Market and Shadow Land Rents with Congestion

This paper deals with the cost-benefit valuation of urban land in residential and road use, when there is flow congestion in transportation and congestion tolls are not imposed. Conventional procedures for determining the shadow value of land in road or residential use ignore certain general equilibrium effects, and always overstate the true values. To illustrate the correct procedures, an urban simulation model is used to calculate shadow rents of land as a function of location. The model is more realistic than most theoretical urban models, particularly in its treatment of congestion.