Browsing by Author "Silva, Hugo E."

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Maximization of equilibrium utility vs minimization of resources in the urban equilibrium
    (2024) Basso, Leonardo J.; Pezoa, Raúl; Silva, Hugo E.; CEDEUS (Chile)
    We study welfare and the role of absentee landlords’ rent capture in one of the building blocks of urban economics: the monocentric city model. If only a fraction (but not all) of the absentee landlords’ land rents is captured and then redistributed, the market outcome minimizes resource usage but does not maximize residents’ utility. Therefore, when the utility-maximizing planner is unable to implement full taxation of land rents, she would prefer to intervene in the market outcome, while a planner minimizing resources would not. This difference implies that policy prescriptions crucially depend on the chosen welfare function (utility vs resources) and the land rent taxation rate.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Public transport and urban structure
    (2021) Basso, Leonardo J. ; Navarro, Matias ; Silva, Hugo E. ; CEDEUS (Chile)
    Public transport is central to commuting in most cities. This paper studies the role of public transportation in shaping the urban structure. Its main contribution is to propose a tractable model as a tool to study urban regulations and transport policies in the long-run. Using the classic monocentric city framework, we model public transport as a mode that can only be accessed by walking to a set of stops. By incorporating a discrete transport mode choice and income heterogeneity, the model remains simple yet can reproduce non-monotonous urban gradients observed in cities with public transport, and well-observed spatial patterns of sorting by income and use of public transport. For example, it can reproduce an inverted U-shape of transit usage along the city. To highlight the relevance of the model, we study the effects of pricing pollution externalities together with extending the public transportation network on the urban structure.