Our urban economics colleagues at @humboldtuni.bsky.social are amazingly productive. (And therefore, according to their latest research 👇🏼 we can expect our office rents to rise.) @heblich.bsky.social, @ahlfeldt.bsky.social

We have too little architectural quality—even though it pays. The reason is a coordination failure. 👉 Should policy step in? Our @econ-observatory.bsky.social coverage www.economicsobservatory.com/why-dont-we-... of our @bsoeberlin.bsky.social @cep-lse.bsky.social DP github.com/Ahlfeldt/DPs...

@tagesspiegel.de with coverage of the AHSY index (w dashboard): interaktiv.tagesspiegel.de/lab/gewerbem... Here is our @bsoeberlin.bsky.social paper with the underlying methodology: github.com/Ahlfeldt/DPs... For those who cant get enough: our 1h live debate 😎: www.tagesspiegel.de/kneipe-weg-k...

We revised our Skyscraper Revolution paper github.com/Ahlfeldt/DPs... Added indirect inference to estimate the QoL effect of density by matching causal reduced-form estimates in the model => more realistic counterfactuals. Quick read @voxeu.org: cepr.org/voxeu/column... @bsoeberlin.bsky.social

Why is there less beautiful architecture than we'd like? Our research shows that because neighbours get the benefits for free while builders pay extra, the market systematically undersupplies the architecture we prefer, making a construction subsidy the most efficient fix.

🏙️ Do big cities boost productivity more than we think? A study shows the benefits of urban density are reflected not only in higher wages, but also in higher commercial rents. Ignoring rent effects may underestimate the true economic gains of large cities. berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...

📺 On @rbb24.de, @ahlfeldt.bsky.social discussed the entry of low-price coffee chains. ☕ He argued market-wide price declines are unlikely, as cafés compete beyond price. Current pricing may not be sustainable, though part of productivity gains reaches consumers. 👉 www.rbb-online.de/abendschau/v...

☕Kaffee für alle oder schicke Cafés für coole Kieze? 🤎 Wir diskutieren live zur prime time in der @rbb24.de Abendschau @humboldtuni.bsky.social @bsoeberlin.bsky.social Interview: box.hu-berlin.de/f/3b351d1660... Ganzer Ganzer Beitrag: www.rbb-online.de/abendschau/v...

"The price of productivity is not paid in wages alone. A large share is paid in rents." Our @bsoeberlin.bsky.social INSIGHTS piece summarizes why considering commercial rent capitalization is important to properly estimating agglomeration effects. berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insight/the-...

The agglomeration elasticity may be larger than widely believed (if we account for capitalization in commercial floor space prices). And the first micro-geographic commercial rent index for Germany!!! 😎 @bsoeberlin.bsky.social DP: opus4.kobv.de/opus4-hsog/f... Data: github.com/Ahlfeldt/AHS...

🏙️ Is “good #architecture” just aesthetics – or real #economic value? 👥 A new #paper by @ahlfeldt.bsky.social, E. Pietrostefani, and A. Zhang shows how distinctive design can raise prices not only for one building, but also for its neighbourhood. 📑 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new...

🏙️ The #Economics of #Architecture @ahlfeldt.bsky.social, Elisabetta Pietrostefani & Ailin Zhang bring architectural quality into urban & welfare economics, documenting spillovers, heterogeneous preferences & a coordination problem in design investment. 👇 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/insight/the-...

Good architecture is a posterchild public good: non-rival and non-excludable. Had great fun using the economics toolbox to study why developments look rather underwhelming and simulate what policies could lead to more beautiful cities. @bsoeberlin.bsky.social github.com/Ahlfeldt/DPs...

Assessed values are good for quantification of QSMs. List prices better for hedonic valuation using panel identification. Evidence and replication studies from the NL and NYC in our @cep-lse.bsky.social DP! cep.lse.ac.uk/_NEW/PUBLICA...

Ever wondered what housing value proxy for sales prices to use? Long story (in our @cesifo.org DP) short: Assessed values are good for quantification of QSMs. List prices better for hedonic valuation using panel identification. www.ifo.de/en/cesifo/pu... @hans-koster.bsky.social

How can traditional models fall short in measuring urban appeal? Our analysis reveals that neglecting mobility frictions causes an underestimation of the urban quality-of-life premium (QoL): increasing a region's population is associated with a significant increase in QoL. 190researchblog.subs...

So proud of her! 🍾

#WIFO Research Seminar with @ahlfeldt.bsky.social (@humboldtuni.bsky.social) – The Geography of Life: Evidence from Copenhagen This seminar will take place on 24 September 2025 at 12:40 pm. Register now: [email protected] ▶️ Join us buff.ly/K1fQU4A

[email protected] & IfW Kiel are jointly 🚨 recruiting a Professor of International Economics🚨 (Associate/Full). 👉 apply.interfolio.com/169770 Great opportunity to join Berlin's thriving econ community. No kings here. Deadline: Sep 30, 2025 Please share widely! #EconSky

I am too young to get nostalgic (at least I pretend), but 10 years after the "Berlin Wall" paper and with 15 years newer data I realize two things: 1) The Berlin spatial structure did not change that much 2) how much more convenient it has gotten to collect land values 😀 @reddingecon.bsky.social

What a fabulous 2025 @bsoeberlin.bsky.social www.bqse.de seminar season it has been! Thanks to all the co-organizers, our manager @immanuelfeld.bsky.social , all speakers, guests, and locals! You have been a fantastic spatial community! sites.google.com/view/bqse/bq...

Last day of the @bsoeberlin.bsky.social course in Quantitative Spatial Economics. What a great cohort! If you spot any of these faces on the job market, don't hesitate! Thoroughly impressed by their coursework—the nerdy discussions during the lectures: priceless! 🫰 sites.google.com/view/bqse/bq... f

Preparing my Applied Econometrics course @humboldtuni.bsky.social using @gaborbekes.bsky.social great textbook gabors-data-analysis.com. Added a nerdy exercise to the application of Random Forrest to predicting Airbnb prices. OLS beats Random Forrest when predicting outside a spatial window!

A new measure reveals the benefits of living in urban areas @ahlfeldt.bsky.social Fabian Bald, Duncan Roth, Tobias Seidel In CentrePiece magazine Editor: @helen-ward1.bsky.social http://cep.lse.ac.uk...

The 2025 season of the @bsoeberlin.bsky.social QSE course is running. Here is how it is going: sites.google.com/view/bqse/bq.... And here is my latest toy for the current cohort and anyone else. Maybe the simplest way of computing travel time matrices, designed for noobs! github.com/Ahlfeldt/TTM...

🏙️ The 14th European Meeting of the @urbaneconomics.bsky.social at @humboldtuni.bsky.social , marked a significant milestone as the largest in-person European meeting to date and over 200 paper presentations selected 📑👥👥 Discover more insights 👉 berlinschoolofeconomics.de/about-us/new... #UEA2025

Thanks to all presenters and discussants. So far, it seems to be going well (touch wood), thanks to our fantastic teams of true organizers! @bsoeberlin.bsky.social

Does it take extra skills to work in a large city? 🌆 In this new paper, we analyse online job vacancy data and find that jobs in large cities require more skills and a more diverse skill set, indicating a higher job complexity. Open-acces paper: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

So cool, the first @bsoeberlin.bsky.social post is about spatial economics and why it matters!!! 😎

Städterankings nach Lebensqualität sind lustig. Immer kommt was anderes raus. Nicht mit uns!😀 Lebensqualität (zumindest das, was Ökonom:innen darunter verstehen) lässt sich auch objektiv messen. Ist das Ranking plausibel? @makronom.bsky.social @bsoeberlin.bsky.social makronom.de/wie-wichtig-...

💥 A new measure of quality of life explains why people like living in bigger cities ✍️ @ahlfeldt.bsky.social Fabian Bald, Duncan Roth & Tobias Seidel @cep-lse.bsky.social blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2...

📯On March 28–29, 2025, Berlin will host the 14th European Meeting of the Urban Economics Association, a key event for urban & regional economics🌍 👥Thanks to local organizers @ahlfeldt.bsky.social & @jnimczik.bsky.social 👉 urbaneconomics.org/meetings/emu... #urbaneconomics @humboldtuni.bsky.social

📢 New article (in German) by our member @ahlfeldt.bsky.social Why investing in Baukultur (using high-quality materials, good design & sustainable planning) pays off ❕ Higher property values ❕ Less maintenance and energy costs ❕ Better urban environments 💡Can gain up to 10% higher market prices

Hier meine Zusammenfassung zum aktuellen Forschungsstand zu den ökonomischen Effekten guter #Architektur für #WerkBauenWohnen. Lange Rede, kurzer Sinn: Investitionen in Baukultur lohnen sich. Noch mehr wenn es eine Zerifizierung gäbe! @bseberlin.bsky.social www.pressreader.com/switzerland/...

Fabian and I explaining our new @cepr.org @cep-lse.bsky.social @bseberlin.bsky.social 'measurement paper'. Rosen-Roback with idiosyncratic tastes, local ties, trade gravity and local services! Packages that computes the measure (MATLAB, Stata, R, Python) available from: github.com/Ahlfeldt/ABR...

📢📢The Berlin School of Economics @BSE_Berlin will be recruiting PhD students in spatial economics 📢📢 (again). Still, time to apply before the 🧑‍🎄 break. See www.bqse.de for an overview of our activities in "spatial". Apply now & retweet! berlinschoolofeconomics.de/phd-programm...

Exploring prime locations—ultra-dense clusters of economic activity—this study highlights how small areas dominate economic gravity in cities worldwide🏙️ Check out the maps and explore the co-authored findings from our member @ahlfeldt.bsky.social @humboldtuni.bsky.social 📊🌎 #urbaneconomics

By accounting for spatial frictions—the difficulty of moving—this study reveals larger quality-of-life differences between cities, uncovering new rankings and urban leaders. Great work co-authored by our member @ahlfeldt.bsky.social @humboldtuni.bsky.social 🌍📊 #urbaneconomics #qualityoflife 👇

@bseberlin.bsky.social @rationalitycrc.bsky.social @thiloalbers.bsky.social @voxeu.org @cep-lse.bsky.social

🧑‍🎄time! Our @cepr_org @LSEGeography @CEP_LSE DP #PrimeLocations is forthcoming at AER: Insights.🍾 Our🎁4u: PL shapefiles and employment by sector at micro-geographic grid-level for 381 MSAs and 125 global cities. All free to download from primelocations.ahlfeldt.com Use it wisely!😀

Need an 📢alternative to Rosen-Roback 📢that accounts for trade (tradable goods & local services) & mobility (local ties &idiosyncratic tastes) frictions? Our new paper & quality-of-life solver for MATLAB/Stata/R/Python, plus a😎HTML-tool available at qol.ahlfeldt.com

Reminder: The deadline to submit your paper to our 2025 European meeting at Humboldt University in Berlin is December 9th. Submit: urbaneconomics.org/meetings/emu...

🔬 The 2023 version of the micro-geographic property price indices by Ahlfeldt, Heblich,and Seidel is now live. Offering essential rental and purchase price data at the postcode level—a key resource for policy and analysis. 🔗 sites.google.com/view/ahlfeld... @ahlfeldt.bsky.social #spatialeconomics

We have updated the Ahlfeldt-Heblich-Seidel Index. Now contains micro-geographic prices and rents for Germany at postcode level until 2023. Of course, all data available for download! New webtool allows for comparisons between years: sites.google.com/view/ahlfeld... @bseberlin.bsky.social

What a great way to start my sabbatical in #Barcelona. Already loving it!

See our latest blog on our @cep-lse.bsky.social DP: cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/downloa...

I did not handle it, but I am thrilled that this cool paper by @eviladecans & @MiquelAngelGL is out in @RegScUrbEc. It is not just access to jobs that matters for urban gradients. Amenities matter, too. And they will still matter if/when we all telecommute... doi.org/10.1016/j.re...

Delighted to welcome @joarlinghaus.bsky.social as a co-organizer for the 2025 season of the @bseberlin.bsky.social Quantitative Spatial Economics Research Seminar sites.google.com/view/bqse/co... May it be as fun and interesting as in 2024! @thiloalbers.bsky.social

Interested in the effects of planned #HSR in Poland? Here is another great project by a @HumboldtUni student from my QSE class assessing three proposed plans using the MRRH2018-toolkit (github.com/Ahlfeldt/MRR...). See their GitHub repository: github.com/jjkiljanski/...

What a great OSUS session today on the cool Agglomerations Shadow paper by @Rick__Hornbeck, Michaels, & Rauch. I had nerdy fun with the MRRH-toolkit (github.com/Ahlfeldt/MRR...) showing agglomeration shadows in the QSM (at 1h03m), too.😀Link to lecture: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLpR...