels within existing urban areas that are largely developed, on local housing prices. Employing a difference-in-difference specification on a sample of 275 new developments and...