NTU Course
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Urban Economics and Policy

Offered in 112-2Updated

  • Serial Number

    44358

  • Course Number

    ECON5217

  • Course Identifier

    323 U3110

  • No Class

  • 3 Credits

  • Elective

    DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS / GRADUATE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS

      Elective

    • DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS

    • GRADUATE INSTITUTE OF ECONOMICS

  • Wen-Tai Hsu
  • Mon 2, 3, 4

  • 社科302

  • Type 2

  • 50 Student Quota

    NTU 46 + non-NTU 4

  • No Specialization Program

  • English
  • NTU COOL
  • Core Capabilities and Curriculum Planning
  • Notes
    The course is conducted in English。
  • Limits on Course Adding / Dropping

    • Restriction: juniors and beyond or Restriction: MA students and beyond or Restriction: Ph. D students

  • NTU Enrollment Status

    Enrolled
    0/46
    Other Depts
    0/0
    Remaining
    0
    Registered
    0
  • Course Description
    This course is designed as an introductory course of urban economics. It covers fundamental principles developed in economics to understand the functioning/workings of an urban economy and the various aspects of urban life. Firstly, the course begins with the definition of a city, and why cities form by introducing the economics of agglomeration, and how cities interact to form the urban system of the entire economy. These factors affect all urban phenomena. Secondly, the course analyzes the internal spatial structure of a city by developing a theory of commuting, housing demand and housing production. It then analyzes transportation and land/housing issues in more detail. On transportation, we focus on the economics of traffic congestions, the rationale for congestion pricing, and the so-called fundamental law of highway congestion. The discussion on land and housing will address various housing phenomena, and we will use this topic to illustrate how economists think of policies. Finally, the course will discuss the optimality of local public good provision and connect local public finance and housing markets with land taxation. See below for the list of topics covered.
  • Course Objective
    The course aims to introduce students to urban economics, focusing on fundamental principles essential for understanding urban economies and urban life. Topics include city formation, agglomeration economics, spatial structure, transportation, housing, land use, and public goods provision.
  • Course Requirement
    Participation (10%); Group Project (25%, group-based); Midterm (25%); Final Exam (40%) More details are below.
  • Expected weekly study hours after class
  • Office Hour
  • Designated Reading
    There will be lecture slides for all the topics. See the full list of readings in the syllabus file in Module "Syllabus and Course Administration".
  • References
    Textbook：Urban economics -- Brueckner, Jan (2011), Lectures on Urban Economics, MIT Press.
  • Grading
    10%

    Participation

    (1) In-class QA (5%): Asking or answering questions, 1 point per question(Only yes or no are not acceptable). (2) Attendance (5%): Attend more than 12 out of 14 sessions to earn full 5 points(No leave application is required for absences)

    25%

    Group Project

    (1) Class Presentation (12.5%): Inclusive of Q&As, a presentation should take at most 30 minutes. Each member of the group has to present (2) Slides (12.5%): The presentation slides must be submitted to the instructor in both hard and soft copies two weeks after the presentation. The length of the slides can be at most 25 slides or 2000 words. Exceeding either 25 slides or 2000 words will result in a penalty in grade. A complete list of references must be included at the end, and it does not count toward the page limit or word count. Proper citations are needed throughout the slides.

    40%

    Final Exam

    6/3 during class time. Throughout the semester, there will be four homework assignments (not required to be submitted), serving as practice questions for the midterm and final exams. Solutions will be provided two weeks after the assignments are released. The TA will hold two-hour tutorial sessions during class time one week before the midterm and final exams.

    25%

    Midterm

    4/8 (tentative) during class time. Throughout the semester, there will be four homework assignments (not required to be submitted), serving as practice questions for the midterm and final exams. Solutions will be provided two weeks after the assignments are released. The TA will hold two-hour tutorial sessions during class time one week before the midterm and final exams.

  • Adjustment methods for students
  • Course Schedule
    2/19、2/26Week 1-2Weeks 1-2: Introduction to “Cities” • What is a city? • Why are there cities? (Chapter 1, Brueckner’s textbook) • De La Roca and Diego (2017)
    3/4、3/11Week 3-4Weeks 3-4: Internal Spatial Structure of a City • Monocentric City Model – Chapters 2 and 3 of Brueckner’s textbook
    3/18Week 5Week 5: Spatial Competition • Spatial Competition: Salop (1979)
    3/25Week 6Week 6: Cities in Space: Central Place Theory • Hsu, Holmes, and Morgan (2014)
    4/1Week 7Week 7: Housing -- Chapter 6 of Brueckner’s textbook
    4/8Week 8Week 8: Midterm Exam
    4/15Week 9Week 9: How Economists Think of Policies – Housing as an Example • Housing -- Chapter 7 of Brueckner’s textbook • How to Think about Housing and Public Housing
    4/22Week 10Week 10: Local Public Finance • Henry George Theorem, adapted from Arnott and Stiglitz (1979)
    4/29、5/6、5/13、5/20Week 11-14Weeks 11-14: Urban Transportation (Group Project Presentations are held in these four weeks) • Congestion Tax • Fundamental Law of Highway Congestion
    5/27Week 15Week 15: Local Public Good • Chapter 8 of Brueckner’s textbook
    6/3Week 16Week 16: Final Exam