John Vernon Henderson | |
---|---|
Nationality | Canadian-American |
Occupation(s) | Economist and academic |
Awards | Fellow, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1984–85) Fellow, Leverhulme Foundation (2004) Fellow, Regional Science Association International (2004) Research Fellow, Center for Economic and Policy Research (2016) Fellow, the British Academy (2021) |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | BA., University of British Columbia Ph.D., University of Chicago (1972) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Urban and Spatial Economics Development Economics Housing Economics |
Sub-discipline | Regional Specialties:Sub-Saharan Africa and East Asia with Special Reference to China,Tanzania,Kenya,and Indonesia |
Institutions | London School of Economics Centre for Economic Policy Research |
John Vernon Henderson is a Canadian-American economist and an academic. He is a Research Affiliate at the International Growth Centre,Director of the Urbanisation in Developing Countries Program,and a School Professor of Economic Geography at the London School of Economics. [1]
Henderson is most known for his works on models of systems of cities and on urbanization in developing countries,focusing on factor market distortions,urban systems in sub-Saharan Africa,and the spatial layout of cities. [2]
Henderson is a research fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research and a Fellow of the British Academy. [3]
Henderson completed his BA in Economics from the University of British Columbia in 1968. In 1972,he completed his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago. [4]
Henderson began his academic career in 1972 by joining Queen's University as an assistant professor of economics and served until 1974. Following this,he took on the role of visiting assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago until 1974. From 1974 to 1979,he assumed the position of assistant professor of Economics and Urban Studies at Brown University while also serving as a visiting lecturer at Tribhuvan University in Nepal,between 1976 and 1977. In 1979,he was promoted to associate professor of Economics and Urban Studies at Brown University,a role that he served until 1982. Subsequently,from 1982 to 2013,he served as the Professor of Economics and Urban Studies at Brown University and from 1994 to 2013 as Eastman Professor of Political Economy at Brown University. During this time,he also held multiple concurrent appointments including serving as visiting scholar at the Institute of Economic Growth,Delhi University Campus in India from 1986 to 1988,a Guggenheim Fellow 1984/85,an Earhart Foundation Fellow in 1986 and Leverhulme Visiting professor of economics at the London School of Economics in 2004. Since 2013,he has held an appointment as the School Professor of Economic Geography at the London School of Economics. [1]
As of 2014,he is the director of the Urbanisation in Developing Countries Program at the London School of Economics.
Throughout his career,Henderson has collaborated with various governments in Asia and Africa,either through direct engagements or through organizations like the World Bank or the McKinsey Global Institute,in the development of urban policies. [5] He co-founded Urban Economics Association and served as its first president from 2006 to 2014. [6] He also served as the past president of the North American Regional Science Association [7] and as an editor of the Journal of Urban Economics from 2012 to 2019. Since 2016,he has been a research affiliate at the International Growth Center and a research fellow at the Center for Economic Policy Research. [8]
Henderson has authored publications spanning the areas of development economics,urban economics,housing markets,and investment dynamics including articles in peer-reviewed journals. [9]
Beginning with two papers in 1974, [10] [11] Henderson developed the framework for systems of cities,which encompasses an equilibrium model of a nation featuring trade and mobility of factors. Furthermore,he expanded this model to encompass dynamic scenarios involving capital accumulation and the emergence of endogenous technological advancements. [12] He applied this theoretical framework to various international contexts,including nations like China,the United States,Brazil,and Korea,as well as select regions within sub-Saharan Africa. His research on urban economics has investigated factors driving urban development and growth [13] including transportation, [14] environment, [15] and shared resources. [16] His early work examined the issues of congestion [17] and optimum city sizes, [10] and presented staggered work hours [18] and congestion tolls as an effective countermeasure to mitigate traffic congestion by incentivizing commuters to travel during less congested periods,thereby facilitating an optimal redistribution of traffic. [19] In related research,he examined the impact of state policies on urban concentration and concluded that government policies attempting to reduce urban concentration by diverting people from large metropolitan areas to smaller urban centers have limited effectiveness and can lead to problems such as under-exploitation of agglomeration economies and income inequality. [20]
Henderson's research on new urban landscapes highlighted the importance of conducting detailed assessments to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of proximity to the city core,considering factors such as residential rents,production efficiency,local market power,commuting costs,and historical downtown capacity,in order to make well-informed decisions about business district location and capacity. [21] He conducted research on advertising economies at a highly specific level within New York City, [22] showing that significant external factors can have a highly localized impact,affecting areas within a range of just a few hundred meters. In 2011,he explored the relationship between migration patterns and exclusionary practices in both developed and developing countries,with a specific focus on the provision of water services to low-income migrants in Brazil. The study emphasized the harmful impact of deliberate water service restrictions on the growth and development of low-income households and communities with limited education. [23] In 2021,his work has investigated various indicators of economic density as a means to assess the impact of urban agglomeration in six African nations and demonstrated that simple density measures outperform intricate metrics when it comes to elucidating income disparities among cities. [24]
Focusing his research efforts on air quality regulations,Henderson investigated the influence of localized regulatory efforts on ground-level ozone pollution levels and the spatial distribution of industrial facilities,revealing that when a county shifts from meeting air quality standards to failing them,stricter regulations are implemented,leading to noticeable improvements in air quality. [25] Moreover,he analyzed plant data from 1963 to 1992 and revealed that air quality regulation's unintended consequences on major polluters led to a 40-50% decline in expected births within polluting industries,prompting relocation of pollution-intensive operations to cleaner,less populated areas in attainment zones. [26]
Henderson's development economics research has focused on the role of institutions, [27] governance, [28] human capital, [29] and infrastructure, [30] along with other variables relevant to economic growth and development. In his early research,he examined the timing of regional development [31] along with the factors impacting rural-urban migration and the determinants of urban concentration in countries. His study identified a strong link between city size and education levels in developing countries,attributing it to rising skill demands and attractive urban amenities. [32] His 2006 research investigated the impact of migration restrictions on limiting productivity in China. This study established a correlation between output per worker and the scale of the cities,revealing that a significant proportion of these cities potentially operated below their optimal size and advocated for the relaxation of intra-sector migration restrictions as a means to facilitate agglomeration and enhance productivity in China. [33] Furthermore,his examination of local democratization and the composition of political parties within local assemblies on corruption levels in Indonesia demonstrated an overall decline in corruption levels in Indonesia between 2001 and 2004 and emphasized the importance of the presence of different political parties in local assemblies in an effort to curb corruption. [34] In collaboration with David Weil and Adam Storeygard,he developed process for economic assessment by utilizing nightlights as a valuable alternative indicator for gauging economic advancement,especially in situations where official national statistics may be limited in accuracy or quality. [35] He also studied the global distribution of economic activity accounting for history,geography and trade. [36]
Henderson's research on the housing market has examined the impacts of various factors such as interest rates,demographics,and zoning policies. [37] In 1983,he presented a framework for comprehending the factors that influence the decision of housing tenure and recommended that policies promoting homeownership should prioritize reducing the overall cost of owning a home,rather than solely focusing on expanding credit accessibility. [38] His subsequent research shed light on the multifaceted factors that impact families' choices regarding the duration of residence,housing tenure,and consumption levels,revealing that renters and homeowners do not fundamentally differ in their housing preferences,but rather their decisions are shaped by their unique life circumstances. [39] In a collaborative study with Anthony Venables and Tanner Regan,he conducted an analysis that encompassed the urban development patterns in Nairobi,examining the significance of slums within the city's growth trajectory,as well as examining the disruptions occurring within urban land markets. [40] [41] His most recent work in 2023 involved a project in Tanzania that encompassed the utilization of comprehensive satellite data on buildings,alongside field surveys involving real estate agents,village leaders,landowners,and residents in Dar es Salaam,Tanzania. [42]
The term built environment refers to human-made conditions and is often used in architecture,landscape architecture,urban planning,public health,sociology,and anthropology,among others. These curated spaces provide the setting for human activity and were created to fulfill human desires and needs. The term can refer to a plethora of components including the traditionally associated buildings,cities,public infrastructure,transportation,open space,as well as more conceptual components like farmlands,dammed rivers,wildlife management,and even domesticated animals.
One of the major subfields of urban economics,economies of agglomeration,explains,in broad terms,how urban agglomeration occurs in locations where cost savings can naturally arise. This term is most often discussed in terms of economic firm productivity. However,agglomeration effects also explain some social phenomena,such as large proportions of the population being clustered in cities and major urban centers. Similar to economies of scale,the costs and benefits of agglomerating increase the larger the agglomerated urban cluster becomes. Several prominent examples of where agglomeration has brought together firms of a specific industry are:Silicon Valley and Los Angeles being hubs of technology and entertainment,respectively,in California,United States along with London,United Kingdom,being a hub of finance.
Urban geography is the subdiscipline of geography that derives from a study of cities and urban processes. Urban geographers and urbanists examine various aspects of urban life and the built environment. Scholars,activists,and the public have participated in,studied,and critiqued flows of economic and natural resources,human and non-human bodies,patterns of development and infrastructure,political and institutional activities,governance,decay and renewal,and notions of socio-spatial inclusions,exclusions,and everyday life. Urban geography includes different other fields in geography such as the physical,social,and economic aspects of urban geography. The physical geography of urban environments is essential to understand why a town is placed in a specific area,and how the conditions in the environment play an important role with regards to whether or not the city successfully develops. Social geography examines societal and cultural values,diversity,and other conditions that relate to people in the cities. Economic geography is important to examine the economic and job flow within the urban population. These various aspects involved in studying urban geography are necessary to better understand the layout and planning involved in the development of urban environments worldwide.
Urban sprawl is defined as "the spreading of urban developments on undeveloped land near a more or less densely populated city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growth in many urban areas of housing,commercial development,and roads over large expanses of land,with little concern for very dense urban planning. Sometimes the urban areas described as the most "sprawling" are the most densely populated. In addition to describing a special form of urbanization,the term also relates to the social and environmental consequences associated with this development. In modern times some suburban areas described as "sprawl" have less detached housing and higher density than the nearby core city. Medieval suburbs suffered from the loss of protection of city walls,before the advent of industrial warfare. Modern disadvantages and costs include increased travel time,transport costs,pollution,and destruction of the countryside. The revenue for building and maintaining urban infrastructure in these areas are gained mostly through property and sales taxes. Most jobs in the US are now located in suburbs generating much of the revenue,although a lack of growth will require higher tax rates.
Suburbanization,also spelled suburbanisation,is a population shift from historic core cities or rural areas into suburbs. Most suburbs are built in a formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses away from city centers,low-density,peripheral urban areas grow. Proponents of curbing suburbanization argue that sprawl leads to urban decay and a concentration of lower-income residents in the inner city,in addition to environmental harm.
Masahisa Fujita is a Japanese economist who has studied regional science,urban economics,international trade,and spatial economy. He is a professor at Konan University and an adjunct professor at Institute of Economic Research,Kyoto University.
Edward Ludwig Glaeser is an American economist who is currently the Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University,where he is also the Chairman of the Department of Economics. He directs the Cities Research Programme at the International Growth Centre.
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median,as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affordable housing refers to mortgages and a number of forms that exist along a continuum –from emergency homeless shelters,to transitional housing,to non-market rental,to formal and informal rental,indigenous housing,and ending with affordable home ownership. Demand for affordable housing is generally associated with a decrease in housing affordability,such as rent increases,in addition to increased homelessness.
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters,tourists,and other short-term stays in a destination country do not fall under the definition of immigration or migration;seasonal labour immigration is sometimes included,however.
The economics of happiness or happiness economics is the theoretical,qualitative and quantitative study of happiness and quality of life,including positive and negative affects,well-being,life satisfaction and related concepts –typically tying economics more closely than usual with other social sciences,like sociology and psychology,as well as physical health. It typically treats subjective happiness-related measures,as well as more objective quality of life indices,rather than wealth,income or profit,as something to be maximized.
Spatial inequalityrefers to the unequal distribution of income and resources across geographical regions. Attributable to local differences in infrastructure,geographical features and economies of agglomeration,such inequality remains central to public policy discussions regarding economic inequality more broadly.
Cultural economics is the branch of economics that studies the relation of culture to economic outcomes. Here,'culture' is defined by shared beliefs and preferences of respective groups. Programmatic issues include whether and how much culture matters as to economic outcomes and what its relation is to institutions. As a growing field in behavioral economics,the role of culture in economic behavior is increasingly being demonstrated to cause significant differentials in decision-making and the management and valuation of assets.
A spatial distribution in statistics is the arrangement of a phenomenon across the Earth's surface and a graphical display of such an arrangement is an important tool in geographical and environmental statistics. A graphical display of a spatial distribution may summarize raw data directly or may reflect the outcome of a more sophisticated data analysis. Many different aspects of a phenomenon can be shown in a single graphical display by using a suitable choice of different colours to represent differences.
China's current mainly market economy features a high degree of income inequality. According to the Asian Development Bank Institute,"before China implemented reform and opening-up policies in 1978,its income distribution pattern was characterized as egalitarian in all aspects."
Brian Aaron Jacob is an American economist and a professor of public policy,economics and education at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy of the University of Michigan. There,he also currently serves as co-director of the. In 2008,Jacob's research on education policy was awarded the David N. Kershaw Award,which is given by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and honours persons who have made a distinguished contribution to the field of public policy analysis and management before the age of 40. His doctoral advisor at the University of Chicago was Freakonomics author Steven Levitt.
Helen F. Ladd is an education economist who currently works as the Susan B. King Professor Emeritus of Public Policy and Economics at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy. In recognition of her research on the economics of education,she has been elected to the National Academy for Education and the National Academy of Sciences.
Lisa Cameron is an Australian economist currently working as a Professional Research Fellow at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne.
Gianmarco Ireo Paolo Ottaviano is an Italian economist and Professor of Economics at Bocconi University.
Junsen Zhang is an economist and Wei Lun Professor of Economics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong,where he also chairs the Department of Economics. He is a Fellow of the Econometric Society.
Nicolas Robert Ziebarth is a university professor at the University of Mannheim and the ZEW- the Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research. Since 2022,he is head of their Research Unit "Labour Markets and Social Insurance." Since its founding in 2021,he served as a tenured Associate Professor in Cornell's Brooks School of Public Policy and the Department of Economics. Prior to that,he was an Assistant Professor (2011-2017) and then tenured Associate Professor (2017-2021) in Cornell's Department of Policy Analysis and Management.
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