Regional and Urban Economics

The theoretical part of the course will address two central topics. In the first part, the location choices of firms and individuals will be analyzed. These are often related to transport costs, but also to agglomeration economies, which may, for example, foster the creation of industrial clusters.

The second part of the course will offer an introduction to urban economics and a reflection on the spatial segregation of the population within a city, considering factors such as land costs, distance from economic centers, and the disposable income of different segments of the population.

In the applied part of the course, students will work in groups on a current topic related to the theoretical content of the course, which will be chosen at the beginning of the semester. As far as possible, the research results will be discussed with external guests working in the field of regional economics.

How can we explain income disparities across regions? What are the determinants of economic growth at the regional level? Why is economic activity spatially concentrated? The aim of the course is to provide the necessary tools to understand space as a central, and often overlooked, dimension of the economy. The course will combine theoretical and applied perspectives and will focus on various topics, such as the location choices of firms and individuals and the role of cities in regional competitive dynamics.

The course also offers a practical introduction to applied research through group projects on a topic in regional and urban economics. The objective of this part of the course is to become familiar with the different stages of applied research. Starting from the construction of a dataset and moving through the choice of the most appropriate empirical method, the goal is to arrive at a discussion of the results obtained, with the participation of external guests.

In presenza

The course will combine theoretical models and discussion in order to relate models to real-world contexts. Selected exercises will be discussed during the exercise sessions. The objective of the group project is to familiarize students with the different stages of applied research: constructing a dataset, choosing the empirical method, and discussing the results.

The final grade will be determined as follows:

• 80% Final exam, 90 minutes, closed book
• 20% Project