Essays on Urban Economics
(2015) In Economics studies- Abstract
- Abstract
Blind, I. 2015. Essays on Urban Economics. Economic studies 153. xii+199 pp. Uppsala:
Department of Economics. ISBN 978-91-85519-60-6.
This thesis consists of four self-contained essays.
Essay 1 (with Olof Åslund and Matz Dahlberg): In this essay we investigate the impact of
commuter train access on individual labor market outcomes. Our study considers the exogenous
introduction of a commuter train linking locations in the northern part of Uppsala County
(Sweden) to the regional employment center, considerably decreasing commuting times by
public transit to the center for those living close to the pre-existing railroad. Using differencein-differences matching techniques on comprehensive individual... (More) - Abstract
Blind, I. 2015. Essays on Urban Economics. Economic studies 153. xii+199 pp. Uppsala:
Department of Economics. ISBN 978-91-85519-60-6.
This thesis consists of four self-contained essays.
Essay 1 (with Olof Åslund and Matz Dahlberg): In this essay we investigate the impact of
commuter train access on individual labor market outcomes. Our study considers the exogenous
introduction of a commuter train linking locations in the northern part of Uppsala County
(Sweden) to the regional employment center, considerably decreasing commuting times by
public transit to the center for those living close to the pre-existing railroad. Using differencein-differences matching techniques on comprehensive individual panel data spanning over a
decade, our intention-to-treat estimates show that the reform had mainly no impact on the
earnings and employment development among the affected individuals.
Essay 2: In this essay I look into the role of public transit for residential sorting by studying
how the introduction of a commuter train linking locations in the northern part of Uppsala
County (Sweden) to the regional employment center affected migration patterns in the areas
served. Using a difference-in-difference(-in-difference) approach and comprehensive individual
level data, I find that the commuter train had a positive effect on overall in-migration to the areas
served and no effect on the average out-migration rate from these areas. With regards to sorting
based on labor market status, I find no evidence of sorting based on employment status but some
evidence that the train introduction increased the probability of moving out of the areas served
for individuals with high labor incomes relative to the probability for individuals with lower
income. Considering sorting along other lines than labor market status, the analysis suggests
that people born in non-western countries came to be particularly attracted towards the areas
served by the commuter train as compared to other similar areas.
Essay 3: In this essay I look into the relation between housing mix and social mix in
metropolitan Stockholm (Sweden) over the period 1990-2008. Using entropy measures, I find
that although the distribution of tenure types over metropolitan Stockholm became somewhat
more even over the studied period, people living in different tenure types still to a large extent
tended to live in different parts of the city in 2008. The degree of residential segregation was
much lower between different population groups. I further find that the mix of family types, and
over time also of birth region groups and income groups, was rather different between different
tenure types in the same municipality. The mix of different groups however tended to be similar
within different tenure types in the same neighborhood. While the entropy measures provide a
purely descriptive picture, the findings thus suggest that tenure type mix could be more useful for
creating social mix at the municipal level than for creating social mix at the neighborhood level.
Essay 4 (with Matz Dahlberg): The last decade’s immigration to western European countries
has resulted in a culturally and religiously more diverse population in these countries. This
diversification manifests itself in several ways, where one is through new features in the
cityscape. Using a quasi-experimental approach, essay 4 examines how one such new feature,
public calls to prayer, affects neighborhood dynamics (house prices and migration). The quasiexperiment is based on an unexpected political process that lead way to the first public call to
prayer from a mosque in Sweden combined with rich (daily) information on housing sales. While
our results indicate that the public calls to prayer increased house prices closer to the mosque,
we find no evidence that the public calls to prayer served as a driver of residential segregation
between natives and people born abroad around the mosque in question (no significant effects
on migration behavior). Our findings are consistent with a story where some people have a
willingness to pay for the possibility to more fully exert their religion which puts an upward
pressure on housing in the vicinity of a mosque with public calls to prayer. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/246610f2-a964-483a-a756-e33d3f01ae0e
- author
- Blind, Ina LU
- supervisor
- publishing date
- 2015
- type
- Thesis
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- tenure type mix, Infrastructure investment, commuting, job access, public transit, labor market outcomes, migration, residential sorting, residential segregation, housing mix, mosques, call to prayer, house prices, neighborhood dynamics
- in
- Economics studies
- issue
- 153
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 246610f2-a964-483a-a756-e33d3f01ae0e
- date added to LUP
- 2019-05-21 14:09:56
- date last changed
- 2019-09-20 14:07:00
@phdthesis{246610f2-a964-483a-a756-e33d3f01ae0e,
abstract = {{Abstract<br/>Blind, I. 2015. Essays on Urban Economics. Economic studies 153. xii+199 pp. Uppsala:<br/>Department of Economics. ISBN 978-91-85519-60-6.<br/>This thesis consists of four self-contained essays.<br/>Essay 1 (with Olof Åslund and Matz Dahlberg): In this essay we investigate the impact of<br/>commuter train access on individual labor market outcomes. Our study considers the exogenous<br/>introduction of a commuter train linking locations in the northern part of Uppsala County<br/>(Sweden) to the regional employment center, considerably decreasing commuting times by<br/>public transit to the center for those living close to the pre-existing railroad. Using differencein-differences matching techniques on comprehensive individual panel data spanning over a<br/>decade, our intention-to-treat estimates show that the reform had mainly no impact on the<br/>earnings and employment development among the affected individuals.<br/>Essay 2: In this essay I look into the role of public transit for residential sorting by studying<br/>how the introduction of a commuter train linking locations in the northern part of Uppsala<br/>County (Sweden) to the regional employment center affected migration patterns in the areas<br/>served. Using a difference-in-difference(-in-difference) approach and comprehensive individual<br/>level data, I find that the commuter train had a positive effect on overall in-migration to the areas<br/>served and no effect on the average out-migration rate from these areas. With regards to sorting<br/>based on labor market status, I find no evidence of sorting based on employment status but some<br/>evidence that the train introduction increased the probability of moving out of the areas served<br/>for individuals with high labor incomes relative to the probability for individuals with lower<br/>income. Considering sorting along other lines than labor market status, the analysis suggests<br/>that people born in non-western countries came to be particularly attracted towards the areas<br/>served by the commuter train as compared to other similar areas.<br/>Essay 3: In this essay I look into the relation between housing mix and social mix in<br/>metropolitan Stockholm (Sweden) over the period 1990-2008. Using entropy measures, I find<br/>that although the distribution of tenure types over metropolitan Stockholm became somewhat<br/>more even over the studied period, people living in different tenure types still to a large extent<br/>tended to live in different parts of the city in 2008. The degree of residential segregation was<br/>much lower between different population groups. I further find that the mix of family types, and<br/>over time also of birth region groups and income groups, was rather different between different<br/>tenure types in the same municipality. The mix of different groups however tended to be similar<br/>within different tenure types in the same neighborhood. While the entropy measures provide a<br/>purely descriptive picture, the findings thus suggest that tenure type mix could be more useful for<br/>creating social mix at the municipal level than for creating social mix at the neighborhood level.<br/>Essay 4 (with Matz Dahlberg): The last decade’s immigration to western European countries<br/>has resulted in a culturally and religiously more diverse population in these countries. This<br/>diversification manifests itself in several ways, where one is through new features in the<br/>cityscape. Using a quasi-experimental approach, essay 4 examines how one such new feature,<br/>public calls to prayer, affects neighborhood dynamics (house prices and migration). The quasiexperiment is based on an unexpected political process that lead way to the first public call to<br/>prayer from a mosque in Sweden combined with rich (daily) information on housing sales. While<br/>our results indicate that the public calls to prayer increased house prices closer to the mosque,<br/>we find no evidence that the public calls to prayer served as a driver of residential segregation<br/>between natives and people born abroad around the mosque in question (no significant effects<br/>on migration behavior). Our findings are consistent with a story where some people have a<br/>willingness to pay for the possibility to more fully exert their religion which puts an upward<br/>pressure on housing in the vicinity of a mosque with public calls to prayer.}},
author = {{Blind, Ina}},
keywords = {{tenure type mix; Infrastructure investment; commuting; job access; public transit; labor market outcomes; migration; residential sorting; residential segregation; housing mix; mosques; call to prayer; house prices; neighborhood dynamics}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{153}},
series = {{Economics studies}},
title = {{Essays on Urban Economics}},
year = {{2015}},
}