Conference on Frictions in Real Estate and Infrastructure Investment
–Insights from New Data and Methods–
Date: November 2-3, 2023
Venue: Conference Facility at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C.
Organizer: Borrelli Institute for Real Estate Studies at Penn State Smeal College of Business
(Brent Ambrose, Liang Peng, Eva Steiner, and Jiro Yoshida)
Co-Organizer: Federal Reserve Board
(Raven Molloy and Joseph Nichols)
The conference is open to the public, and we encourage researchers, practitioners, and policy
experts to attend and participant in the discussion. To confirm your participation in the
conference, please take a moment to register by clicking on the following link: 2023 Conference on
Frictions in Real Estate and Infrastructure Investment.
Following registration, you will receive an email from the Board’s visitor registration system with
entry instructions. This link must be completed to gain access to the Board’s buildings.
Thursday, November 2, 2023
8:00 am: Breakfast
8:25 am: Opening Remarks: Brent Ambrose (Penn State University)
8:30 am: Session 1: Moderator — Brent Ambrose (Penn State University)
“The Skyscraper Revolution: Global Economic Development and Land Savings,” Gabriel
Ahlfeldt (London School of Economics), Nathaniel Baum- Snow (University of Toronto), and Remi
Jedwab (George Washington University and NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management)
“Option Value and Storefront Vacancy in New York City,” Erica Moszkowski
(Federal Reserve Board) and Daniel Stackman (NYU Stern) 10:00 AM Coffee Break
10:00 am: Coffee Break
10:15 am: Session 2: Moderator — Jiro Yoshida (Penn State University)
“New Residential Investment and Gentrification,” Divya Singh (Amazon) and
Luis Baldomero-Quintana (William & Mary)
“The Emergence of Exclusionary Zoning Across American Cities,” Tianfang Cui (NYU Furman
Center)
12:00 pm: Lunch Panel on Zoning: Moderator — Vicki Been (NYU)
Sara Bronin (National Atlas/Cornell),
Allison Shertzer (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia),
Joakim Weill (Federal Reserve Board)
2:00 pm: Session 3: Moderator — Raven Molloy (Federal Reserve Board)
“Spatial Implications of Telecommuting,” Matthew Delventhal (Corelogic) and Andrii
Parkhomenko (University of Southern California)
2:45 pm: Coffee Break
3:00 pm: Keynote Session: Moderator — Jenny Schuetz (Brookings Institution)
Keynote Address – Anthony Williams (Federal City Council)
4:15 pm: Session 4: Moderator — Liang Peng (Penn State University)
“The Impact of Climate Risk Disclosure on Housing Search and Buying Dynamics: Evidence
from a Nationwide Field Experiment with Redfin,” Daryl Fairweather (Redfin), Matthew Kahn
(University of Southern California and NBER), Robert Metcalfe (University of Southern California
and NBER), Sebastian Sandoval-Olascoaga (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
“Urban Policy and Spatial Exposure to Environmental Risk,” Augusto Ospital
(Toulouse School of Economics)
5:45 pm: Shuttle Bus to Dinner
6:15 pm: Dinner
Friday, November 3, 2023
8:00 am: Breakfast
8:30am: Session 5: Moderator — Eva Steiner (Penn State University)
“Why Delay? Understanding the Construction Lag. AKA the Build Out Rate,” Michael Ball
(University of Reading), Paul Cheshire (London School of Economics and Centre for Economic
Performance), Christian Hilber (London School of Economics and Centre for Economic Performance),
and Xiaolun Yu (University of Reading)
“The Importance of Immigrant Labor for American Homebuilding”
Troup Howard (University of Utah), Mengqi Wang (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and Dayin Zhang
(University of Wisconsin-Madison)
10: 00 am: Coffee Break
10:15 am: Session 6: Moderator — Jacob Sagi (University of North Carolina)
“Is the Rent Too High? Land Ownership and Monopoly Power,” C. Luke Watson (Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation) and Oren Ziv (Michigan State University)
“Costly Entry and Competition: Evidence from Occupational Licensing in the Real Estate
Industry,” Jeanna Kenney (University of Pennsylvania)
12:00 pm: Lunch Session on Infrastructure
Moderator — Joe Nichols (Federal Reserve Board)
“Does the US Have an Infrastructure Cost Problem? Evidence from the Interstate Highway System,”
Neil Mehrotra (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis)
“Can Fairness Flow In Philly? Real Estate Assessment Equity for Green Stormwater Infrastructure
Finance,” Jeffrey Cohen (University of Connecticut), Yuchen Huang (Paris School of Economics),
Daniel McMillen (University of Illinois, Chicago)
“Agglomeration Over the Long Run: Evidence from County Seat Wars,” Cory Smith (University of
Maryland / AREC)
2:00 pm Conference Concluding Remarks (Brent Ambrose and Joe Nichols)