Elaborating policy evaluation in stochastic discrete-choice models

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K20924
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Economic theory; Economic policy
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Science (2016-2018); The University of Tokyo (2015)
• Principal Investigator: Fujishima Shota 東京理科大学, 経営学部ビジネスエコノミクス学科, 講師 (50706835)
• Research Collaborator: Akamatsu Takashi ; Takayama Yuki ; Oyama Daisuke
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 都市・地域経済学

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Urban economic models, where people choose locations of their residence, generally have multiple equilibria because both positive externalities from agglomeration economies and negative externalities from congestion arise. Simultaneously, policy discussions are important because equilibrium is generally inefficient, owing to the presence of externalities. However, under the presence of multiple equilibria, an economy does not necessarily move to the efficient state where social welfare is maximized, even if a policy is implemented. This project shows that stable equilibrium can be unique for the following two cases: when the spatial unit of areas over which people choose to locate is small and when people have forward-looking expectations.

Free Research Field

都市・地域経済学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

政策評価は，経済学が現実問題に貢献しうる1つの重要な分野である．複数均衡が生じるモデルを用いた政策評価がいかなるケースにおいて妥当性を有するのかについては未解決の部分が多く，この点について理解を深めることができたのが本研究の社会的・学術的意義として挙げられる．さらに，政策評価は経済学のみならず土木計画学などの他分野でも研究されており，本研究の学術的意義は経済学にとどまるものではない．