ECO-4207 : Economic geography

Responsable(s) :

Pierre-Philippe Combes

Enseignant(s) :

Remi Clotte

Niveau

M1+M2

Discipline

Economie

ECTS

3.00

Période

2e semestre

Département

Département d'Économie

Localisation

Site Descartes

Année

2023

Public externe (ouverts aux auditeurs de cours)

Informations générales sur le cours : ECO-4207

Content objectif

ECO-4207 : Economic geography
Responsible teacher: Pierre-Philippe COMBES (pierre-philippe.combes [at] ens-lyon.fr)

he first part of the course is devoted to the economic mechanisms that shape the within- and between city spatial organisation. This will typically answer the following questions.

Why do cities exist and induce an uneven spatial distribution of income and of land and commodity prices? How can cities of different size co-exist within integrated economic areas? What does shape the city internal structure, in terms of housing types and income segregation? What is the impact of people and goods mobility on spatial concentration? What is the role of local public policies and of land use regulation on spatial disparities?

The second part of the course moves to the empirical studies that evaluate the gains and costs from agglomeration. A special emphasis is put on the impact on spatial disparities of individual location choices made by workers that are heterogeneous in skills. The balance between income gains and costs of living is studied, typically assessing whether cities are too large or too small. Studies about the value of consumption amenities (restaurants, cultural life, climate,…) will be presented too.

Content prerequis

Microeconomics under perfect and imperfect competition (Micro I and II).

Basics of applied econometrics (including panel approaches and notions of instrumentation)

Content modalites

Slides are circulated before the lectures such that students can concentrate on the course and participate through questions.

Work from one week to the other consists in carefully re-reading the slides and asking further clarification at the next course if needed. Extra readings will be suggested too.

The exam has two parts that will enter with equal weights in the overall grade. A two-hour in-class essay will have to explain and criticise under the light of the course a newspaper article about an urban issue in a developed or a developing country. The second part will consist in a critical reading of a research article

Content renseignements

The course is taught in English.

Content horaires

Créneau(x)

Lundi Après-midi
Jeudi Après-midi

Horaires du cours

04 MAR : 13h00 - 16h00 (Salle D2-003)
07 MAR : 13h00 - 16h00 (Salle D2-003)
11 MAR : 13h00 - 16h00 (Salle D2-003)
18 MAR : 13h00 - 16h00 (Salle D2-003)
25 MAR : 13h00 - 16h00 (Salle D2-003)
28 MAR : 13h00 - 16h00 (Salle D2-003)
08 AVR : 13h00 - 16h00 (Salle D2-003)
15 AVR : 13h00 - 16h00 (Salle D2-003)

Content bibliographie

Preliminary list of references

Chapter 1

Combes, P.-P., T. Mayer, and J.-F. Thisse, 2008. Economic Geography (ch. 1 and 2), Princeton University Press.
McMillen, D. and J. McDonald, 2011. Urban Economics and Real Estate; Theory and Policy (ch. 1 and 2), 2nd ed. Wiley.
O'Sullivan, A., 2012. Urban Economics (ch. 1 and 2), 8th ed. McGraw-Hill.

Chapter 2

Brueckner, J., 2011. Lectures on Urban Economics (ch. 1), MIT Press.
Combes, P.-P., T. Mayer, and J.-F. Thisse, 2008. Economic Geography (ch. 2), Princeton University Press.
Duranton, G., Puga, D., 2004. Micro-foundations of urban agglomeration economies. In: Henderson, V., Thisse, F. (Eds.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, vol. 4. North-Holland, Amsterdam, pp. 2063–2117.

Chapter 3

Fujita, M., 1990. Urban Economic Theory: Land Use and City Size (ch. 2, 3, 4), Cambridge University Press.
Fujita, M. and J.-F. Thisse, Jacques-François. Economics of Agglomeration: Cities, Industrial Location, and Globalization. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2013.

Chapter 4

Combes, P.-P., G. Duranton, and H. Overman, 2005. Agglomeration and the adjustment of the spatial economy, Papers in Regional Science, 84(3), 311-349.
Moretti, E. (2011). Local labour markets. In O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (eds.), Handbook of Labor Economics4.
Combes, P.-P., T. Mayer, and J.-F. Thisse, 2008 (chap. 6, 7, 8). Economic Geography, Princeton University Press.

Chapter 5

Combes, P.P. and L. Gobillon, 2015. The empirics of agglomeration economies. In Duranton, Gilles, Henderson, Vernon, and Strange, Will, eds., Handbook of Urban and Regional Economics 5A. North-Holland, Amsterdam.
Glaeser, E. L., and D. C. Maré. 2001. Cities and skills. Journal of Labor Economics 19:316–42.
Jaffe, A. B. (1989). Real effects of academic research, American Economic Review 79(5): 957-970.
Jaffe, A. B., Trajtenberg, M. and Henderson, R. (1993). Geographic localization of knowledge spillovers as evidenced by patent citations, Quarterly Journal of Economics 108(3): 577-598.

Chapter 6

Albouy, D., 2008. Are big cities really bad places to live? Improving quality-of-life estimates across cities. Working Paper 14472, National Bureau of Economic Research.
Combes, P-P., Duranton, G., Gobillon, L., 2019. The Costs of Agglomeration: House and Land Prices in French Cities, Review of Economic Studies, forthcoming.
Handbury, J.. Are poor cities cheap for everyone? Non-homotheticity and the cost of living across US cities, 2013. Mimeograph, Wharton University.
Handbury, J. and D. Weinstein, 2015. Goods prices and availability in cities. Review of Economic Studies, 82(1): 258-296.
Moretti, E., 2013. Real wage inequality, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 5(1): 65-103.

Accès directs

Outils

ECO-4207 : Economic geography