共財投入、居住品質和區域分隔

Abstract

本文對經濟分隔相關文獻的貢獻在於強調對居住品質的偏好差異可以解釋區域分隔現象的產生。本文建構一內生分類 (endogenous sorting) 之一般均衡模型, 兼以考量家戶在所得、 通勤時間成本乃至於對居住品質偏好上的差異。居住品質受地方公共財投入內生影響, 而地方公共財投入的規模又由所徵得的財產稅收入決定。本文找出完全競爭空間均衡的特徵條件, 並進一步發現完全整合居住型態的出現需要參數滿足一測度為零的特定條件。換言之, 一般而言均衡滿足區域分隔型態。當家戶在通勤成本上的差異遠大於其在居住品質偏好上的差異, 均衡時所有富人居住在市中心, 符合亞洲和歐洲的都會區分佈型態。反之則均衡時所有富人居住在市郊, 符合美洲都會區的分佈型態。

Our paper contributes to the literature on economic segregation by showing that heterogeneity in preferences for housing quality as a result of the location-specific provision of public goods can generate locational stratification. We develop a general equilibrium framework of endogenous sorting in which agents are allowed to differ in their incomes, opportunity costs of commuting, and preferences for housing quality. Housing quality is endogenously determined by location-specific public infrastructure that is financed by property taxes. We characterize the configuration of the competitive spatial equilibrium. We find that complete integration arises only under a set of parameters of measure zero such that the ratio of the opportunity costs of commuting facing different types of agents is in a specific homothetic relation to the ratio of the marginal valuations of housing quality. By contrast, locational stratification is generic. When the difference between agents' commuting costs is sufficiently large (resp. small) compared to the difference in their respective preferences for housing quality, the equilibrium is segregated with all rich residing in the central city (resp. suburb) as observed in Asia and Europe (resp. U.S. metropolitan areas).