TY  - JOUR
AU  - Gaspar,Jess
AU  - Glaeser,Edward
TI  - Information Technology and the Future of Cities
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 5562
PY  - 1996
Y2  - May 1996
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5562
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5562.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Jess Gaspar
E-Mail: jess_gaspar@yahoo.com

Edward L. Glaeser
Department of Economics
315A Littauer Center
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA 02138
Tel: 617/495-0575
Fax: 617/495-7730
E-Mail: eglaeser@harvard.edu
AB  - Will improvements in information technology eliminate face-to- face interactions and make cities obsolete?  In this paper, we present a model where individuals make contacts and choose whether to use electronic or face-to-face meetings in their interactions.  Cities are modeled as a means of reducing the fixed travel costs involved in face-to-face interactions.  When telecommunications technology improves, there are two opposing effects on cities and face-to-face interactions: some relationships that used to be face-to-face will be done electronically (an intuitive substitution effect), and some individuals will choose to make more contacts, many of which result in face-to-face interactions.  Our empirical work suggests that telecommunications may be a complement, or at least not a strong substitute for cities and face-to-face interactions.  We also present simple models of learning in person, from a written source, or over the phone, and find that interactive communication dominates other forms of learning when ideas are complicated.
ER  -