Works in Progress

Works in Progress:


In this paper, we study the impact of a national-level reform that abolished locally set floor area ratios (FAR) in France. FAR is a piece of regulation that local policy makers use to prevent urban densification. The goal of the reform was to foster the supply of housing projects in cities while reducing the consumption of agricultural land by densifying urban places. To identify its impact on the Paris metropolitan area, we use a difference-in-difference (DID) framework comparing housing blocks where a maximum FAR existed before the reform with the closest blocks where no FAR existed. We find that treated areas in which FAR were removed didn't experiment any change in their density and no particular dynamic in their price. This suggests that the suppression of FAR imposed by the central government didn't have  any positive impact on the housing supply.


We extend the seminal framework of Ahlfeldt et al (2015) to include a frictionnal labour market. Calibrating the model on Paris urban area and combining with quasi experimental evidence, we can assess and decompose the impact of improvement in the transport network on equilibrium unemployment. 


We use a stagged difference-in-difference approach to assess the impact of mixed programs including social dwellings on urban mixity


We exploit past difference between partible and impartible regions in France and estimate their impact on nowadays land ownership inequalities


Relying on a Judd-type model. We investigate how the use of land for the production of public good impact the optimal taxation of capital and land in particular.  Overall, to achieve first best taxation, all land should be taxed regardless of its final purpose to achieve first best redistribution.