Work

The redistributive effects of transport policies

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Low-emission zones (LEZs) increase commuting costs by car but decrease negative traffic externalities in affected locations. High-income workers are more likely to sort into central locations where the benefits of the policy are expected to be the strongest, but are also more likely to commute by car. Thus, they should be more exposed to both the costs and benefits of driving restrictions. Using a quantitative urban model with rich worker heterogeneity and non-homothetic preferences, I argue that the redistributive effects of urban policies are indeed shaped by these differences in exposure and budget shares. After showing that the model is able to reproduce the patterns of sorting across space and transport modes observed in the Greater Paris region, I use it to compute the prospective effects of the Parisian LEZ. Results indicate that the policy would most likely increase welfare only at the top of the income distribution, while the rest of the population would suffer net losses.

Source: Journal of Urban Economics

DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2026.103903

Author: Morgan Ubeda

Institutions: Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris, Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement, Centre d'économie et de sociologie appliquées à l'agriculture et aux espaces ruraux, Institut Agro Dijon

Language: English

Topic: Transportation Planning and Optimization

Subfield: Transportation

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Reduced inequalities, No poverty, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $5,080