Influence of Race on Household Residential Utility

Residential location choice models are an important tool employed by urban geographers, planners, and transportation engineers for understanding household residential location behavior and for predicting future residential location activity. Racial segregation and residential racial preferences have been studied extensively using a variety of analysis techniques in social science research, but racial preferences have generally not been adequately incorporated into residential location choice models. This research develops residential location choice model specifications with a variety of alternative methods of addressing racial preferences in residential location decisions. The research tests whether social class, family structure, and in‐group racial preferences are sufficient to explain household sensitivity to neighborhood racial composition. The importance of the interaction between the proportion of in‐group race neighbors and other‐race neighbors is also evaluated. Models for the San Francisco Bay metropolitan area are estimated and evidence of significant avoidance behavior by households of all races is found. The results suggest that social class differences, family structure differences, and in‐group racial preferences alone are not sufficient to explain household residential racial preference and that households of all races practice racial avoidance behavior. Particularly pronounced avoidance of black neighbors by Asian households, Hispanic neighbors by black households, and Asian neighbors by white households are found. Evidence of a decrease in household racial avoidance intensity in neighborhoods with large numbers of own‐race neighbors is also found.     

Environmental Risk and Uncertainty: Insights from Yucca Mountain

Abstract This study examines the effects of the risk from transporting high–level radioactive waste to the proposed Yucca Mountain repository on housing location decisions in Southern Nevada. Using data from a survey of southern Nevada households, we develop a model–based subjective risk estimate for each household. We then explore different factors that may influence the household's location decisions if the proposed transportation route is ultimately chosen for nuclear waste transport. We extend the conventional expected utility model to allow for uncertainty surrounding the actual risks borne by the household. Finally, we examine the impact of federal government compensation on households' location decisions. The findings indicate that residents currently living near the proposed transportation route express subjective risk estimates much larger than those reported by the Department of Energy. In general, households that are uncertain about the future risks are more likely to relocate than those expressing certainty. When everything is considered, the model predicts that between one and three percent of households living near the transportation route are likely to relocate. Compensation can influence some households to remain at their present location and bear the transport risk.     

LIFE CYCLE AND MIGRATION TO URBAN AND RURAL AREAS: ESTIMATION OF A MIXED LOGIT MODEL ON FRENCH DATA*

ABSTRACT This paper examines which types of individuals are attracted to or repelled from rural and urban areas in France. Migration decisions among urban centers, suburbs, and rural areas are examined for three age groups. Differences between locations are assumed to be driven by agglomeration economies and externalities resulting from densities. We therefore stress the role of labor‐market size, land markets, and commuting time in migration decisions. The results from multinomial mixed logits show that large labor markets attract the youngest and in particular educated individuals. Larger family size favors migration from city centers to suburbs, whereas divorce and widowhood increase the probability of moving to an urban center.     

Determinants of Residential Location Choice: How Important Are Local Public Goods in Attracting Homeowners to Central City Locations?*

Abstract. A hybrid conditional logit choice model is estimated using data on the characteristics and destination of homeowners who engaged in intrametropolitan moves among 17 school districts within the Columbus, Ohio area in 1995. The model is used to test the relative influence of local fiscal and public goods versus household‐level characteristics in determining household location choices across central city and suburban school districts. Results provide evidence of both a “natural evolution” of households to the suburbs, due to job location, residential filtering, and household income and lifecycle effects, and “flight from blight,” due to lower school quality, higher crime levels, and lower average income levels in the city. In comparing the magnitudes of these variables, we find that school quality exerts the strongest influence: a 1‐percent increase in the school quality of the city district increases the probability of choosing a city residence by 3.7 percent. In contrast, the effects of household income and other individual characteristics are relatively modest. The findings provide support for a “flight from blight” suburbanization process that is dominated by differences in neighborhood quality between the city and suburbs. An implication is that investments that promote central city development and reduce suburbanization are justified on efficiency grounds if negative externalities are generated by increased concentration of poverty, crime, and low school quality.     

SOMETIMES CLOSE IS GOOD ENOUGH: THE VALUE OF NEARBY ENVIRONMENTAL AMENITIES*

ABSTRACT An extensive empirical literature exists, showing that variations in region‐specific amenities can account for persistent differences in real wages across regions. However, this literature has considered only amenities in the same location as the household. This paper argues that environmental amenities at some distance from but accessible to urban areas may lead to negative compensating wage differentials. We use a general equilibrium framework and data from the 1995 Current Population Survey to calculate implicit amenity prices based on measures of distance to environmental amenities. Our results suggest that amenities outside the metropolitan area do generate compensating wage differentials, as workers are willing to accept lower wages to live in accessible proximity to “nice” places. This implies that these places provide a positive externality to those communities that find them accessible. The estimated effects are quantitatively important, suggesting that these externalities should be taken into account in policy making.     

MIGRATION AS A WAY TO DIVERSIFY: EVIDENCE FROM RURAL TO URBAN MIGRATION IN THE U.S.

This paper extends the utility maximization model of migration by introducing income and unemployment‐related uncertainties as determinants of utility, and analyzes the effects of the informational advantages of migrants. The paper maintains that migration would expand an individual's economic choices and opportunities and allow diversification. Consequently, diversification advantages influence the location decisions of migrants, an effect captured by the correlation of incomes at the origin and potential destinations. We use the discrete choice model based on random utility maximization as the framework for our empirical investigation of migration from the United States rural to urban counties. This paper takes advantage of an equivalent relation between the conditional logit model and Poisson regression to study the migration decisions using aggregate data among a large set of spatial alternatives. The results show that the diversification concerns have significant effects on location decisions of the rural‐urban migrants in the United States.     

Multiperiod migration patterns: the timing and frequency of household responses

"The structure of intertemporal patterns of household migration responses is empirically examined. The findings indicate that migration decisions are often related to changes in household conditions in both prior as well as following periods, are dependent on the duration of household status characteristics (e.g., marital status) and not just their presence at any point in time, and finally that migration response in any particular period very often differs among households as a result of differences in the underlying structure of migration frequency behavior. These findings suggest that inferences based on comparisons of household migration responses over only a single period of time are incomplete, possibly to the point of being misleading." The study is based on a calculation of "the distribution of migration patterns between 1976 and 1979 for a sample of 4,739 households in the [U.S.] Michigan Panel Survey on Income Dynamics (PSIC)."     

以家庭为单位的活动参与：联合与独立家庭维持性活动中的性别差异—— 以北京市家庭为例

个体的日常活动发生在复杂的情境下,受到来自地理环境和社会环境的制约。以往研究揭示了制约下的个体在活动参与上展示出明显的性别差异。然而,传统以个体为单位的研究,忽视了家作为地方秩序的口袋,其内部分成员之间的互动对不同性别家庭成员活动参与的影响。本文从家庭内部分工的视角,研究夫妻双方在参与家庭维持性活动的时间利用的差异。在分析差异形成的过程中,在家庭区位特征、个体社会经济特征外,关注了配偶的社会经济特征、家庭成员间的互动对个体参与独立与联合家庭维持性活动的影响。研究结果验证了我们的假设,微观个体活动参与及时间利用的性别差异,不仅受到社会与地理环境制约,而且是家庭成员之间互动、分工的结果。以家庭为单位的分析能更好地补充和解释以往性别差异的研究成果,为个体活动、移动行为等研究提供新的视角。     

EXURBANIZATION AS A COMPONENT OF MIGRATION: A CASE STUDY IN OXFORD COUNTY, ONTARIO

In this paper exurbanization is regarded as a process involving the movement of a household from an urban area to another location beyond the contiguously built-up urban region but within its extensive commuting field. The primary definitive feature is that one or more persons within the household retains regular employment ties with the urban area. Although various influences on the inter-and intra-urban migration of households have been considered extensively in the migration literature (Clark 1982), exurbanization has yet to be placed in the context of this literature and examined with similar rigour. The issue, to paraphrase Rossi and Shlay (1982), is not just why households move, but why they choose to move where they do - that is, why have some become exurbanite households?     

What drives the spatial wage premium in formal and informal labor markets? The case of Ecuador

This article investigates the incidence of agglomeration externalities in Ecuador, a small-sized, middle-income developing country. In particular, we analyze the role of the informal sector within these relations, since informal employment accounts for a significant part of total employment in the developing countries. Using individual level data and instrumental variable techniques, we investigate the impact of spatial externalities, in terms of population density, local specialization and urban size, on the wages of workers in Ecuadorian cities. The results show that spatial externalities matter also for a small developing country. Moreover, analysis of the interaction between spatial externalities and informality shows that, on average, workers employed in the informal sector do not enjoy significant benefits from agglomeration externalities. Finally, by investigating the possible channels behind spatial agglomeration gains we show that the advantages from agglomeration for formal sector workers may well be accounted for by better job-quality matches and, to a lesser extent, by learning externalities. For informal sector workers, our findings also suggest possible gains from job changes, which offset a penalty for remaining employed in the same occupation.     

理解中国城市生活方式：基于时空行为的研究框架

面对以人为核心的城市研究与规划需求,如何理解城市居民的日常生活并分析城市空间与居民生活方式之间的互动关系就显得尤为重要。转型期背景下,受到制度与市场双重力量的驱动,中国城市生活方式表现出特殊性。本文从生活方式理论、时间地理学和活动分析法的理论基础出发,分析生活方式与时空行为的关系,指出从行为角度进行生活方式研究的可行性;提出基于时空行为变量测度生活方式的指标体系,将出行模式、与城市空间的关系和日程安排作为度量生活方式的核心指标;并构建了生活方式的影响机制分析框架,提出制度、技术、地理背景和社会关系是影响生活方式的主要因素,为更好的理解中国城市社会空间与居民生活提供有效途径。     

ON THE VALUE OF FOREGONE OPEN SPACE IN SPRAWLING CITIES

Foregone benefits of the open space that is sacrificed through urban sprawl are hard to quantify. We obtain a simple benchmark measure by introducing a demand for trips beyond the urban boundary into the monocentric city model. The externality arises from the increase in travel costs that expansion of the city imposes on its prior inhabitants. An empirical application illustrates the moderate informational requirements. It indicates that open space externalities warrant rather mild restrictions on urban expansion.     

Working,Shopping, and House Rents

The interaction between household demand for goods and for leisure and the supply of labor at various distances from an urban center is investigated for the case where rents are endogenous and adjust to equalize differences in utility produced by the greater time and money costs of the journey to shop and the journey to work. The model is solved for a set of realistic parameter values and this confirms that when rents are equal everywhere the demand for leisure can increase and the supply of labor decrease for households nearer the center, while once rents are endogenous the reverse must be true. For a household at a given location the elasticities of demand for goods and leisure and the elasticity of labor supply are calculated for all the parameters of the model. It is shown that the unavoidable costs of travel to work have strong effects on the rent gradient while the costs of the journey to shop have only weak effects, being offset by the variable frequency of shopping.     

国内外城市居住空间研究的回顾与展望

住宅作为城市的重要职能和城市空间结构的重要组成部分,长期以来地理学、经济学、社会学、政治学等不同学科的学者一直关注城市居住和相关理论的研究。本文在全面阐述西方居住空间研究的理论、方法、研究领域和研究成果的基础上,对我国有关城市居住空间的研究领域和研究进展进行回顾,并展望有待进一步深化研究的领域。     

THE IMPACT OF MIGRATION ON MOBILITY OF OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS IN THAILAND

The effect of initial migration of a household member on the subsequent migration of other household members is investigated. Previous research has documented the strong impact of migration experience in predicting future migration. This article builds on this experience by adopting a social network approach to explain the association between an initial migration from a household and the subsequent migration of other household members. Differentials in socio-economic characteristics of subsequent migrants and factors associated with the encouragement of subsequent migration by initial migrants are analysed. Longitudinal data from the Kanchanaburi Demographic Surveillance System, which allow for accurate modelling of the flow and pattern of subsequent migration, and which help to highlight the importance of household social networks on the migration decisions of left-behind household members, are used. The results indicate that the number of male and female initial migrants in the household, duration of initial migration, relationship to initial migrant, and number of migrants in the village are factors most likely to predict a subsequent move.     

A MODEL OF URBAN HOUSEHOLD BEHAVIOR WITH LEISURE CHOICE

This paper provides a complete comparative-static analysis of the simplest model of urban household behavior that incorporates time explicitly. Results involving the housing-price function and the effects on housing consumption and location (radial distance from the CBD) of exogenous changes in preferences for housing, housing price, and money costs of transportation are the same as in models not incorporating time explicitly. In addition, it is found that housing consumption and location are negatively related to commuting time, positively related to nonwage income, and ambiguously related (both a priori and empirically, for reasonable values of the relevant variables) to the wage rate.     

THE PURE THEORY OF HOUSEHOLD LOCATION AN AXIOMATIC APPROACH*

In this paper, I present an axiomatic basis for the neoclassical model of household location in a monocentric urban area. I generalize the existing framework and demonstrate that many of the conclusions derived using parametric models continue to hold even without the popularly assumed well-behaved utility and transportation cost functions.     

URBAN GROWTH EXTERNALITIES AND NEIGHBORHOOD INCENTIVES: ANOTHER CAUSE OF URBAN SPRAWL?*

ABSTRACT This paper suggests a cause of low density urban development or urban sprawl that has not been given much attention in the literature. There have been a number of arguments put forward for market failures that may account for urban sprawl, including incomplete pricing of infrastructure, environmental externalities, and unpriced congestion. The problem analyzed here is that urban growth creates benefits for an entire urban area, but the costs of growth are borne by individual neighborhoods. An externality problem arises because existing residents perceive the costs associated with the new residents locating in their neighborhoods, but not the full benefits of new entrants which accrue to the city as a whole. The result is that existing residents have an incentive to block new residents to their neighborhoods, resulting in cities that are less dense than is optimal, or too spread out. The paper models several different types of urban growth, and examines the optimal and local choice outcomes under each type. In the first model, population growth is endogenous and the physical limits of the city are fixed. The second model examines the case in which population growth in the region is given, but the city boundary is allowed to vary. We show that in both cases the city will tend to be larger and less dense than is optimal. In each, we examine the sensitivity of the model to the number of neighborhoods and to the size of infrastructure and transportation costs. Finally, we examine optimal subsidies and see how they compare to current policies such as impact fees on new development.     

高速铁路对中国城市产业结构的影响研究

交通是影响城市产业发展的重要因素,高铁作为一种新型交通工具必将对城市产业发展产生影响。修正市场潜力模型分析高铁对中国城市产业结构的影响。结果表明：①总体上,高铁提升了城市服务业的比重,降低了城市制造业的比重;制造业型城市和服务业型城市的服务业比重都得到提升,制造业比重都下降;从单个城市来看,高铁提升了大多数制造业型城市和大多数服务业型城市服务业的比重。②对于制造业型城市的产业结构升级,高铁主要促进该类城市一般服务业比重的提升;对于服务业型城市的产业结构强化,高铁主要促进这些城市高端服务业比重的提升。③高铁的开通增强了中心城市的溢出效应,促进了中心城市及其周边城市的产业结构升级。     

LOCAL TAX BURDENS AND THE SUPPLY OF BUSINESS SITES IN SUBURBAN MUNICIPALITIES*

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of local household tax burdens and other community attributes on the supply of business sites made available by local municipalities. A model of community site supply is tested in which municipalities trade off increased fiscal benefits from business location and reductions in environmental quality that accompany industrial and commercial development. This tradeoff is embodied in municipal zoning decisions. Empirical analysis of industrial and commercial zoning in two rapidly growing suburban counties of the Philadelphia metropolitan area provides considerable support for the tenets of community site supply theory.