Rent-commuting cost function versus rent-distance function

Abstract

This paper develops a new way to present standard urban models graphically and a new rent function called the rent-commuting cost function. The rent-commuting cost function represents the relationship between rent and total commuting cost. At least theoretically, it is superior to the traditional rent-distance function in depicting and measuring stylized facts of the city because its gradient is independent of the functional form of the commuting cost function and falls as household income rises.