Location, housing and employment opportunities

IF 2.6 2区经济学 Q2 ECONOMICS

Labour Economics Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2025-11-21 DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2025.102827

Vera Chiodi , Bruno Crépon , Guillermo Cruces

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Abstract

Housing conditions, residential location, and employment are key determinants of individual welfare, particularly for vulnerable populations facing credit constraints and information frictions. We examine how housing assistance affects employment outcomes using a randomized controlled trial in France that provided vulnerable youth (aged 18–25) with both job search assistance and housing support, including rent guarantees. The program successfully improved housing conditions: beneficiaries experienced better accommodation stability, reduced precarious situations, and increased satisfaction with their housing. However, despite substantial social worker support, the program did not improve employment rates, contract types, or earnings. Strikingly, beneficiaries moved to neighborhoods with objectively worse employment opportunities and lower socioeconomic indicators, yet reported higher satisfaction with their residential areas. This apparent paradox reveals that beneficiaries appear to prioritize housing affordability and conditions over employment access. Our results suggest that successful interventions may need to explicitly balance housing improvements with maintaining access to employment opportunities.

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地理位置、住房和就业机会

住房条件、居住地点和就业是个人福利的关键决定因素，特别是对面临信贷限制和信息摩擦的弱势群体而言。我们通过在法国进行的一项随机对照试验来检验住房援助如何影响就业结果，该试验为弱势青年（18-25岁）提供求职援助和住房支持，包括租金担保。该方案成功地改善了住房条件：受益人体验到更好的住宿稳定性，减少了不稳定的情况，并提高了对住房的满意度。然而，尽管有大量社会工作者的支持，该计划并没有提高就业率、合同类型或收入。引人注目的是，受益人搬到了客观上就业机会更差、社会经济指标更低的社区，但他们对自己居住的地区的满意度却更高。这个明显的悖论揭示了受益者似乎优先考虑住房负担能力和条件，而不是就业机会。我们的研究结果表明，成功的干预措施可能需要明确地平衡住房改善与保持就业机会。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Labour Economics ECONOMICS-

CiteScore

3.60

自引率

8.30%

发文量

142

期刊介绍： Labour Economics is devoted to publishing research in the field of labour economics both on the microeconomic and on the macroeconomic level, in a balanced mix of theory, empirical testing and policy applications. It gives due recognition to analysis and explanation of institutional arrangements of national labour markets and the impact of these institutions on labour market outcomes.