Gilles Duranton

All Courses

• BEPP2500 - Managerial Economics

  This course will introduce you to "managerial economics" which is the application of microeconomic theory to managerial decision-making. Microeconomic theory is a remarkably useful body of ideas for understanding and analyzing the behavior of individuals and firms in a variety of economic settings. The goal of the course is for you to understand this body of theory well enough so that you can effectively analyze managerial (and other) problems in an economic framework. While this is a "tools" course, we will cover many real-world applications, particularly business applications, so that you can witness the usefulness of these tools and acquire the skills to use them yourself. We will depart from the usual microeconomic theory course by giving more emphasis to prescription: What should a manager do in order to achieve some objective? That course deliverable is to compare with description: Why do firms and consumers act the way they do? The latter will still be quite prominent in this course because only by understanding how other firms and customers behave can a manager determine what is beswt for him or her to do. Strategic interaction is explored both in product markets and auctions. Finally, the challenges created by asymmetric information - both in the market and within the firm - are investigated.

• BEPP9500 - Managerial Economics

  Public goods, externalities, uncertainty, and income redistribution as sources of market failures; private market and collective choice models as possible correcting mechanisms. Microeconomic theories of taxation and public sector expenditures. The administration and organization of the public sector.

• BEPP9620 - Applied Economics Seminar

  The goal of this course is to help doctoral students develop critical thinking skills through both seminar participation and writing of referee reports. To this end, students will attend the Wharton Applied Economics seminar when it meets each Wednesday at noon; prepare two written referee reports on WAE papers per semester, due before the seminar is presented. After attending the seminar and the ensuing discussion of the paper, students will prepare follow-up evaluations of their referee reports, due one week after the seminar.

• REAL3750 - Real Estate Disruptions

  In the years before Covid, real Estate started to change dramatically for the first time in perhaps one hundred years. Covid and its aftermath led to further disruptions. This class will examine how technology is changing in many facets (all) of the industry. This course will address how technology has already changed the demand for real estate and how it will likely change how real estate is used, designed, developed, constructed, managed, leased, maintained, and financed. Among many questions to be considered: Can you crowd-fund real estate development? Will the office business become a part of hospitality? Can we build new buildings like we assemble legos? How will autonomous vehicles affect the demand for space and property values? What is the future of new data analytics services? What are the effects of working from home on cities and various real estate asset classes? This team-taught course will bring together a recognized industry leader and Wharton faculty. Includes a broad set of guest lecturers (Start-up entrepreneurs, incumbents, non-RE technology specialists, etc.). We believe there is no single approach to gaining insight into disruptions and change under uncertainty, so we will propose a mix of approaches, including in-depth case studies, interactions with guest lecturers who handle those issues daily, learning from economic history and other industries, and drawing from core economic concepts. REAL 3750 can be counted toward the Wharton Undergraduate Technology, Innovation and Analytics (TIA) requirement.

• REAL3990 - Independent Study

  All independent studies must be arranged and approved by a Real Estate department faculty member.

• REAL8750 - Real Estate Disruptions

  In the years before Covid, real Estate started to change dramatically for the first time in perhaps one hundred years. Covid and its aftermath led to further disruptions. This class will examine how technology is changing in many facets (all) of the industry. This course will address how technology has already changed the demand for real estate and how it will likely change how real estate is used, designed, developed, constructed, managed, leased, maintained, and financed. Among many questions to be considered: Can you crowd-fund real estate development? Will the office business become a part of hospitality? Can we build new buildings like we assemble legos? How will autonomous vehicles affect the demand for space and property values? What is the future of new data analytics services? What are the effects of working from home on cities and various real estate asset classes? This team-taught course will bring together a recognized industry leader and Wharton faculty. Includes a broad set of guest lecturers (Start-up entrepreneurs, incumbents, non-RE technology specialists, etc.). We believe there is no single approach to gaining insight into disruptions and change under uncertainty, so we will propose a mix of approaches, including in-depth case studies, interactions with guest lecturers who handle those issues daily, learning from economic history and other industries, and drawing from core economic concepts.

• REAL8990 - Independent Study

  All independent studies must be arranged and approved by a Real Estate Department faculty member.

• REAL9460 - Adv Topic in Urban Econ

  This course addresses advanced topics in urban and real estate economics. The course will mix theory and empirics and will cover a broad range of topics including the modeling and estimation of agglomeration economies, land use and urban costs, transportation in cities, urban growth, migration between cities etc. The classes will mix formal presentations made by the instructor and student-led discussions of recent academic papers. In addition to presentations, students will be expected to complete a series of assignments including a short original research paper. PhD students will be expected to complete a research paper in addition to the successful completion of the course examination requirements. Prerequisites: The course assumes that students have familiarity with standard first year econometrics and microeconomics.

• REAL9620 - Applied Economics Seminar

  The goal of this course is to help doctoral students develop critical thinking skills through both seminar participation and writing of referee reports. To this end, students will attend the Wharton Applied Economics seminar when it meets each Wednesday at noon; prepare two written referee reports on WAE papers per semester, due before the seminar is presented. After attending the seminar and the ensuing discussion of the paper, students will prepare follow-up evaluations of their referee reports, due one week after the seminar.

• REAL9950 - Dissertation

  Dissertation

• Reducing Congestion: Katy didn’t: How 23 lanes of highway induce demand in Houston, Broken Sidewalk - 12/23/2015
• The Traffic Gridlock in Urban India, Live Mint - 08/27/2015
• Yes, Rush-Hour Traffic Is Getting Worse, The Atlantic - 08/26/2015
• When a Highway Goes Bad, Pacific Standard - 08/18/2015
• Five myths about traffic, Washington Post - 05/22/2015
• Majority Pays, But Minority Benefits In Metro Vancouver Transit Plebiscite, HuffPost British Columbia - 04/25/2015
• Focus on Migration: The positive legacy of refugee camps, SCI DEV NET - 04/24/2015
• Charles Lammam and Josef Filipowicz: Metro Vancouver drivers won’t get much but they’ll pay a lot of tax, The Province - 04/21/2015
• Federal study: Trinity toll road will increase traffic on other major roads, The Dallas Morning News - 04/08/2015
• Why San José’s epic traffic jams are also an opportunity, Tico Times - 01/04/2015
• What’s Up With That: Building Bigger Roads Actually Makes Traffic Worse, Wired - 06/17/2014
• A Need for Speed: Why Building More Roads Won’t Conquer Gridlock, Knowledge at Wharton - 04/24/2013
• Car Congestion Pricing: It’ll Cost You to Drive Here, Motor Trend - 11/01/2012
• A HOT topic in transit, Scienceline - 07/30/2012

Knowledge at Wharton

• What Causes Traffic — and How It Separates Rich and Poor Countries, Knowledge at Wharton - 10/17/2023
• What Slows Urban Mobility in India — and How to Fix It, Knowledge at Wharton - 5/3/2019
• Latin America in 2018: Why Commodities Are Still King, Knowledge at Wharton - 1/12/2018
• America 2.0: Why It’s Time for a Technology Upgrade, Knowledge at Wharton - 8/4/2017
• U.S. Infrastructure Renewal: Who Should Pay the Bill?, Knowledge at Wharton - 7/25/2017
• Is a Traffic Tax the Solution to Congestion in Cities?, Knowledge at Wharton - 3/24/2017
• Why Better Urban Planning Won’t Reduce Traffic — but Taxes Will, Knowledge at Wharton - 2/9/2016
• Sharing Economy 2.0: Can Innovation and Regulation Work Together?, Knowledge at Wharton - 11/5/2014