URBAN ECONOMICS 382
Dr. J. Barkley Rosser
Spring 2001
OFFICE: Zane Showker Hall 444
TELEPHONE: 568-3212
FAX: 568-3010
EMAIL ADDRESS: rosserjb@jmu.edu
WEBSITE ADDRESS: http://cob.jmu.edu/rosserjb
HOURS: T, Th, 3:30 – 5:00
W, 1:00 – 3:00
OBJECTIVE: To acquaint the student with the field of urban economics and to show
how the principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics can be applied to the analysis of urban economic issues and problems. Such issues and problems include land issues, suburbanization versus central city development, housing availability and quality, racial discrimination, poverty, transportation, environmental quality, local public finance, and cities in less developed countries.
TEXT: Urban Economics, 5th edition, by Edwin S. Mills and Bruce W. Hamilton.
BOOKS ON RESERVE:
Matthew Edel and Jerome Rothenberg, editors, Readings in Urban Economics.
Fernand Braudel, Capitalism and Material Life: 1400-1800.
Lewis Mumford, The City in History.
J. Barkley Rosser, Jr., From Catastrophe to Chaos: A General Theory of Economic Discontinuities.
Harvey Perloff and Lowdon Wingo, Jr., editors, Issues in Urban Economics.
Larry S. Bourne, editor, Internal Structure of the City.
Michael Thompson, Rubbish Theory.
Nicholas LeMann, The Promised Land.
Joel Garreau, Edge Cities
GRADE: To be determined by three exams and a paper, each counting 25% The paper topic is due two weeks after the beginning of classes, an outline is due two weeks later, and a first draft is due two weeks before the end of classes. To miss or reschedule an exam one must contact me or the department beforehand with an appropriate explanation.
JMU HONOR CODE POLICY: All students are expected to be aware of and adhere to the
JMU Honor Code.
OUTLINE OF READINGS
I. Introduction
A. Perspectives
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapter 1.
Edward C. Banfield, "The Unheavenly City" and James O'Connor, "The Fiscal Crisis of the State," in Edel and Rothenberg.
B. What Do Cities Do?
Readings: Raymond Vernon, "External Economics," in Edel and Rothenberg.
John M. Quigley, "Urban Diversity and Economic Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998, pp. 127-138.
C. Historical Development of Cities
Readings: Braudel, Chapter 8.
Mumford, pps. 3-61, 79-89, 148-157, 205-277, 455-464, 482-493.
Rosser, Chapters 1, 9.
II. Urban Economic Development
A. The Theory of the Economic Base
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapters 2, 3.
Paul Krugman, "Space: The Final Frontier," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998, pp. 161-174.
Charles M. Tiebout, "A Method of Determining Incomes and Their Variations in Small Regions," in Edel and Rothenberg.
William Alonso, "Location Theory," in Edel and Rothenberg.
B. The System of Cities
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapter 4.
Eric Lampard, "The Evolving System of Cities in the United States: Urbanization and Economic Development," in Perloff and Wingo.
Louis P. Cain, "Historical Perspective on Infrastructure and U.S. Economic Development," Regional Science and Urban Economics, April 1997, pp. 117-138.
C. Optimal City Size
Readings: Edward L. Glaeser, "Are Cities Dying?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998, pp. 134-160.
Werner Z. Hirsch and Percival Goodman, "Is There Optimum Size for a City?" in Edel and Rothenberg.
III. Models of Urban Spatial Structure
A. Land Rent and Land Use
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapters 5-7.
B. Overall Models
Readings: Bourne, pp. 69-96, 361-367, 437-441.
Rosser, Chapter 10.
IV. Urban Economic Problems
A. General View
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapter 8.
B. Urban Poverty
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapter 9.
Douglas J. Besharov and Peter Germanis. "Welfare Reform – Four Years Later," The Public Interest, Summer 2000, pp. 17-35.
Eli Lehrer, "Crime-fighting and Urban Renewal," The Public Interest, Fall 2000, pp. 91-103.
Daniel Bondino and John Engberg, "Enterprise Zones and Local Employment: Evidence From the States’ Programs," Regional Science and Urban Economics, September 2000, pp. 519-549.
Matthew Edel, "Development vs. Dispersal: Approaches to Ghetto 'Poverty'," in Edel and Rothenberg.
Garreau, Chapter 5.
LeMann, Chapters 1 (Clarksdale), 4 (Chicago).
C. Housing
(1) Theory and Empirical Measurement
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapter 10-11.
N. Gregory Mankiw and David N. Weil, "The Baby Boom, the Baby Bust, and the Housing Market," Regional Science and Urban Economics, May 1989, pp. 235-258.
(2) Slums, Segregation, and Policy Responses
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapter 12.
Wallace F. Smith, "A Theory of Filtering," in Edel and Rothenberg.
Bourne, pp. 291-308.
John Yinger, "Evidence on Discrimination in Consumer Markets," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 1998, pp. 23-40.
Thompson, Chapter 3.
David P. McMillen, "Can Blacks Earn More in the Suburbs? Racial Differences in Intra-metropolitan Earnings Variation," Journal of Urban Economics, March 1993, pp. 135-150.
D. Urban Transportation
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapter 13.
Nathaniel Baum–Snow and Matthew E. Hahn, "The Effects of New Public Projects to Expand Urban Rail," Journal of Public Economics, August 2000, pp. 241-263.
Garreau, Chapter 4.
E. Urban Public Finance
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapter 14.
Charles Tiebout, "A Pure Theory of Local Expenditures," in Edel and Rothenberg.
Garreau, Chapter 6.
David N. Figlio, "Did the ‘tax revolt’ reduce school performance?" Journal of Public Economics, September 1997, pp. 245-269.
F. Environmental Quality
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapter 15.
G. The Question of Suburbanization
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapter 16.
Peter Gordon and Harry W. Richardson, "Defending Suburban Sprawl, The Public Interest, Spring 2000, pp. 65-71.
Garreau, Chapters 1-3, 12, 13.
Edwin S. Mills and Luann Sende Lubuele, "Inner Cities," Journal of Economic Literature, June 1997, pp. 727-756.
V. The City in the World
Readings: Mills and Hamilton, Chapter 17.
Alain Bertaud and Bertrand Renaud, "Socialist Cities without Land Markets," Journal of Urban Economics, January 1997, pp. 137-151.