We develop a monopolistic competition model of urban service consumption and production that includes spatial structure and property values. The model shows that the introduction of a new professional sports facility and team generates agglomeration effects that change the mix of services and...

Fifty years on we examine two key propositions in Neale's (1964)"Peculiar Economics": the need for competitors in sport to have opponents of similar ability in order to earn large revenues and the effect of frequent changes sports leagues' standings on consumer demand. We develop a consumer...

Professional sports teams receive large public subsidies for new facility construction. Empirical research suggests that these subsidies cannot be justified by tangible or intangible economic benefits. We develop a model of bargaining between local governments and teams over subsidies that...

We develop a consumer choice model of live attendance at a sporting event with reference-dependent preferences. The predictions of the model motivate the “uncertainty of outcome hypothesis” (UOH) as well as fan’s desire to see upsets and to simply see the home team win games, depending on...

We examine the housing-market impact of U.S. urban casinos in nearby neighborhoods using data on home-purchase mortgage applications around opening years. Our sample covers 48 new urban casinos opened between 1995 and 2009. We compare changes in the volume of mortgage applications, the average...

Using administrative tax data that contain information on firm credit take-up and employee residence, we examine the impact of the Empowerment Zone and Renewal Community employment tax credits on local labor. We find modest evidence that zone designation improves labor market outcomes among...

Access to legal gambling has expanded in Canada. Casinos can generate both positive and negative local impacts. We analyze the effect of new urban Canadian casinos on nearby neighborhoods in terms of population growth and composition, and housing market outcomes based on more than 40 urban...

This paper proposes a commercial development model, based on Fujita's (1988) monopolistic competition model of spatial agglomeration, to examine stores' decisions to enter urban communities. The model focuses on commercial developers and large stores, and identifies a potential holdup problem in...

This paper proposes a general equilibrium model with non-profit publicly subsidized universities to show that native applicants do not have to lose from exporting higher education, as suggested by standard trade models. The gains from exporting higher education that initially accrue to...