ECON 4453-Spring 07 Professor C. Rogers Urban Economics (ECON 4453) Day/Time: TU, TH 4:30-5:45 p.m. Office: 328 Hester E-mail: [email protected] Room: 138 Kaufman Hall Hours: Tu 12:30-2:30 Phone: 325-5843 Course Description & Objectives: Why do cities exist? Why are cities located where they are? What factors affect city growth? What problems are associated with urban growth and what policies are used to address them? We will answer these and many other questions in our quest to understand the development of cities and the perseverance and pervasiveness of urbanization. Our inquiry will start with the basic understanding of location theory, including how market forces influence the distribution of economic activity across space, how transfer costs and input prices influence firm location decisions, and how market areas determine the optimal distribution of production activities. Next we will learn how to apply and interpret basic analytic techniques using real world data on selected cities. In the final part of the course we will address urban policy issues such as poverty, unemployment, and housing market discrimination. The major objectives of this course are as follows: 1. Students will learn about the major issues addressed in the field of urban economics. 2. Students will improve their microeconomic skills. In particularly, students will consider the implication of adding a spatial dimension to standard microeconomic analysis. 3. Students will hone their skills doing basic empirical analysis by collecting and analyzing data available at the US Census Bureau and articulating coherent economic arguments. Prerequisite: Econ 3113 (Intermediate Price Theory) or special permission by the instructor. Text & Resources: Urban Economics, 6th Edition by Arthur O’Sullivan (Irwin) 2007 www.learn.ou.edu will offer course information. Special Needs: (-Provost’s office) "Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent him or her from fully demonstrating his or her abilities should contact me personally as soon as possible so we can discuss accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate your educational opportunities." Academic Integrity: Academic Misconduct is defined as “any act that improperly affects the evaluation of a student’s academic performance or achievement” (-Provost’s Office). Students are responsible for being familiar with OU’s policies posted at http://www.ou.edu/provost/integrity-rights/. Please be very careful about documenting sources of data, and ideas. Violation of the code will result in failure of the course. Students are required to turn in a completed academic misconduct contract as a condition for receiving a grade in this course. Course Requirements: Quizzes (5-7) & applications (7) Weekly 20% Midterm Exam Thurs, March 1 25% Project Thurs, April 19, 4:30pm 20% Comprehensive Final Exam Thurs, May 10, 4:30-6:30 30% Participation Daily 5% Quizzes will be based on homework and material discussed in class. Students will be expect to be able to discuss homework answers in class when called up to do so. One quiz will be dropped from the total quiz component. Extra time will not be given for studentsECON 4453-Spring 07 Professor C. Rogers arriving late. No makeups will be given. Documented, excused absences will be accommodated by dropping that quiz from the overall total. Seven Application assignments will be graded. Late assignments will be penalized by 10% point per 24 hour period. The information for these should be downloaded and digitized. Answers should be typed as the information will provide the basis for student projects. A midterm and a comprehensive final will be given. In the event that an exam is missed because of a legitimate excuse, and provided that proper documentation is provided within 48 hours of the missed exam, the midterm weight will be added to that of the final. Student projects will incorporate materials from the application exercises assigned throughout the semester. Detailed instructions will be provided on the course website. A 5% per 24 hour period late penalty will be applied for late assignments after the due date/time. Participation and attendance is expected. Students who fail to attend the first week of class will be dropped from the course unless a documented legitimate excuse is presented to the instructor prior to the second class meeting. Students will be assigned a grade according to their participation in class including answering homework questions and contributing to class learning. Tentative Schedule: (NOTE: LABS will meet in Phys. Sciences Rm 230) I. Introduction and Overview Week 1 1/16 Course Overview 1/18 Intro to Urban economics Week 2 1/23 LAB- US Census Bureau Intro 1/25 County typology example II. Theoretical Foundations Week 3 1/30 Why do cities exist? 2/1 Spatial demand curves Week 4 2/6 Location decisions 2/8 Production theory example Week 5 2/13 CP Theory 2/15 Agglomeration Week 6 2/20 LAB- PHSC Rm 230 2/22 City Size and utility Week 7 2/27 Review 3/1 MIDTERM EXAM III. Growth & Empirical Methods Week 8 3/6 Economic base theory 3/8 LAB- PHSC Rm 230 Week 9 3/13 Input-output 3/15 Shift-share analysis Week 10 3/20 Spring break 3/22 ☺ Week 11 3/27 Urban growth 3/29 Interjurisdictional competition IV. Urban Policies Week 12 4/3 Land Use patterns 4/5 Spatial Aspects of Poverty Week 13 4/10 Spatial mismatch 4/12 Sorting models Week 14 4/17 Neighborhood Choice 4/19 Projects due at 4:30 pm Week 15 4/24 Housing 4/26 Housing Policy Week 16 5/1 TBA 5/3 Review FINAL 5/10 Thursday