housing policy

  • The Economics of a Wealthy Academy

    The Economics of a Wealthy Academy

    There are countless examples of economists disregarding survey data in which a representative sample concludes that the American economy is concerning, generally countering with some favorable economic figure. Although the data can be noisy, metrics poorly calibrated, samples biased, and respondents irrational, there is also the possibility that these two…

  • Addressing Constrained Housing Supply: Evidence on New Market-Rate Housing

    Addressing Constrained Housing Supply: Evidence on New Market-Rate Housing

    It’s no secret that the United States has a housing affordability problem. The high cost of living in major cities stems from a shortage of available units. High rents burden low- to moderate-income families. The larger percentage of a household’s income goes to rent, the less a household can afford…

  • Housing and Opportunity: Impacts of Chicago’s Public Housing Demolition

    Housing and Opportunity: Impacts of Chicago’s Public Housing Demolition

    Chicago’s history of low-income housing policy is complex. The Chicago Housing Authority used to manage 17 large housing projects for low-income residents, but during the 1990s, due to high crime, poverty, drug use, and corruption and mismanagement in the projects, plans were made to demolish them. By 2011, all of…

  • Does Rent Control Work? Evidence from San Francisco

    Does Rent Control Work? Evidence from San Francisco

    Housing affordability has become a hot-button issue in many communities in the United States, particularly in urban neighborhoods, due to rapidly rising rents. In response, some housing activists have advocated for imposing rent control policies in order to protect community members from financial hardship and displacement. For example, in November…

  • Where Children Live Matters: Housing Policy Effects on Education Outcomes

    Where Children Live Matters: Housing Policy Effects on Education Outcomes

    Social scientists have long suspected that the demographic characteristics and attributes of neighborhoods affect the educational outcomes of the children who live in them. However, this hypothesis is challenging to test because people tend to self-select the neighborhoods in which they live. As a result, exogenous variation — a randomized…

  • Demolition, Displacement, and the Effect on Children in Chicago Public Housing

    Demolition, Displacement, and the Effect on Children in Chicago Public Housing

    Housing is the foundation of a family’s life. This basic need determines the surrounding environment, the schools children attend, access to amenities, and even economic opportunities. Due to the essential service that housing provides, the US federal government spends about $50 billion annually on housing assistance for low-income families. However,…

  • How Does Consumption Spending Respond to Housing Prices?

    How Does Consumption Spending Respond to Housing Prices?

    New research explores the complex relationship between housing prices and consumer spending. The magnitude of this relationship can vary considerably over time and across households.

  • Why Inclusive Zones are Not Inclusive Everywhere

    Why Inclusive Zones are Not Inclusive Everywhere

    Research from New York University explains why inclusive housing policies work better in some places than in others.

  • Housing ‘On The House’: The Common Good Problem in French Social Housing

    Housing ‘On The House’: The Common Good Problem in French Social Housing

    Seven years after France established housing as a right that people can legally demand from the state, a housing crisis persists. Sociologist Levy-Vroelant argues that the root of the problem is the absence of a national consensus on housing as a collective value.