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Monocentric city redux

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  • Jordan Rappaport

Abstract

This paper argues that centralized employment remains an empirically relevant stylization of midsize U.S. metros. It extends the monocentric model to explicitly include leisure as a source of utility but constrains workers to supply fixed labor hours. Doing so sharpens the marginal disutility from longer commutes. The numerical implementation calibrates traffic congestion to tightly match observed commute times in Portland, Oregon. The implied geographic distribution of CBD workers' residence tightly matches that of Portland. The implied population density, land price, and house price gradients approximately match empirical estimates. Variations to the baseline calibration build intuition on underlying mechanics.

Suggested Citation

  • Jordan Rappaport, 2014. "Monocentric city redux," Research Working Paper RWP 14-9, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedkrw:rwp14-09
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    File URL: https://www.kansascityfed.org/documents/401/pdf-Monocentric%20City%20Redux.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. DiBartolomeo, Jeffrey A., 2020. "Commuting speed as a proxy for the value of time," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    2. Titman, Sheridan & Zhu, Guozhong, 2024. "City characteristics, land prices and volatility," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Urban Land Use; Commuting; Leisure; Value of Time;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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