Kim, H. (2023). Racial segregation in urban consumption. Applied Economics Letters, 30:5, 678-682.
Spatially Heterogeneous Effects of Publicity: Evidence from the Restaurant Industry in New York City (Revise&Resubmit, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy)
A traditional way to increase store visibility in the brick-and-mortar retail industry is to pick a location that grants a retail establishment the best visibility for a given budget. Yet recent years have witnessed increasing attention to “information visibility” in this industry because of the rapid growth in the use of information technologies. If the economic effects of information diffusion were homogeneous across locations, then it would become less optimal for retail entrepreneurs to choose traditionally favored locations. However, I find that diner responses to New York Times restaurant reviews, although significant on average, are insignificant unless the focal business is situated in a central location characterized by high customer or competitor density. These results indicate that publicity is likely to complement, but is not a substitute for, locational centrality. So for retailers offering non-tradable goods or services, an improving information environment is likely to make favored retail locations more favorable.
Housing Prices and Consumption: The Role of Price Information
The observed relationships between housing prices and consumption are highly inconsistent over time. By exploiting local newspaper contents in the U.S., I find that a greater number of newspaper articles conveying information on house prices is associated with more elastic household consumption with respect to regional housing prices. The regression results are statistically significant only for homeowners and only when a housing news article includes real estate terms in its headline. The findings suggest that the provision of house price information is a main source of observed housing wealth effects, highlighting the importance of information agents and information interventions in shaping household behaviors and economic decisions.
Livable Houses and Investable Houses: Housing Market Segmentation and Differential Market Dynamics
News-driven House Price Momentum
Expert Reviews and Congestion Problems (with T.J. Yoon)