Using an urban land use model in which jobs and residences are spatially dispersed and mixed, we treat the general equilibrium of land, labor and product markets and the trade-off between labor supply, commuting and discretionary travel. We show that the decentralization of population and of...

When ability to avoid rent control is randomly distributed over landlords, housing may rise above its free market level. Landlords evading part of rent-control are like suppliers selling to a perfectly price-discriminating monopsonist. A continuum of evasive abilities gives a range of low rent...

Despite the pervasive nature of land use planning and land use regulation, evaluation of the costs and benefits of these policies has received only limited attention. This paper presents an empirical methodology, based on clear microeconomic foundations, for the evaluation of benefits and costs...

While theory strongly suggests that restricting development rights should reduce land prices, empirical evidence of this effect has been notoriously hard to obtain. Indeed, largely based on this difficulty a Congressional committee has recently recommended that tax benefits for such restrictions...

We study the indeterminacy of equilibrium in the Fujita-Krugman (1995) model of city formation under monopolistic competition and increasing returns. Both the number and the locations of cities are endogenously determined. Assuming smooth transportation costs, we examine equilibria in...

This paper uses valuation data from Quotable Value New Zealand to examine changes in the value of the rural land in New Zealand between 1989 and 2003. The value of rural land reflects the profitability of agriculture as well as the returns to alternative land uses, and has a large impact on the...

The aim of this paper is to explore the structure of cities as a function of labor differentiation, gains to trade, a fixed cost for constructing the transportation network, a variable cost of commodity transport, and the commuting costs of consumers. Firms use different types of labor to...

This paper analyzes a spatial competitive monopolistic model of agglomeration in which households make only one shopping trip per period, and there are several firms in each industry. The model is a version of a model by Fujita (1988), but unlike his, in this model no equilibrium mixed district...

The goal of this essay is to introduce advanced undergraduates to urban general equilibrium theory.

Looking at data from HUD’s low income housing tax credit database from 1987 to 2001, we examine how the US tax credit program has concentrated poverty in neighborhoods by offering advantages to developing low income housing projects in low income census tracts. We then use a simple Cellular...