Modeling the urban land market: The case of Japan

Two sets of negative exponential functions, one for urban residential density and the second for land price, are estimated. The parameters of these functions are then employed in an econometric model of land use and urban form in 71 Japanese cities. Several variables are determined, including average land price, gross population density, housing size, and population.     

Modeling the structure of gas distribution costs in urban areas

Urban-wide gas distribution cost models are developed and estimated, using capital costs, gas market, and population density data over cross-sections of communities served by two different utilities, with a particular emphasis on the multiproduct, multidimensional character of gas distribution: These models are used to clarify such policy issues as the allocation of joint costs through marginal cost pricing, the existence of ecpnomies of scale and density, and the appropriateness of natural monopoly status for gas distribution utilities.     

The effect of property taxes on urban areas

The effects of property taxes on urban areas are studied relative to a local wage tax. The changes in urban population and in the consumption and price of housing are determined in cities with various types of production sectors. Distortions in the composition of housing and residential density patterns are also reported. Examples are constructed to quantify the size of the changes and test whether property taxes are capitalized into land values.     

推进首都城乡一体化发展的战略思考

加快推进城乡发展一体化是我国全面建成小康社会的必然要求.北京统筹城乡发展,促进城乡在空间布局、产业发展、公共服务、基础设施等方面相互融合与共同发展,城乡一体化处于较高水平.但同时,由于城乡发展差距较大、农村建设欠账较多等,北京城乡发展不平衡的矛盾依然比较突出.因此,本文建议北京应从继续推进农村改革、统筹城乡规划、加快城乡结合部与新城等重点区域发展、推动农村就地城镇化等方面入手,深化城乡一体化进程,率先形成城乡一体化新格局.     

A further note on the structure of gas distribution costs in urban areas

This note re-examines the issue of functional form selection in estimating the relationship between gas distribution costs and market and density variables. The study by [Guldmann, 1983], where only linear and log-linear forms were considered, is expanded by using a general functional form based on the Box-Cox transformation. The maximum-likelihood estimated forms turn out to be different from the log-linear ones previously selected, and their implications for economies of scale and density are discussed.     

Estimation and specification of the effects of parking costs on urban transport mode choice

The effect of changes in parking fees on urban transport mode choice is investigated to evaluate the claim that parking taxes are an effective substitute for road pricing in influencing congestion. It is shown that previous analyses of the modal choice decision with respect to parking costs have misspecified the model, resulting in biased predictions. Binary logit analysis is used to estimate the traditional and correctly specified models. Elasticities for four policy oriented variables are calculated. The elasticities provide a measure of the bias from misspecification and indicate the most effective policy variables to reduce auto use.     

The future's poor: Projecting the population eligible for federal housing assistance

Microanalytic simulation techniques are used to show that, under a reasonable set of assumptions, the real income of elderly households can be projected to grow at a rate higher than that of other population groups over the next several decades. Simulation modeling also shows that current low marriage and fertility rates and high divorce rates, if continued, will lead to a future population that is proportionately more elderly and of smaller average family size. A number of federal, state, and local assistance programs restrict eligibility to low-income households. In an application to the major federal housing assistance program, it is shown that future growth in the number of elderly households may well be offset by their relatively high income growth, leaving the proportion elderly among those eligible for assistance essentially unchanged over the next 40 years. The findings imply that future changes in the demographic composition of the U.S. population may not be reflected in the composition of the low-income population. This possibility should be considered in planning assistance programs targeted on the poor.     

The systemic variables and elasticities in Alonso's general,theory of movement

This paper explores the theoretical underpinnings of interregional movement models generalized by William Alonso focusing on the systemic effects of origin supply conditions and destination demand conditions. It is found that although Alonso's theory is logically consistent in terms of regional aggregation and interregional migration accounts, in practice the elasticity estimation of the systemic variables is problematic. Unless the affinity term is broadly defined, the trends in the ratio of interregional to intraregional affinities, cast suspicion on the family of spatial interaction models because of the inseparability of distance from origin and destination characteristics, and spatial autocorrelation problem.     

Crime in urban areas: New evidence and results

Crime supply functions are reestimated in this paper using data corrected for victim underreporting. It is found in both a mean-variance specification and a conventional crime supply function, which includes measures of the offender's gains and losses involved in property crimes, that certainty and severity of punishment still deter. When correction for underreporting is made, the effects on the rates of robbery, burglary, larceny, and auto theft of increases in prison admission rates and prison sentence lengths remain negative. This seeming support for the “deterrence hypothesis” must be balanced against the strong evidence that improved legitimate opportunities have a negative effect on crime. Use of improved crime data and a more intuitive economic specification of the offense supply function leads to the conclusion that higher income is a better deterrent to some crimes than increased punishment.     

The effect of constraints on house costs

The U.S. residential construction industry allegedly is impeded by constraints such as (a) union restrictions, (b) restrictions on building supplier competition, (c) small size of home building firms, and (d) restrictive building codes that supposedly cause inefficiency and high cost. To determine the impact of such constraints on construction costs, the price of new, single-family houses was related to characteristics of these houses and measures of the constraints through multiple regression analysis. The best combination of house characteristics was selected to explain variations in cost. Then, constraint variables were added to this combination to determine the impact of constraints on construction outlays. The findings suggest that the quantitative effect of constraints upon the costs of one-family houses is small. Local building codes probably add no more than 2%, while the impact of unions on construction worker wages would appear to increase housing costs only by about 4%.     

Collusive equilibria with switching costs: The effect of consumer concentration

I study the ability of two competing firms to set collusive prices in markets where consumers have switching costs. In consumer markets (with a small number of consumers), I find an antifolk result in which collusion, in the presence of switching costs, does not arise with patient firms. Patient firms compete aggressively and consumers expect a large utility. A collusive equilibrium is unstable because a deviating firm incorporates the future consumer utility in its deviating price. Also, consumers have a strategic impact so, with the prospects of large utility, they decide to switch to destabilize the firms' collusive agreement. These results do not eventuate in markets with a large number of consumers. In mass markets (a continuum of consumers), a single consumer lacks a strategic impact to destabilize a collusive agreement and a deviating firm cannot appropriate the consumer utility when deviating from collusion. Collusion, then, becomes straightforward to achieve. We show that for any number of consumers, switching costs make collusion easy to sustain.     

Urban ecology and residential location theories: Application in nigeria's socio-cultural milieu

Urban ecological studies are generally concerned with the spatial distribution of population characteristics, organisations, activities and behaviours across the urban terrain. These spatial distributions are taken to reflect the operation of socio-economic processes. Anglo-American urban ecological investigators had formulated much of the prevailing urban ecological theories of today. These theories were based on studies of their own socio-cultural and economic environments, which were by no means universal. This study, applies the principles of these well-known theories to a different socio-economic and cultural environment—Nigerian, with a view to testing their cross-cultural validity. This is done (i) by testing some empirical data on the city of Lagos, upon some specific propositions embodied in these theories; with a view towards their verification and validation; and (ii) by examining the over-all explanatory power of the theories in accounting for broad urban ecological patterns as revealed by data or information on the study city, and culture. The findings suggest that while similarities in urban ecological patterns in the two environments are discernible in some variables, they significantly differ in others, and even where the patterns appear to be similar, they are explainable by quite different factors. Urban ecological patterns could therefore be said to be culture-specific.     

Agency costs and dividend payments: The case of bank holding companies

This paper examines the hypothesis that agency costs are a primary factor motivating dividend payments. Norohna et al. (1996) present evidence that the agency cost rationale is context specific and that dividends will not be driven by agency costs when other mechanisms exist for controlling agency problems. We argue that regulation of bank holding companies involves a context specific case where agency costs may be less relevant. Using an empirical methodology similar to Born and Rimbey’s (1993), we find that the abnormal returns associated with dividend announcements by bank holding companies are not related to their external financing activities. The monitoring activities of the capital markets are not a rationale for dividend payments in the presence of bank regulation. Our results are robust to an alternative explanation involving the signaling role of new equity financings.     

新区产业功能定位和城市发展战略的耦合关系——以北京市海淀新区为例

以北京市海淀新区产业功能定位为实例,分析了城市空间发展战略和城市新区产业功能定位之间耦合关系的客观性、存在方式和利用途径.认为在新区的发展过程中,二者既互为基础,又相互支撑.在新区产业功能定位和城市空间发展战略制定过程中,应当注意把握这种耦合关系,改进规划方法.     

Bertrand oligopoly in a spatial context: The case of quantity independent transportation costs

The theory of spatial competition [for a review, see Gabszewicz and Thisse (1985)] is usually based on the assumption of transportation costs which are proportionate to distance and quantity. In reality, however, there exist frequently considerable economies of scale, especially with respect to the conveyed quantity of goods. A good case in point is transportation cost incurred by a consumer patronizing a shopping area. Cost economies of scale will in general influence consumers' optimal choice with respect to quantities and best market places. In the extreme, consumers' outlays on transportation can be considered independent of the purchased quantity, but approximately proportionate to distance. In the present paper, the impact of this assumption on spatial competition is analysed. It will be shown, that existence and uniqueness of spatial oligopolistic equilibrium is restored. Furthermore, due to some residual monopolistic power, prices do not converge to the perfectly competitive equilibrium prices when the distance between the firms shrinks to zero. In conclusion the model exhibits a fundamental difference in the market structure, when the spatial aspect is incorporated.     

A conceptual framework for the location of public facilities in the urban areas of developing countries: the Nigerian case

The provision of adequate public services to their urban populations within the constraints of financial resources is a major problem of most developing countries. The fact that the few available facilities are unevenly distributed in the urban areas suggests a need for efficient physical planning of public services. This paper suggests a conceptual framework for the provision of public services in Nigerian urban areas. The paper identifies the supply and demand factors which should govern the distribution of public services in the urban areas of the country.     

轨道交通对城市空间形态的影响

从轨道交通线网、轨道交通站点与空间形态、轨道交通与城市发展轴、轨道交通与城市中心等四个方面讨论了轨道交通对城市空间形态的影响.     

Residential density functions: An alternative to Muth's negative exponential model

A “base-price” model of a consumer is described and shown to be consistent with a variety of empirical results for United States cities. Each consumer, in a heterogeneous population, is assumed to trade a range of nonhousing goods and employment at locations not necessarily near the city center. A negative exponential function of distance from the city center is shown to be a reasonable approximation to a city's net residential density function. Differences in the relative shares, rather than absolute levels, of expenditure on housing and nonhousing goods are identified as a possible cause of spatial segmentation of a population.