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Daniel M. Sturm.

Daniel M. Sturm

Programme Director, Urban

Expertise: economic geography, urban economics, political economy

Telephone:
020 7955 7522
Email:
d.m.sturm@lse.ac.uk
Room:
SAL 2.25
Connect:
Website
CV
Links:
CEP Neighbourhoods
CEP Trade
CEP Urban

Biography

Daniel Sturm is a Professor of Economics and Programme Director of the Urban Program at CEP. He is a CEPR Research Fellow and served as President of the Urban Economics Association in 2020 and 2021. His work has been supported by two ERC grants, and he won the 2018 Frisch Medal for the paper 'The Economics of Density: Evidence from the Berlin Wall' together with Gabriel Ahlfeldt, Steve Redding, and Nikolaus Wolf. His current research interests focus on estimating and modelling the agglomeration and dispersion forces that shape the distribution of economic activity both within and across cities and how these forces shape the impact of policy interventions such as transport infrastructure investments.

Current areas of research include:

  • Urban economics: spatial sorting, agglomeration and dispersion forces, productivity advantages of cities

Publications

CEP discussion papers
Neighborhood effects: evidence from wartime destruction in London

We use the German bombing of London during the Second World War as an exogenous source of variation to provide evidence on neighborhood effects. We construct a newly-digitized dataset at the level of individual buildings... Read more...

Stephen J. Redding and Daniel M. Sturm

09 April 2024

External reports
Pancakes to pyramids: city form to promote sustainable growth (English)

Towns and cities are economic and social microcosms in which large numbers of people and firms interact. These interactions largely shape how a city looks, how it functions, and how it grows. But how exactly does this ma... Read more...

Somik V. Lall, Mathilde Sylvie Maria Lebrand, Hogeun Park, Daniel M. Sturm and Anthony J. Venables

02 June 2021

Journal article
The impact of public employment: evidence from Bonn

This paper evaluates the impact of changes in public employment on private sector activity using the creation of the new West German government in Bonn in the wake of the Second World War as a source of exogenous variati... Read more...

Sascha O. Becker, Stephan Heblich and Daniel M. Sturm

01 March 2021

Blog
The impact of public employment: evidence from West Germany's post-war capital Bonn

Raising the level of public employment is a frequently used policy instrument to support economically lagging regions. This column evaluates the impact of changes in public employment on private sector activity using the... Read more...

Sascha O. Becker, Stephan Heblich and Daniel M. Sturm

01 November 2020

Journal article
The making of the modern metropolis: evidence from London

Using newly constructed spatially disaggregated data for London from 1801 to 1921, we show that the invention of the steam railway led to the first large-scale separation of workplace and residence. We show that a class ... Read more...

Stephan Heblich, Stephen J. Redding and Daniel M. Sturm

01 November 2020

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
In brief... What the Berlin Wall can teach us about urban development

Award-winning CEP research considers what can be learned from the division and reunification of Berlin.... Read more...

Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt, Stephen J. Redding, Daniel M. Sturm and Nikolaus Wolf

01 March 2019

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
The making of the modern metropolis: evidence from London

Stephen Redding and colleagues examine how the introduction of steam railways shaped the emerging metropolitan area of London.... Read more...

Stephan Heblich, Stephen J. Redding and Daniel M. Sturm

01 March 2019

CEP discussion papers
The making of the modern metropolis: evidence from London

Modern metropolitan areas involve large concentrations of economic activity and the transport of millions of people each day between their residence and workplace. We use the revolution in transport technology from the i... Read more...

Stephan Heblich, Stephen J. Redding and Daniel M. Sturm

12 September 2018

SERC Discussion Papers
The Impact of Public Employment: Evidence from Bonn

This paper evaluates the impact of public employment on private sector activity using the relocation of the German federal government from Berlin to Bonn in the wake of the Second World War as a source of exogenous varia... Read more...

Sascha O. Becker, Stephan Heblich and Daniel M. Sturm

04 January 2018

Journal article
The economics of density: evidence from the Berlin Wall

This paper develops a quantitative model of internal city structure that features agglomeration and dispersion forces and an arbitrary number of heterogeneous city blocks. The model remains tractable and amenable to empi... Read more...

Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt, Stephen J. Redding, Daniel M. Sturm and Nikolaus Wolf

01 November 2015

SERC Discussion Papers
The Economics of Density: Evidence from the Berlin Wall

This paper develops a quantitative model of city structure to separate agglomeration forces, dispersion forces and fundamentals as determinants of location choices. The model remains tractable and amenable to empirical a... Read more...

Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt, Stephen J. Redding, Daniel M. Sturm and Nikolaus Wolf

13 September 2012

CEP discussion papers
The Economics of Density: Evidence from the Berlin Wall

This paper develops a quantitative model of city structure to separate agglomeration forces, dispersion forces and fundamentals as determinants of location choices. The model remains tractable and amenable to empirical a... Read more...

Gabriel M. Ahlfeldt, Stephen J. Redding, Daniel M. Sturm and Nikolaus Wolf

28 June 2012

Journal article
History and industry location: evidence from German airports

A central prediction of a large class of theoretical models is that industry location is not uniquely determined by fundamentals. Despite the theoretical prominence of this idea, there is little systematic evidence in su... Read more...

Stephen J. Redding, Daniel M. Sturm and Nikolaus Wolf

21 August 2011

CEP discussion papers
Political Competition, Policy and Growth: Theory and Evidence from the United States

This paper develops a simple model to analyze how a lack of political competition may lead to policies that hinder economic growth. We test the predictions of the model on panel data for the US states. In these data, we ... Read more...

Timothy Besley, Torsten Persson and Daniel M. Sturm

01 October 2010

CEP discussion papers
History and Industry Location: Evidence from German Airports

A central prediction of a large class of theoretical models is that industry location is not necessarily uniquely determined by fundamentals. In these models, historical accident or expectations determine which of severa... Read more...

Stephen J. Redding, Daniel M. Sturm and Nikolaus Wolf

01 July 2007

CEP discussion papers
Term Limits and Electoral Accountability

Periodic elections are the main instrument through which voters can hold politicians accountable. From this perspective term limits, which restrict voters? ability to reward politicians with re-election, appear counterpr... Read more...

Michael Smart and Daniel M. Sturm

01 December 2006

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
Location, location, location

How important is access to markets as a driver of economic prosperity? In new research, Stephen Redding and Daniel Sturm address this question by analysing the post-war division of Germany and its impact on the border ci... Read more...

Stephen J. Redding and Daniel M. Sturm

01 June 2005

CEP discussion papers
The Costs of Remoteness: Evidence from German Division and Reunification

This paper exploits the division of Germany after the Second World War and the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990 as a natural experiment to provide evidence of the importance of market access for economic de... Read more...

Stephen J. Redding and Daniel M. Sturm

01 May 2005

CEP discussion papers
Product Standards, Trade Disputes and Protectionism

Trade disputes over national product standards are a growing source of tension in the international trading system. The usual pattern is that a country introduces a new product standard for all sales of a good in its loc... Read more...

Daniel M. Sturm

01 January 2001

CentrePiece - The magazine of the Centre for Economic Performance
A lot of hot air: the Kyoto deal and emissions trading

Read more...

Daniel M. Sturm

01 June 1998

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