2021 Jinan-SMU-ABFER Conference on Urban and Regional Economics was successfully held online on December 15 – 17.

The Conference was jointly hosted by the Institute for Economic and Social Research (IESR) at Jinan University, the School of Economics at Singapore Management University and ABFER. 

The Conference received a large number of high-quality submissions and was attended by 55 scholars and experts from 37 institutions and universities worldwide, including Cambridge University, University of Pennsylvania, World Bank, National University of Singapore, Singapore Management University, University of British Columbia, University of Hong Kong, Peking University and Jinan University. Eighteen parallel sessions were held in two and a half days where latest findings were presented and in-depth discussions were generated on topics such as urban development, migration, environment, land, housing transaction, place-based policies, spatial misallocation and spillovers.

                           Conference participants (partial)

The Conference invited seven honorable guests as keynote speakers, including Prof. Gilles Duranton and Prof. Hanming Fang from University of Pennsylvania, Prof. Patrick Bayer from Duke University, Prof. Gabriel Ahlfeldt from London School of Economics, Prof. Stephan Heblich and Prof. Nathaniel Baum-Snow from University of Toronto while Prof. Lu Han from University of Wisconsin – Madison was invited as Master Class speaker.

Prof. Gilles Duranton Keynote Speech：

The Fast, the Slow, and the Congested: Urban Transportation in Rich and Poor Countries

Prof. Patrick Bayer Keynote Speech：

Investor Contagion in Housing Bubbles:

Evidence from the United States in the 2000s

Prof. Gabriel Ahlfeldt Keynote Speech:

The Economics of Skyscrapers: A Synthesis

Prof. Stephan Heblich Keynote Speech：

Industrial Clusters in the Long Run: Evidence from Million-Rouble Plants in China

Prof. Nathaniel Baum-Snow Keynote Speech：

Filtering in Commercial Real Estate

Prof. Hanming Fang Keynote Speech：

Understanding the Resurgence of the SOEs:

Evidence from China’s Real Estate Sector

Prof. Lu Han Master Class：

To Own or to Rent? The Effects of Transaction Taxes on Housing Markets

The Conference, despite having to be converted into a completely online event due to the evolving situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, received very positive feedback from the participants for its high-quality papers and enriching program.