Essays in urban economics
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This dissertation consists of three chapters that each investigates an issue related to urban economics, often with a focus on how government policies affect inequality in cities. Chapter 1, which is joint with Pearl Li and Ariel Binder, studies how the location of affordable housing affects tenant welfare, the distribution of assistance, and broader social objectives such as racial and economic integration. Using administrative data on households living in units funded by the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC), we first show that tenant characteristics such as income, race, and education vary widely across neighborhoods, despite common eligibility thresholds. To quantify the welfare implications, we develop and estimate a residential choice model in which households choose from both market-rate and affordable housing options, where the latter must be rationed. Using the estimated model, we show that moving a new development to a more opportunity-rich neighborhood increases aggregate tenant welfare and reduces both racial and economic segregation, but is also more costly and disproportionately benefits more moderate-need, non-Black/Hispanic households. This change in the distribution of assistance arises in part because of the rationing: households that only apply for assistance in opportunity-rich neighborhoods crowd out other households willing to apply anywhere. Chapter 2, which is joint with Pearl Li, studies the welfare and distributional effects of dynamically priced highway toll lanes using data from the Seattle metro area. We develop and estimate a model of driver demand, the road technology, and the pricing algorithm. We show that a key welfare channel is the option value of tolling: even drivers who infrequently take the priced lanes can benefit from having the option but not the obligation to pay for speed. Relative to a world in which the same number of highway lanes are all free, status-quo tolling increases aggregate welfare and benefits drivers in all income quartiles, driven largely by the option value. Moreover, we find that—contrary to many public concerns about whether congestion pricing is regressive—drivers in the bottom income quartile actually gain the most under status-quo tolling. Low-income drivers have the longest I-405 commutes and they face low prices relative to their time savings from the priced lanes. Finally, we show how simple revisions to the pricing algorithm can increase aggregate welfare and achieve redistributive goals. Chapter 3 studies how preferences for various neighborhood amenities vary by income. Using data on over 150 million visits to restaurants, shops, personal services, and entertainment places, I estimate a model of demand for amenities. I find that higher and lower-income urban residents have heterogeneous preferences for individual establishments, which often vary systematically along observable dimensions such as category, brand, and price level. Using the location and estimated quality of each establishment, I construct an aggregate Neighborhood Amenity Quality Index (NAQI) that measures the value of each neighborhood's overall access to amenities. Despite the heterogeneity in establishment-level preferences, neighborhood-level preferences exhibit a strong positive correlation; higher and lower-income residents generally agree on the quality of a neighborhood's overall access to amenities. Densely populated neighborhoods close to the urban core have especially high-quality access to amenities. Conditional on population density, neighborhoods with better amenity access tend to be richer, more educated, and have more expensive rents.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Place | California |
| Place | [Stanford, California] |
| Publisher | [Stanford University] |
| Copyright date | 2024; ©2024 |
| Publication date | 2024; 2024 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Cook, Cody |
|---|---|
| Degree supervisor | Diamond, Rebecca, (Of Stanford University. Graduate School of Business) |
| Thesis advisor | Diamond, Rebecca, (Of Stanford University. Graduate School of Business) |
| Thesis advisor | Benkard, C. Lanier |
| Thesis advisor | Gentzkow, Matthew |
| Degree committee member | Benkard, C. Lanier |
| Degree committee member | Gentzkow, Matthew |
| Associated with | Stanford University, Graduate School of Business |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|---|
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Cody Cook. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Graduate School of Business. |
| Thesis | Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2024. |
| Location | https://purl.stanford.edu/gn265mm9134 |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2024 by Cody Cook
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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