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Working Paper
Logit analysis of the effect of rent control on housing quality
Rent control is one of the few policy issues on which there is a general agreement among economists. Economic theory predicts, and few economists have tried to dispute, that imposing rent controls on a housing market is likely to lead to rental housing shortages and general deterioration of quality. Even on income distribution grounds, rent control receives poor reviews, since it is generally agreed to be a clumsy and inexact means of helping the poor.
Working Paper
The Effect of Second-Generation Rent Controls: New Evidence from Catalonia
Catalonia enacted a second-generation rental cap policy that affected only some municipalities and, within those, only units with prices above their “reference” price. We show that, as intended, the policy led to a reduction in rental prices, but with price increases at the bottom and price declines at the top of the distribution. The policy also affected supply, with exit at the top which is not compensated by entry at the bottom. We show that a model with quality differences in rental units rationalizes the empirical facts and allows us to compute the welfare consequences of the policy.
Working Paper
The effect of second generation rent controls on the quality of rental housing
Microeconomic theory predicts that rent controls will lead to greater housing quality deterioration than would have been the case in an uncontrolled market. However, empirical analyses of rent control have concentrated on income distribution effects. This study tests the hypothesis of quality deterioration using a two period linked sample of dwelling units drawn from eight Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas, half of which have rent control laws. The results indicate that quality was 7.1% lower in controlled markets in 1974, and 13.5% lower in 1977. Slow, cumulative effects of deferred ...
Journal Article
Commentary
This paper was presented at the conference "Policies to Promote Affordable Housing," cosponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, February 7, 2002. It was part of Session 2: Affordable Housing and the Housing Market, and is a commentary on "Government regulation and changes in the affordable housing stock" by C. Tsuriel Somerville and Christopher J. Mayer.
Journal Article
Tenants' complaints
What Are the Long-run Trade-offs of Rent-Control Policies?
While rent-control policies can mean more affordable housing for some, research shows they can also lead to a decline in the supply and quality of rental housing.
Journal Article
Government regulation and changes in the affordable housing stock
This paper was presented at the conference "Policies to Promote Affordable Housing," cosponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and New York University's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, February 7, 2002. It was part of Session 2: Affordable Housing and the Housing Market.