Tatsuhito Kono

Spatial period-doubling agglomeration of a core–periphery model with a system of cities

The orientation and progress of spatial agglomeration for Krugmans core--periphery model are investigated in this paper. Possible agglomeration patterns for a system of cities spread uniformly on a circle are set forth theoretically. For example, a possible and most likely course predicted for eight cities is a gradual and successive one---concentration into four cities and then into two cities en route to a single city. The existence of this course is ensured by numerical simulation for the model. Such gradual and successive agglomeration, which is called spatial-period doubling, presents a sharp contrast with the agglomeration of two cities, for which spontaneous concentration to a single city is observed in models of various kinds. It exercises caution about the adequacy of the two cities as a platform of the spatial agglomerations and demonstrates the need of the study on a system of cities.

A Model of Multidestination Travel: Implications for Marketing Strategies

Because tourists derive utility from the enjoyment of destination characteristics, Lancasters approach is putatively appropriate to address the particular structure of the tourism industry. Most research efforts regarding tourism destination, including those applying Lancasters model, specifically address the choice of a single destination. This article is intended to explain multiple destination choice using Lancasters characteristics model and a discussion of model implications of some marketing strategies for destinations as well as for tour operators. The model developed herein explains that packages of multiple destinations can create preferable combinations of characteristics for certain travelers. Furthermore, the model provides useful strategies for tour operators in combining destinations into a travel menu or package.

ECONOMIC GROWTH AND PUBLIC EXPENDITURE COMPOSITION: OPTIMAL ADJUSTMENT USING THE GRADIENT METHOD

Previous studies have looked at how the components of fiscal spending affect economic growth. However, we explicitly enquire into how to adjust the components in order to achieve the highest rate of economic growth starting from the present shares of components, by introducing a gradient method. The resulting optimal adjustment shares are proportional to the deviations from the average over elements of a gradient vector. The optimal adjustment share is completely estimated by using linear regression with any choice of omitted variable. The paper also provides an illustrative example taken from the annual panel data for the Japanese prefectural governments.

Cordon Pricing and Land-Use Regulation

This study explores the simultaneous imposition of cordon pricing and land‐use regulations in a continuous and closed monocentric city with homogeneous households. Results reveal the optimal level of a single cordon toll and its location and the optimal floor area ratio (FAR) regulation, clarifying what distortions remain in the existence of cordon pricing and FAR regulation. Among other results, this paper shows that, with an optimal cordon toll, FAR regulation should alternate between a minimum and a maximum regulation, both inside and outside the cordon line.

Is Mandatory Project Evaluation Always Appropriate? Dynamic Inconsistencies of Irreversible and Reversible Projects

Benefit-cost analysis (BCA) is used to optimize investment in public projects. Indeed, in many countries, BCA is mandatory for provision of most public services. However, once BCA is mandated, residents can strategically alter their behaviors based on a dynamic inconsistency that the BCA-based optimal service level depends on residents’ behaviors. This paper discusses this dynamic inconsistency problem, taking transportation services as an example. We show that the problem may decrease both social welfare and the utility of residents as compared with the first-best case, and that the occurrence of second-best outcomes depends on the reversibility of the project and the general-equilibrium interdependency with another project.

Limitations of using generalized transport costs to estimate changes in trip demand: a bias caused by the endogenous value of time

ABSTRACT We show that constancy of value of time (VoT), which is assumed in generalized transport costs, can generate a significant bias in trip demand forecasts when travel time and travel fee change, because VoT endogenously changes in reality. Modeling shopping behaviors, we demonstrate that the change in trip demand through changes in travel time and travel fees differs even if the change in the travel fee is equivalent to the changes in the travel time in terms of generalized transport cost. This is because a decrease in travel time decreases VoT, whereas a decrease in travel fee increases VoT. Our simulation shows that the difference is large when there is a high substitutability between sites. This implies that demand estimation assuming a fixed VoT could be inadequate, and that it should treat VoT endogenously.

Optimal Adjustment Of The Composition Of Public Expenditure In Developing Countries

This paper analyses how the composition of public expenditure should be adjusted to maximize the economic growth rate in developing countries. We first apply a theoretical framework to empirical data from 50 countries. We then demonstrate how each country should adjust public expenditure for the purpose of maximizing growth. Results show that developing countries in Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe have generally misallocated public expenditures in favour of defence, at the expense of public services. Other region-specific results suggest that Asian developing countries should increase expenditure on education, and that Middle Eastern countries should decrease expenditure on education in favour of health.

What is an appropriate welfare measure for efficiency of local public policies inducing migration

Abstract We demonstrate what welfare measure should be used for local public policies inducing migration. We show that the two conventional definitions of welfare measures having equivalency with compensation testing in a single-location economy without externalities have inconsistencies with compensation testing in a spatial economy: one definition has no equivalency with compensation testing even without externalities, and the other definition has difficulties arising from a problem in which the measure before a project has a non-zero value. Finally, we demonstrate that a specific welfare measure defined by Wheaton (1977) has appropriate properties with compensation testing in both cases with and without externalities.

Spatial Externalities and Land Use Regulation: An Integrated Set of Multiple Density Regulations

In a continuous city with three distinct land use zones consisting of firms, condominiums and detached houses, we derive the formulae – composed entirely of observable variables – which design simultaneous optimization of regulations on building size, lot size and zonal boundaries under the existence of agglomeration externality in the business zone and traffic congestion across the city. The formulae show that the optimal regulations require not only downward but also upward adjustment to the market size of buildings within each of the business zone and the condominium zone, followed by minimum lot size regulation in the suburb. Regarding the optimal size of the three zones, the boundary of business zone and the boundary between the condominium and housing zones should be shrunk inward relative to the respective market boundary, and the overall city size should also be more compact than the market city.

Proposition of a Benefit Estimation Method for Quality Improvement in Multi-Destination Recreation Trips

This study proposes a recreation benefit estimation method for multi-destination trips when every visitor passes through a single gateway. Using the proposed method, the benefit of quality improvements in the nth site of a multi-destination trip can be measured by considering only the demand function of trips from the origin to the gateway. The demand function to the gateway, however, should take account of qualities in all the relevant sites. As a case study, we demonstrate the procedure and the usefulness of the proposed method by analyzing data of visits to Hong Kong and Macau. We compare the estimated benefit of this model with that of the approach proposed by Mendelsohn et al. (1992), yielding a ratio of 1.09. The empirical results demonstrate that the proposed model generates useful estimates and offers advantages over previous models in terms of convenience in data collection. Finally, we extend the model to incorporate multiple gateways.