| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation contains three essays that examine public policy in the context of urban areas. The first essay explores how policies that prevent drivers from using residential streets as through routes affect preferences for living in those areas. I exploit the staggered rollout of a Low Traffic Neighborhood (LTN) pilot program and find that house prices within LTNs increase by 6.5% relative to untreated neighborhoods. I find no evidence that this effect is driven by LTNs displacing traffic to nearby neighborhoods, instead finding suggestive evidence that neighborhoods within 0.5 miles experience a net-positive spillover effect. These effects are partially driven by improvements in road safety. In the second essay, I present the first estimate of how subway access at night is capitalized into house prices, using the rollout of London’s Night Tube to estimate the effect of receiving nighttime service at a nearby station on the sale price of residential properties in Greater London. I find that receiving Night Tube service leads to decreases in sale prices of 1.3-2.6% for properties located within 1 mile of a station. I find suggestive evidence that an increase in crime, specifically thefts and antisocial behavior, is a mechanism. In the third essay, I examine whether changes in the gender composition of municipal councils in California affect the size and/or composition of public expenditures, focusing on the heterogeneous effects of gender diversity by initial gender balance. Using a Regression Discontinuity design utilizing close elections between male and female city council candidates. I broadly find null effects of diversity on spending decisions. | |
