Vancouver School of Economics
University of British Columbia
997-1873 East Mall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1
Phone: 778-968-5253
Email: jcosman@interchange.ubc.ca
Homepage: jacobcosman.ca
R ESEARCH
FIELDS
E
DUCATION
Urban economics, empirical industrial organization, real estate economics
C ITIZENSHIP
R
ESEARCH
PAPERS
University of British Columbia , Vancouver, BC
Ph.D., Economics, expected summer 2015
Thesis topic
Committee
“Essays on urban structure and dynamics”
Paul Schrimpf (co-supervisor), Tom Davidoff (co-supervisor),
Nancy Gallini
University of Western Ontario , London, ON
M.A., Economics, October 2010
University of British Columbia , Vancouver, BC
B.Sc. (Hons.) Mathematics and Physics, May 2009
Canadian
“Industry dynamics and the value of variety in nightlife: evidence from Chicago”
Abstract: Access to high-quality local services constitutes an important amenity in residents’ valuation of cities. I examine consumer preferences for variety in nightlife to understand these preferences and their impact on nightlife industry dynamics. I develop a structural dynamic model for venue entry and exit in the nightlife industry and estimate the model using a panel of liquor license data from Chicago. I find strong preferences for variety. My results suggest that in equilibrium a new entrant can increase profits for incumbent venues in some cases due to increased demand. However, potential entrants face high barriers to entry.
“Starbucks gradients and the rent-price ratio” (with Tom Davidoff)
Abstract: We ask whether urban land rent gradients affect the level and growth of housing rents and prices. We use residential rents and the location of Starbucks stores to proxy for land prices, and calculate a gradient measure that allows for multiple peaks of land rent within a metropolitan area. Our measures of land rent gradients are significantly associated with high and rising prices, and explain some of the cross-sectional variation in prices. However, our measure does not explain the abnormally high rent and prices in Pacific and Northeastern coastal
“Superstar Cities.”
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“A control function approach to the correlated components of Bartik shocks”
Abstract: Bartik shocks are widely used as an instrument for local labour demand. A potential concern with this instrument is potential endogeneity in the presence of correlation between city-level industrial composition and the outcome variable of interest. I formalize this endogeneity concern and introduce a control function correction that, given additional assumptions, addresses the potential endogeneity. I demonstrate the application of this novel approach by estimating a housing supply function.
R ESEARCH IN
PROGRESS
“Restaurant differentiation and location choice” (with Nathan Schiff)
Abstract: Firms in a nontradeable industry differentiate themselves in both product and geography space. We use a rich data set from the Menupages website to examine the location and product decisions of restaurants of a given cuisine type. This data includes not only restaurant location and cuisine type but also detailed information on menu items and prices. Therefore, the data allows for a very precise measurement of differentiation in product space compared to current literature.
P
UBLICATIONS
J. Cosman, H. Zerriffi, R. Kowsari, “Energizing rural India: A spatially-explicit analysis of the techno-economic potential of providing electricity through biomass gasification of agricultural residues”, Applied Energy , Revise and resubmit.
P.A. McClarty, J.N. Cosman, A.G. Del Maestro, and M.J.P. Gingras, “Calculation of the expected zero-field muon relaxation rate in the geometrically frustrated rare earth pyrochlore Gd
2
Sn
2
O
7
(16), 2011.
antiferromagnet”, J. Phys: Condens. Matter , 23
I. Tucakov, J. Cosman, and J.H. Brewer, “Data display and analysis with
µ View”, Physica B: Condens. Matter , 374 pp.488–491, 2011.
C ONFERENCES Global Real Estate Summit
Washington, DC
Canadian Economics Association Annual Meeting
July 2015
May 2015
Toronto, ON
Weimer School for Advanced Studies in Real Estate & Land Economics May 2015
North Palm Beach, FL
American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association Meeting January 2015
Boston, MA
Urban Economics Association Annual Meeting November 2014
Washington, DC
University of Calgary Empirical Microeconomics Workshop
Banff, AB
Urban and Land Economics Summer Symposium
Vancouver, BC
Canadian Economics Association Annual Meeting
Vancouver, BC
September 2014
June 2014
May 2014
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R
A
EFEREES
WARDS
R ESEARCH
EXPERIENCE
T
EACHING
EXPERIENCE
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Real Estate Economics
Best Paper Award, First Level
Global Real Estate Summit
Four-Year Fellowship
University of British Columbia
NSERC Postgraduate Doctoral Scholarship
University of British Columbia
UWO Graduate Scholarship
TREK Excellence Scholarship
University of British Columbia
President’s Entrance Scholarship
University of British Columbia
2015
2010–2014
2010–2013
2009–2010
University of Western Ontario
NSERC Postgraduate Masters Scholarship
Dean of Science Scholarship
University of British Columbia
2009–2010
University of Western Ontario
NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award 2006, 2007, 2008
University of British Columbia, University of Waterloo, University of Alberta
2006, 2007
2006
2005
British Columbia Government Scholarship
University of British Columbia
2005
Research Assistant 2005 to present
Prof. Jess Brewer, TRIUMF Laboratory, UBC
Prof. Michel Gingras, Department of Physics, University of Waterloo
Prof. Craig Riddell, Vancouver School of Economics, UBC
Prof. Siwan Anderson, Vancouver School of Economics, UBC
Prof. Hisham Zerriffi, Liu Institute for Global Issues, UBC
Prof. Tom Davidoff, Sauder School of Business, UBC
Fields
Environmental economics, International trade and finance, Macroeconomics
Courses
ECON 1021: Principles of Microeconomics, UWO
ECON 1022: Principles of Macroeconomics, UWO
ECON 255: Understanding Globalization, UBC
ECON 302: Intermediate Macroeconomics, UBC
ECON 371: Economics of the Environment, UBC
COMM 487/597: Environmental Management, UBC
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