Colloquium on the Law, Economics and Politics of Urban Affairs
Professors Vicki Been, Ingrid Gould Ellen and Christopher Serkin
Spring 2009
Monday, 4:00-5:50 p.m.
Vanderbilt Hall, Room 208
L10.3504.001
2 credits
This course, taught jointly by faculty of the Law School and the Wagner School, will allow students to explore the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of current debates in urban policy. We will meet with nationally prominent scholars in law, economics, urban planning, and public administration to discuss their works in progress. In the past, topics of the papers have included, e.g., the prospect that the rise of Black middle class suburbs may increase residential segregation, the capitalization of school spending into the value of homes, and the effect environmental regulations have on the price of housing. In background sessions, students learn the theory and methodology necessary to discuss the work in progress with its author. In colloquium sessions, students discuss the work with the author and other invited guests. Students submit written questions for the author and prepare short papers critiquing the work and the author's defense of the work.
Spring 2009 Schedule of Presenters
February 2
Paul S. Willen, Senior Economist and Policy Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Paper Topic: Making Sense of the Subprime Crisis (with Kristopher S. Gerardi, Andreas Lehnert, Shane M. Sherland) PDF
February 9
Michelle White, Professor of Economics, University of California, San Diego; Research Associate, NBER
Paper Topic: Saving Your Home in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy (with Ning Zhu) PDF
February 23
Carolina K. Reid, Research Manager, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco
Paper Topic: Lending in Low- and Moderate-Income Neighborhoods in California: The Performance of CRA Lending During the Subprime Meltdown
PDF
March 9
Sandra J. Newman, Professor of Policy Studies, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Director of the Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies
Paper Topic: Owning Versus Renting and Children’s Outcomes
PDF
March 23
Jens Ludwig, McCormick Foundation Professor of Social Service Administration, Law, and Public Policy, University of Chicago; Co-Director of the University of Chicago Crime Lab; Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; Faculty Research Fellow of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Paper Topic: The Effects of Housing Assistance on Labor Supply: Evidence from a Voucher Lottery (with Brian A. Jacob) PDF
March 30
David P. Varady, Professor, College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, University of Cincinnati
Paper Topic: The Geographic Concentration of Housing Vouchers, Blacks, and Poverty over Time: A Study of Cincinnati, Ohio (with Xinhao Wang, Yimei Wang and Patrick Duhaney) PDF Powerpoint
April 13
Myron Orfield, Julius E. Davis Professor of Law; Executive Director, Institute on Race & Poverty, University of Minnesota Law School
Topic: Neighborhood and School Segregation in the Twin Cities Region (with Baris Gumus-Dawes, Thomas Luce, and Geneva Finn), Chapter 3 from forthcoming book Region: Law, Policy and the Future of the Twin Cities (University of Minnesota Press, 2009) PDF
April 20
John Quigley, I. Donald Terner Distinguished Professor, and Professor of Economics, Department of Economics, Goldman School of Public Policy and the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley; Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy
Paper Topic: Doing Well by Doing Good? Green Office Buildings (with Piet Eichholtz and Nils Kok) PDF
April 27
Yan Song, Assistant Professor, Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Paper Topic: How Do Differences in Property Taxes within Cities Affect Urban Sprawl? (with Yves Zenou) PDF