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Reposted by Michael Wiebe

Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 1d

Moretti 2021 reports a positive effect of cluster size on patent quality. In my revised comment (currently under review at AER), I show this effect is actually negative. I interpret this as strategic patenting: firms in big cities create low-quality patents for IP lawsuits.

#econsky

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 21h

www.buildingabundance.ca/p/vacancy-ch...

Vacancy chains

How building expensive new homes lowers the price of old homes

www.buildingabundance.ca

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, if larger firms are more likely to be located in bigger cities.

Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 1d

What papers on strategic patenting are relevant here?

Other thoughts?

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 1d

We could test for differential effects for movers joining big vs small firms. (but there are selection issues here)

(Also, the patent data doesn't have proper inventor identifiers; every patent by a John Smith is treated as the same person.)

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 1d

One intuitive explanation for the negative effect is that big firms locate in big cities and are more likely to create strategic patents. So the key mechanism is whether inventors work at big firms when they move to big cities.

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 1d

Or are there subfields with better quality data? Can we measure strategic patents directly, eg. being used later in a lawsuit?

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 1d

Here, quality is measured using citations received. Citations aren't a great measure, since they can be added by lawyers. I also find a negative effect on quality using patent importance from Kelly et al. 2021.

Are there other measures of quality I can use? Triadic?

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 1d

A negative effect on quality means we could have *negative* agglomeration effects when using quality-adjusted patents. But this is counterintuitive: do we really get more innovation by moving an inventor from SF to Detroit?

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 1d

Moretti 2021 reports a positive effect of cluster size on patent quality. In my revised comment (currently under review at AER), I show this effect is actually negative. I interpret this as strategic patenting: firms in big cities create low-quality patents for IP lawsuits.

#econsky

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 8d

Paying for a working paper? Is this a joke?
cepr.org/publications...

#econsky

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 10d

Sorry, streets are banned until you can prove they are safe for cyclists.

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 11d

We need a Housing Protection Act. If you want to increase sewer fees or parking requirements or historical preservation, the burden of proof is on you to produce a Housing Impact Assessment showing there are no adverse impacts on housing supply.

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 12d

What happened to land lift in Auckland before and after AUP? Does anyone even apply for upzonings?

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 16d

Street votes FAQ - YIMBY Alliance

What are street votes? Street votes are a new idea to empower communities

yimbyalliance.org

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 16d

This way, neighborhoods would fight to attract new developments, instead of opposing them.

This also seems politically feasible, since voters would want the chance to be bought out by developers, rather than that money disappearing into a city-wide budget.

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 16d

Then I realized the point is to redirect the surplus away from the government and to the immediate neighbors, so the people most affected by new housing receive the most benefits (instead of going to some general city budget).

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 16d

I used to think the "stuff their mouths with gold" housing strategy was infeasible, because governments already extract 100% of the upzoning surplus (through inclusionary zoning, development charges, etc).

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Reposted by Michael Wiebe

Bryn Davidson - Lanefab @lanefab.com · 16d

Vancouver (Extra) Special

33' lots
4 and 6 storey single-stair buildings.
3Br accessible flats, adjacent to a park.

(sketchup / ai render)

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 16d

The ol' max-min.

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Reposted by Michael Wiebe

Chris Elmendorf @cselmendorf.bsky.social · 18d

If you're a thinker or do-er in the housing space and you haven't subscribed to @michaelwiebe.bsky.social's substack, you're doing it wrong!

It's a living urban econ lit review, inspired by @mattsclancy.bsky.social's New Things Under the Sun.

Great stuff! Here's an example ⤵️.

Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 20d

New lit review post: filtering.

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 20d

Post here:
www.buildingabundance.ca/p/filtering

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Filtering

How the expensive new homes of today become the affordable homes of tomorrow

www.buildingabundance.ca

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 20d

Some supply skeptics think that up-filtering is a gotcha against YIMBYs. But up-filtering just means that zoning regulations were too restrictive, and we should upzone so supply can keep up with demand.

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 20d

But after 2011, the filtering rate is zero or positive, indicating a worsening shortage. As supply constraints started to bind, prices rose, and richer buyers turned to the stock of old homes.

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Michael Wiebe @michaelwiebe.bsky.social · 20d

And over 1985-2011, relative income decreased with age: homes filtered down to poorer families. So housing supply was not overly constrained over this period.

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