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Professor Vernon  Henderson

Professor Vernon Henderson

School Professor of Economic Geography

Department of Geography and Environment

Room No
CKK 4.31
Office Hours
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Connect with me

Languages
English
Key Expertise
Urbanization developing countries, Infrastructure policy, Land use policy

About me

J. Vernon Henderson joined the London School of Economics in September 2013 as School Professor of Economic Geography, having previously been Eastman Professor of Political Economy at Brown University, USA.

His research focuses on urbanization in developing countries, looking both within and across cities and regions. His current research looks at topics such as the evolution of the urban system in sub-Saharan Africa; factor market distortions, city size and welfare in China; spatial equilibrium models; the dynamics of investment in the built environment in cities, how colonial legacy affects sprawl and the spatial layout of cities; the link between ethno-linguistic diversity and urban concentration worldwide; and the role of geography and history in economic development. 

His recent work is published in journals such as the Quarterly Journal of Economics, American Economic ReviewReview of Economic StudiesScience and Journal of Development Economics. He has been a co-editor of the Journal of Urban Economics and the Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, and serves on a number of editorial boards. He is a founder and past President of the Urban Economics Association. 

Over the years, he has worked with governments in Asia and Africa directly or indirectly through institutions such as the World Bank and DFIDic on formulating urban policies

View Professor Henderson's CV.

Expertise Details

Economic geography; Regional economics; Spatial and economic development; Urban economics; Urbanisation

Countries and regions

Asia; China

Data

Africa governmental decentralization index
Word document
Excel document

Africa property rights index
PDF document 
Excel document

World cities population data set, 1960-2000
Excel document
Word document (documentation for world cities data)
Word document  (cities and countries dropped in analysis)

 

 



keynote speeches, lectures and interviews

Podcast “What is about economy?”: Vernon Henderson on the challenges of Ukraine’s recovery. . 

The Way Forward Coalition, Washington, DC. .

Lectures on urban Economics. . 

Urban age. Building productive cities. . 

The political economy of local factor market distortions in China. . 

 

Selected publications

  • "Political manipulation of urban land markets: Evidence from China", (with Dongling Su, Qinghua Zhang, Siqi Zheng) Journal of Public Economics 
  • "Building the city: from slums to a modern metropolis", (with Tanner Regan, and Anthony J. Venables) 
  • “” (with S. Kriticos and D. Nigmatulina) Journal of Urban Economics, forthcoming 
  • “” (with N. Baum-Snow. M. Turner, Q. Zhang and L. Brandt) Journal of Urban Economics, forthcoming
  • “,” with Sebastian Kriticos, Annual Review of Economics, 2018, 10, pp. 287–314
  • “,” with T. Squires, A. Storeygard and D. Weil, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2018, 133, 1, 357-406. 
  • “,” with E. Glaeser, Journal of Urban Economics, 2017, 98, 1-5.
  • “,” with N. Baum-Snow, L. Brandt, M. Turner, and Q. Zhang, The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2017, 99, 3, 435–448.
  • “,” with A. Storeygard and U. Deichmann, Journal of Development Economics, 2017, 124,  60-82.
  • Spatial Distribution of Economic Activity: Nature, History, and the Role of Trade (with Tim Squires, Adam Storeygard, David Weil) forthcoming in the Quarterly Journal of Economics
  •  (with A. Storeygard and U. Deichmann), forthcoming in Journal of Development Economics
  •  with Nathaniel Baum-Snow, Loren Brandt, Matthew A. Turner and Qinghua Zhang, forthcoming in Review of Economics and Statistics
  •  with Anthony J. Venables, Tanner Regan, Ilia Samsonov, Science,  VOL 352 ISSUE 6288
  •  (with Chen and Cai), forthcoming in the Journal of Urban Economics 
  • “” (with Y. Lee), Economic Development and Cultural Change, in press

  • “” (with K. Desmet), in Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, (G. Duranton, J.V.Henderson and W. Strange, eds.), Elsevier, in press
  • “Urbanization and the geography of development in countries” in Rethinking Cities: toward shared prosperity, E. Glaeser and A. Joshi-Ghani (eds.) Oxford University Press, 2015
  • “” with Hongbin Cai and Qinghua Zhang. RAND Journal of Economics, 2013, 44 (3). pp. 488-521
  • “Measuring Economic Growth from Outer Space,’ with Adam Storeygard and David Weil, American Economic Review, 2012, 102, 994-1028.
  • “Exclusionary Policies in Urban Development,” with Leo Feler Journal of Urban Economics, 2011, 69, 253-272
  • “Corruption and Local Democratization in Indonesia: The Role of Islamic Parties,” with Ari Kuncoro, Journal of Development Economics, 2011, 94, 164-180
  • “Cities and Development,” Journal of Regional Science, 2010, 50, 515-540
  • “The Dynamics of City Formation” (with Tony Venables), Review of Economic Dynamics, 2009, 12, 233-254
  • “Agglomeration of Headquarters,” (with J. Davis), Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2008, 63, 431-450
  • “Networking Off Madison Avenue,” (with M. Arzaghi), Review of Economic Studies, 2008, 75, 1011-1038.

Working papers:

  •  with J. Vernon Henderson, Tanner Regan, and Anthony J. Venables

Ukraine

“Accelerating urban economic growth in Ukraine” Henderson (with R. Green, M. Kahn, A. Nikolsko-Rzhevskyyc and A. Parkhomenkoa. In Rebuilding Ukraine: Principles and policies (eds:   ) CEPR 2021

Podcast “What is about economy?”: Vernon Henderson on the challenges of Ukraine’s recovery. . 

My research

Article

Author(s) Vernon Henderson

Report and Working Papers

Author(s) Vernon Henderson

Article

Author(s) Vernon Henderson

Article

Author(s) Vernon Henderson