Three essays in urban economics
- Autores: Federico Curci
- Directores de la Tesis: Ricardo Mora Villarrubia (dir. tes.), Adelheid Holl (codir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid ( España ) en 2019
- Idioma: español
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Stephen Gibbons (presid.), Jan Stuhler (secret.), Nathaniel Baum-Snow (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Economía por la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: e-Archivo
- Resumen
Cities are central to the live of the majority of the human population. The objective of my thesis is understanding how people and firms decide to locate inside cities and what are the implications of different city developments in terms of welfare.
A question I tackle in my research is what are the effects of two different cities development: one in which cities are spread in space, and one in which cities are denser. In the first chapter of my thesis ("The Taller the Better? Agglomeration Determinants and Urban Structure"), I estimate the productivity gains of an extreme form of density: skyscrapers in cities. In the second chapter of my thesis ("Vertical and Horizontal Cities: in Which Direction Should Cities Grow?"), I combine both data and theory in order to structurally estimate the effects of city development on productivity and amenities. I show that cities that are more vertically developed have higher level of amenities.
A second strand of my thesis focuses on understanding how people and firms decide to locate inside cities. In particular, in the third chapter of my thesis ("Flight from Urban Blight: Lead Poisoning, Crime and Suburbanization"), joint with Federico Masera, we provide causal evidence that crime has been an important reason to explain suburbanization of U.S. cities.
