Economics 4160
Urban and Regional Economics
Winter 2025
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This seminar-style. course introduces students to urban and regional economics topics, including urbanization, local labour and housing market, transportation, pollution, urban poverty, crime, and fiscal matters. Throughout the semester, we will learn canonical urban and regional economics models and concepts and read and discuss contemporary empirical research in urban and regional economics. Through a series of lectures, presentations, and class discussions, the course aims to develop the skills to apply economics to urban policy problems, communicate economic ideas and research findings, and conduct independent research.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to
• understand how to work with and apply foundational models in urban economics
• understand empirical tools in urban economics
• work with spatial data and maps
• understand, synthesize, and criticize academic literature on urban policy issues
• communicate economic ideas and research findings
• understand the components and process of independent research
PREREQUISITES
The minimum requirement is ECON-1100. However, more advanced level microeconomics courses (e.g., ECON-2210), a basic understanding of calculus, and knowledge about statistics or econometrics will be great assets in this course.
TEXTBOOK AND COURSE MATERIALS
Required textbook: Urban Economics (9th ed.), by Arthur O’Sullivan, International Student Edition, McGraw Hill Education.
Additional suggested textbooks:
• Brueckner, Jan K. Lectures on urban economics. MIT Press, 2011 (Can be purchased on Amazon for $60)
• Scott Cunningham, Causal Inference: The Mixtape. Yale University Press, 2021. (Can be
purchased on Amazon for $50.26 and be freely accessed online at https://mixtape.scunning.com/)
• Angrist, Joshua D., and Jörn-Steffen Pischke. Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An
Empiricist's Companion. Princeton University Press, 2009. (Can be purchased on Amazon for $74.55)
Additional readings (articles, reports, etc., that can be freely accessed via Leddy Library or other websites) will be provided on Brightspace.
EMAILS
Please always be courteous and respectful in your email correspondence.
I reply to emails on weekdays within 48 hours if they require a response. (For example, an email informing me that a student will miss a class does not require a response.) Emails received over the weekend generally will not be replied to until Sunday evening or Monday morning.
Before emailing me, please check the syllabus, recent emails from me, and announcements posted on Brightspace to see if the information you are looking for is provided there—it often is!
Email is not a substitute for office hours. If you have a question about the material, it is best to come to my office hours or ask me during or after class.
Please do not wait to email a question about the exam, an assignment, or a class just before these things occur. If you do, chances are your question will go unanswered.
REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING
Grading
Your final grade (letter) will be based on the following scale:
|
% range
|
Letter grade
|
|
90-100
|
A+
|
|
85-89.9
|
A
|
|
80-84.9
|
A-
|
|
77-79.9
|
B+
|
|
% range
|
Letter grade
|
|
73-76.9
|
B
|
|
70-72.9
|
B-
|
|
67-69.9
|
C+
|
|
63-66.9
|
C
|
|
% range
|
Letter grade
|
|
60-62.9
|
C-
|
|
57-59.9
|
D+
|
|
53-56.9
|
D
|
|
50-52.9
|
D-
|
|
0-49.9
|
F
|
This will be determined using the following scheme:
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Assessment
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Date and time
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Weight
|
|
Class participation
|
|
10%
|
|
Assignments
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Problem Set 1 due Jan 24
Problem Set 2 due Feb 14
Problem Set 3 due Mar 7
Problem Set 4 due Mar 21
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20% (5% per assignment)
|
|
Lab Assignment
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Due April 3
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10%
|
|
Paper presentation
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March 25 – April 3
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25%
|
|
Term paper
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Preliminary report due Feb 7
Progress report due March 14
Final report due April 21
|
35%
|
Attendance and Participation
Students are expected to attend all classes. Class participation is a vital part of learning. Students are strongly encouraged to ask questions during class. Asking questions may have positive externalities: if something is unclear to you, it may also be unclear to other students.
Participation grades will be assigned for two reflection articles (300-500 words each) on two papers assigned by the instructor, due at the beginning of the lectures in which we will discuss the articles.
Assignments
There will be three graded assignments, each worth 5% of the grade. The tentative deadlines for each assignment are listed above and will be announced on the course’s website on Brightspace.
Students are encouraged to discuss assignment problems with classmates, but each must write their own answers for submission. Plagiarism of assignment answers will be considered a violation of the Academic Integrity, laid out in the Student Code of Conduct and will result in zero scores for all parties involved.
Students are expected to present their solutions in class and answer questions from the audience and the instructor. During these discussions, we’ll randomly select students to share parts of their answers and thoughts with the class. We do random selection instead of asking for volunteers, as it helps engage everyone.
Lab Assignment, Paper Presentation, and Term Paper
Students work in groups of up to three for these three assessments. An anonymous peer evaluation method will be adopted in conjunction with instructor evaluation to mitigate the free-rider problem in group collaborations.
Lab Assignment. Each group will use data to analyze the economic geography of a city in Canada or replicate the analytical portion of an academic paper.
Term Paper. Each group can submit a policy briefing, research proposal, or literature survey on a topic of their choice in urban economics. The submission should be between 2000-3000 words (8- 12 pages double-spaced).
• A policy briefing summarizes and distills what is known about the topic to inform.
policymakers. This means picking a specific context or jurisdiction and describing the policy landscape and issues. You will then apply urban economic theories and evidence to critically evaluate existing policies and propose new and improved policies where appropriate.
• A research proposal identifies the gap or an unanswered question in the literature and
proposes a novel analysis to fill the gap or answer the question. A proposal should thus describe a hypothesis, the relevant theory, data, and methods you plan to apply or use. You do not need to complete the proposed analysis, but making some progress is useful and helps demonstrate the proposed project's feasibility.
• A literature survey is a deep dive into the literature on a particular topic with the goal of providing the readers with a comprehensive review of the topic. Literature surveys are opinionated and offer a critical summary of the existing research.
You will select your topic and submit a 300 to 500-word preliminary report worth 2% of your final grade by 11:59 PM on Friday, February 7. This preliminary report will briefly describe the topic you intend to study and whether you will write a policy briefing, research proposal, or literature survey. This will allow me to provide feedback early in the process.
You will then work continuously on the term paper and submit a 500 to 800-word progress report worth 3% of your final grade by 11:59 PM on Friday, March 14. This progress report should describe at least one of the following: a concept or model from class that is important for your paper, a challenge you have encountered and a strategy for overcoming it, or an important task you have completed so far. You should also conclude your progress report with your plans for proceeding.
Paper Presentation. Each group will select an article to present from a provided list. Presentations will be approximately 20 minutes long, followed by a 10-minute Q&A. Each presentation should summarize the chosen article, focusing on the results and policy implications. A detailed schedule will be available on Brightspace.