Quantitative Spatial Models for Urban Economics
PhD Review Course, University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), 2025
This course covers quantitative spatial models (QSMs) as used in urban and real estate economics and related disciplines. We critically explore QSMs both as tools for measurement and as economic frameworks for evaluating welfare and simulating counterfactuals of spatial economies. We discuss approaches to QSM estimation, as well as data requirements, identifying assumptions, and the consequences thereof. The purpose of this course is to give students a broad understanding of QSMs and their common use cases, while providing a sense of the circumstances and assumptions under which these models permit credible analysis. The syllabus can be found here.