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Skyscrapers And Skylines: New York And Chicago, 1885–2007

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  • Jason Barr

Abstract

type="main"> This paper investigates skyscraper competition between New York City and Chicago. The urban economics literature is generally silent on strategic interaction between cities, yet skyscraper rivalry between these cities is a part of U.S. historiography. This paper tests whether there is, in fact, strategic interaction across cities. First, I find that each city has positive reaction functions with respect to the other city, suggesting strategic complementarity. In regard to zoning, I find that height regulations negatively impacted each city, but produced positive responses by the other city, providing evidence for strategic substitutability.

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  • Jason Barr, 2013. "Skyscrapers And Skylines: New York And Chicago, 1885–2007," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 369-391, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jregsc:v:53:y:2013:i:3:p:369-391
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    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Fire and Ice: Lessons from Historical Conflagrations for Cities Today
      by Jason Barr in Skynomics Blog on 2018-10-02 13:20:18
    2. Growing Up: Skyscraper Heights over the 20th Century
      by Jason Barr in Skynomics Blog on 2017-10-20 17:59:53
    3. Revisiting 1916 (Part I): The History of New York City’s First Zoning Resolution
      by Jason Barr in Skynomics Blog on 2019-03-27 12:20:08

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Barr, Jason, 2022. "The economics of skyscrapers: A synthesis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    2. Lu, Jiaxuan, 2023. "The economics of China’s between-city height competition: A regression discontinuity approach," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    3. Wadjidou Boukari & Fenjie Long, 2023. "Reducing urban sprawl by optimizing housing production," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 529-549, June.
    4. Park, Sangwon & Nicolau, Juan L., 2015. "Differentiated effect of advertising: Joint vs. separate consumption," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 107-114.
    5. Jason Barr & Jennifer Johnson, 2020. "Skyscrapers and the Happiness of Cities," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 344-377, April.
    6. Hanlon, W.Walker & Heblich, Stephan, 2022. "History and urban economics," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    7. Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt & Daniel P. McMillen, 2018. "Tall Buildings and Land Values: Height and Construction Cost Elasticities in Chicago, 1870–2010," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 100(5), pages 861-875, December.
    8. Paul C. Cheshire & Gerard H. Dericks, 2020. "‘Trophy Architects’ and Design as Rent‐seeking: Quantifying Deadweight Losses in a Tightly Regulated Office Market," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 87(348), pages 1078-1104, October.
    9. Jenny Schuetz, 2020. "Teardowns, popups, and renovations: How does housing supply change?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 459-480, June.
    10. Gabriel Ahlfeldt & Daniel McMillen, 2017. "Tall Building and Land Values: Height and Construction Cost Elasticities in Chicago, 1870 - 2010," CESifo Working Paper Series 6730, CESifo.
    11. Arvydas Jadevicius, 2016. "Skyscraper indicator and its application in the UK," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 4(2), pages 37-49.
    12. Jason Barr & Jingshu Luo, 2021. "Growing Skylines: The Economic Determinants of Skyscrapers in China," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 63(2), pages 210-248, August.
    13. Ilir Nase & Nick van Assendelft & Hilde Remøy, 2019. "Rent Premiums and Vertical Sorting in Amsterdam’s Multi-Tenant Office Buildings," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 419-460, October.
    14. Ahlfeldt, Gabriel M. & Barr, Jason, 2022. "Viewing urban spatial history from tall buildings," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).

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