American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
The Rising Value of Time and the Origin of Urban Gentrification
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 14,
no. 1, February 2022
(pp. 402–39)
Abstract
In recent decades, gentrification has transformed American central city neighborhoods. I estimate a spatial equilibrium model to show that the rising value of high-skilled workers' time contributes to the gentrification of American central cities. I show that the increasing value of time raises the cost of commuting and exogenously increases the demand for central locations by high-skilled workers. While change in the value of time has a modest direct effect on gentrification of central cities, the effect is substantially magnified by endogenous amenity change driven by the changes in local skill mix.Citation
Su, Yichen. 2022. "The Rising Value of Time and the Origin of Urban Gentrification." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 14 (1): 402–39. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20190550Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J22 Time Allocation and Labor Supply
- J24 Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
- R21 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Housing Demand
- R23 Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population; Neighborhood Characteristics