ESSAYS IN SPATIAL ECONOMICS

<p dir="ltr">This dissertation consists of three chapters in spatial economics. I employ empirical, data-driven methods to investigate the impact of urban policies related to access to consumption, shared transportation service, and the provision of public amenities. In the first chapter, I estimate a sorting model that jointly considers residential and consumption choices to evaluate the impact of urban policies aimed at improving household access to grocery stores. The model is structurally estimated using household travel survey data, business information from Google Maps, and property data in Cook County, Illinois. Using the estimated model to evaluate a counterfactual policy of introducing new grocery stores in underserved areas, I find that this policy can raise housing prices in nearby neighborhoods and contribute to income-based residential sorting. </p><p dir="ltr">The second chapter investigates the spatial heterogeneity and decay patterns of bike-sharing usage spillovers using data from the Divvy bike-sharing system in Chicago. We employ a Bayesian heterogeneous spatial dynamic panel model with dynamic common factors to capture localized spatial dependencies. Empirical findings show that spatial spillovers diminish with increasing bike travel time and vary significantly across neighborhoods. Moreover, negative spillovers emerge between distant areas, indicating possible competition effects. Our results provide valuable insights into bike-sharing usage and can inform the design and expansion of urban bike-sharing systems.</p><p dir="ltr">The third chapter takes a historical perspective to examine the long-term effects of redlining on the provision of public amenities across racial groups in contemporary urban areas. We employ a regression discontinuity design and find that redlining negatively affects walkable access to public amenities. When driving is taken into account, this negative impact is mitigated.</p>