75576 - Regional and Transport Economics

Academic Year 2018/2019

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Rimini
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Resource Economics and Sustainable Development (cod. 8839)

    Also valid for Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Tourism Economics and Management (cod. 8609)

Learning outcomes

During the course, students will be introduced to regional and transport economic modelling. In particular, the course will review a number of well-known theoretical frameworks relating to, among others: urban agglomeration, regional economic growth and transportation choice modelling. Starting from this basic theoretical knowledge, the course will focus on applied modelling, showing students how research questions in these fields can be investigated through real-world data. A specific focus, in this regard, will be on the interactions of economic agents in space and on environmental and sustainability issues.

Course contents

This introductory course to regional and transport economics consists of a number of lectures on macro-topics in regional, spatial, urban and transport economics. Each week will be devoted to one topic, which will first be covered in two theoretical lectures, and finally discussed by the students through the analysis, assisted by the instructor, of research papers.

The macro-topics to be analysed will be selected jointly with the attending students. Suggested topics include:

- Energy for Regional Development (Regional Research Frontiers, vol. 1)
- Spatial Interaction, Transportation, and Interregional Commodity Flow Models (Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, vol. 1)
- Urban Transportation (Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, vols 2/3)
- Cities and the Environment (Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, vol. 5)
- Change and Persistence in the Economic Status of Neighborhoods and Cities (Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, vol. 5)
- Transportation Costs and the Spatial Organization of Economic Activity (Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, vol. 5)
- Transport in Spatial Models of Economic Development (A Handbook of Transport Economics)
- Theory of External Costs (A Handbook of Transport Economics)
- External Costs of Transport in Europe (A Handbook of Transport Economics)
- Transport and Energy (A Handbook of Transport Economics)
- Policy Needs and Policy Processes (Introduction to Transport Policy: A Public Policy View)
- Traffic Theory and Transport Planning Foundations (Introduction to Transport Policy: A Public Policy View)
- The Demand for Transport (Principles of Transport Economics)

For the exact programme eventually carried out during the course, please refer to the News section of the instructor's website, or to the teaching material online.

 

Readings/Bibliography

Teaching material, consisting of handbook chapters and journal articles, will be provided online by the instructor.

The main reference texts for the course will be the following:

- Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics (various editors) (1987-2015), vols 1-5. Elsevier, Amsterdam.

- A Handbook of Transport Economics (A. de Palma, R. Lindsey, E. Quinet, R. Vickerman, eds) (2011). Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.

Teaching methods

The course will mix theoretical lectures, analysis of research articles, and instructor-assisted groupwork.

Assessment methods

Evaluation is as follows:

- 70%: written exam;
- 30%: in-class activities and participation.

The written exam will be composed of open-answer questions on the topics taught during the course. Students will select two questions out of the three proposed.

For in-class activities to be successfully evaluated, students have to participate in at least four of them (out of five).

Students who cannot attend class regularly will have to answer all three open-answer questions.

A positive final mark can only be refused once. Refusal of the grade has to be communicated via email within the day of the subsequent office hours of the instructor.

Teaching tools

Teaching material.

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Patuelli

SDGs

Decent work and economic growth Industry, innovation and infrastructure

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.