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"Urban Economics and Urban Policy" pulls together cutting-edge developments in urban and regional economics and draws out their implications for urban policy. This new urban economics goes beyond simple comparative advantage and cost competitiveness of cities, and beyond simple views of capital and labor. It develops a much more complex and realistic view of what constitutes local advantage, due to the spatial sorting of different types of people and different types of firms, giving rise to a lumpy landscape of people, activities, and incomes. By taking seriously the new ways we understand the forces shaping the geography of economic development, the authors suggest fresh new ways to work with the grain of markets, but without letting them rip. It is a tour de force.' (Michael Storper, London School of Economics, UK). -- In this bold, exciting and readable volume, Paul Cheshire, Max Nathan and Henry Overman illustrate the insights that recent economic research brings to our understanding of cities, and the lessons for urban policy-making. The authors present new evidence on the fundamental importance of cities to economic wellbeing and to the enrichment of our lives. They also argue that many policies have been trying to push water uphill and have done little to achieve their stated aims; or, worse, have had unintended and counterproductive consequences. -- It is remarkable that our cities have been so successful despite the many shortcomings of urban policies and governance. These shortcomings appear in both rich and poor countries. Many powerful policies intended to influence urban development and spatial differences have been developed since the late 1940s, but they have been subject to little rigorous economic evaluation. The authors help us to understand why economic growth has emerged so unevenly across space and why this pattern persists. The failure to understand the forces leading to uneven development underlies the ineffectiveness of many current urban policies. The authors conclude that future urban policies need to take better account of the forces that drive unevenness and that their success should be judged by their impact on people, not on places - or buildings. -- This groundbreaking book will prove to be an invaluable resource and a rewarding read for academics, practitioners and policymakers interested in the economics of urban policy, urban planning and development, as well as international studies and innovation.

We develop a diagrammatic framework that can be used to study the economic linkages between regions or cities. Hitherto, such linkages have not been the primary focus of either the theoretical or empirical literatures. We use the framework to analyse the impact of shocks that occur in one region (eg productivity improvements or increases in housing supply) on other regions, highlighting the key adjustment mechanisms and their long run implications for incomes, the cost of living, and the spatial distribution of population. Our general approach provides a framework encompassing both the New Economic Geography and Urban Systems literatures. We link our approach to these literatures and review empirical studies that quantify the key mechanisms that we have identified.

We exploit changes in the area-specific eligibility criteria for a program to support jobs through investment subsidies. European rules determine whether an area is eligible for subsidies, and we construct instrumental variables for area eligibility based on parameters of these rule changes. Areas eligible for higher subsidies significantly increased jobs and reduced unemployment. A 10-percentage point increase in the maximum investment subsidy stimulates a 10 percent increase in manufacturing employment. This effect exists solely for small firms: large companies accept subsidies without increasing activity. There are positive effects on investment and employment for incumbent firms but not Total Factor Productivity. (JEL E24, G31, H25, L25, L52, R23)