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Economics 281AUrban Economics IProfessor J. Brueckner Fall 2012This course will survey basic material in urban economics, covering reasons for the existence ofcities, the monocentric model of urban land use, and various topics in housing economics. Thecourse will follow a lecture format, drawing on the articles from the following reading list.Almost all of the articles are available on-line, either at JSTOR, a journal website, or on mypersonal site, via the hyperlinks below. Because the underlying hyperlinks for the articles arelong, simply clicking on the colored text won’t work. Instead, highlight the entire article title,then right click and select “open hyperlink.” To access an electronic version of this syllabus,click on my name on the faculty list on the economics department website, and then click on“graduate course reading lists.” The reading list also includes chapters from my MIT Presstextbook, Lectures on Urban Economics. This book is mainly aimed at an undergraduateaudience, but the assigned readings provide helpful background. The only requirements for the course are a take-home final exam, but students are expected tocarefully read each item on the reading list.Course ReadingsI. Economic Reasons for the Existence of CitiesBrueckner, J., Lectures on Urban Economics, Ch. 1.Mills, E., Studies in the Structure of the Urban Economy, Chs. 1-2.Glaeser, E., “Are Cities Dying?” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998.Henderson, J.V., “Marshall’s Scale Economies,” Journal of Urban Economics, January2003.Jaffee, A., et al., “Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced byPatent Citations,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, August 1993.Krugman, P., Geography and Trade, Chs. 1-2.II. The Monocentric-City Modela. The basic modelBrueckner, J., Lectures on Urban Economics, Ch. 2.Brueckner, J., “The Structure of Urban Equilibria: A Unified Treatment of the Muth-MillsModel,” in E. S. Mills, ed., Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Volume2, 1987.b. Patterns of location by incomeBrueckner, J., Lectures on Urban Economics, Ch. 3, Sections 3.2-3.4.Wheaton, W., “Income and Urban Residence: An Analysis of Consumer Demand forLocation,” American Economic Review, September 1977.Glaeser, E., M. Kahn and J. Rappaport, “Why Do the Poor Live in Cities? The Role ofPublic Transportation,” Journal of Urban Economics, January 2008.LeRoy, S., and J. Sonstelie, “Paradise Lost and Regained: Transportation Innovation,Income, and Residential Location,” Journal of Urban Economics, January 1983.Gin, A., and J. Sonstelie, “The Streetcar and Residential Location in Nineteenth CenturyPhiladelphia,” Journal of Urban Economics, July 1992.Brueckner, J., J.-F. Thisse and Y. Zenou, “Why is Central Paris Rich and DowntownDetroit Poor: An Amenity-Based Theory,” European Economic Review, January1999.Brueckner, J. and S. Rosenthal, “Gentrification and Neighborhood RedevelopmentCycles: Will America’s Future Downtowns Be Rich?” Review of Economics andStatistics, forthcoming.c. Models with durable housingBrueckner, J., Lectures on Urban Economics, Ch. 3, Section 3.5.Brueckner, J., "Urban Growth Models with Durable Housing: An Overview," in J.-M.Huriot and J.-F. Thisse, eds., Economics of Cities, 2000.Rosenthal, S. and R. Helsley, "Redevelopment and the Urban Land Price Gradient,"Journal of Urban Economics, March 1994.d. Urban sprawlBrueckner, J., Lectures on Urban Economics, Ch. 4, Sections 4.1-4.5.McGrath, D. “More Evidence on the Spatial Scale of Cities,” Journal of UrbanEconomics, July 2005.Glaeser, E. and M. Kahn, “Sprawl and Urban Growth,” in J.V. Henderson and J.-F.Thisse, eds., Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Vol. 4, 2006.Baum-Snow, N., “Did Highways Cause Suburbanization?” Quarterly Journal ofEconomics, May 2007.Burchfield, M., H.G. Overman, D. Puga, and M.A. Turner, “Causes of Sprawl: A Portraitfrom Space,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, May 2006.Brueckner, J., “Urban Sprawl: Lessons from Urban Economics,” in W. Gale and J. Pack,eds. Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs, 2001.Brueckner, J. and R. Helsley, “Sprawl and Blight,” Journal of Urban Economics,forthcoming.Brueckner, J., “Urban Growth Boundaries: An Effective Second-Best Remedy forUnpriced Traffic Congestion?” Journal of Housing Economics, November 2007.III. Issues in Third World UrbanizationBrueckner, J., Lectures on Urban Economics, Ch. 3, Section 3.6.Brueckner, J., “Analyzing Third World Urbanization: A Model with Empirical Evidence,”Economic Development and Cultural Change, April 1990.Moomaw, R. and A. Shatter, “Urbanization and Economic Development: A Bias TowardLarge Cities,” Journal of Urban Economics, July 1996.Jimenez, E., “Tenure Security and Urban Squatting,” Review of Economics and Statistics,November 1984.Brueckner, J. and H. Selod, “A Theory of Urban Squatting and Land-TenureFormalization in Developing Countries,” American Economic Journal: EconomicPolicy, February 2009.IV. Freeway CongestionKeeler, T. E. and Small, K., "Optimal Peak-Load Pricing, Investment and Service Levelson Urban Expressways," Journal of Political Economy, February 1977.Brueckner, J., Lectures on Urban Economics, Ch. 5.V. The Demand for Housing and Hedonic Price AnalysisBrueckner, J., Lectures on Urban Economics, Ch. 6, Sections 6.1-6.2.Mayo, S. "Theory and Estimation in the Economics of Housing Demand," Journal ofUrban Economics, July 1981.Rosen, S., "Hedonic Prices and Implicit Markets: Product Differentiation in PureCompetition," Journal of Political Economy, January 1974.Brown, J. and H. Rosen, “On the Estimation of Structural Hedonic Price Models,”Econometrica, May 1982.Bartik, T., “The Estimation of Demand Parameters in Hedonic Price Models,” Journal ofPolitical Economy, February 1987.Ekeland, I., J. Heckman and L. Nesheim, “Identifying Hedonic Models,” AmericanEconomic Review, May 2002.Grether, D. and P. Mieszkowski, “The Determinants of Real Estate Values,” Journal ofUrban Economics, July 1974.Quigley, J., “Nonlinear Budget


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UCI ECON 281A - Urban Economics I

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