{"title":"How Do Changes In Housing Voucher Design Affect Rent and Neighborhood Quality?","authors":"Rob Collinson, Peter Ganong","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2255799","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2255799","url":null,"abstract":"US housing voucher holders pay their landlord a fraction of household income and the government pays the rest, up to a rent ceiling. We study how two types of changes to the rent ceiling affect landlords and tenants. A policy that makes vouchers more generous across a metro area benefits landlords through increased rents, with minimal impact on neighborhood and unit quality. A second policy that indexes rent ceilings to neighborhood rents leads voucher holders to move into higher quality neighborhoods with lower crime, poverty, and unemployment.","PeriodicalId":239768,"journal":{"name":"Urban Research eJournal","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130446210","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marco Di Maggio, A. Kermani, Rodney Ramcharan, Edison G. Yu
{"title":"Household Credit and Local Economic Uncertainty","authors":"Marco Di Maggio, A. Kermani, Rodney Ramcharan, Edison G. Yu","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2991227","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2991227","url":null,"abstract":"This paper investigates the impact of uncertainty on consumer credit outcomes. We develop a local measure of economic uncertainty capturing county-level labor market shocks. We then exploit microeconomic data on mortgages and credit-card balances together with the crosssectional variation provided by our uncertainty measure to show strong borrower-specific heterogeneity in response to changes in uncertainty. Among high risk borrowers or areas with more high risk borrowers, increased uncertainty is associated with housing market illiquidity and a reduction in leverage. For low risk borrowers, these effects are absent and the cost of mortgage credit declines, suggesting that lenders reallocate credit towards safer borrowers when uncertainty spikes. A similar pattern is observed in the unsecured credit market. Taken together, local uncertainty might independently affect aggregate economic activity through consumer credit markets and could engender greater inequality in consumption and housing wealth accumulation across households.","PeriodicalId":239768,"journal":{"name":"Urban Research eJournal","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114995912","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Price and Quantity Effects of the German Real Estate Transfer Tax","authors":"Kunka Petkova, Alfons J. Weichenrieder","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.3004387","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3004387","url":null,"abstract":"This paper analyzes the tax effects of the German real estate transfer tax (RETT). While the vast majority of single-family houses in Germany are owner-occupied, apartments are usually held by private and incorporated investors. For this reason, we conducted a regression analysis to determine the effects of increasing RETT on the number and the prices of transactions separately for these two market segments. Our findings suggest that increasing the RETT by 1% is associated with a decline in transactions by 0.23% for single-family houses, but with no significant effect on the prices of traded houses. Conversely, for apartments, we find no significantly negative effects on the transactions, but the price effect of the RETT tends to be negative. Finally, for vacant lots, we find even larger quantity effects than for single-family houses suggesting roughly an elasticity of -1. The results for this specific market segment indicate that the government operates near the top of a Laffer curve.","PeriodicalId":239768,"journal":{"name":"Urban Research eJournal","volume":"3 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133703716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Defining Exurban Areas for the Analysis of Urban Patterns Over Time","authors":"J. Ottensmann","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2984392","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2984392","url":null,"abstract":"This paper addresses the issue of defining exurban areas around 59 large urban areas from 1950 to 2010. The ideal definition would include contiguous census tracts meeting a minimum density threshold and showing integration with the urban area based on commuting. Since data on the latter are not available throughout the period, only a density criterion could be used. A density minimum was selected such that the areas of contiguous exurban density in 2010 would be largely contained within the urban area’s metropolitan area boundaries, indicating a likelihood of integration with the urban area. An assessment of the resulting exurban areas shows a high degree of containment for metropolitan areas. A brief examination of the 2010 exurban areas shows they vary greatly in terms of size.","PeriodicalId":239768,"journal":{"name":"Urban Research eJournal","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128200419","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Co-Movements and Systematic Risk of Asian Securitized Real Estate Markets: A Wavelet Analysis","authors":"K. Liow, Xiaoxiao Zhou, Li Qiang, Yuting Huang","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2971571","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2971571","url":null,"abstract":"This study expands the wavelet literature by using the continuous wavelet transform based measure to examine the interdependence and systematic risk of nine Asian securitized real estate markets: Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan) and the US market, from January 12, 1995 through Jun 23, 2016. The empirical results indicate that both the co-movement relationship and sector’s systematic risk are time-varying and heterogeneous at different scales. We find that diversification opportunities among the real estate markets are diminishing during the two major crises, as scale increases. Moreover, the systematic risk (beta) coefficients of the real estate markets increase during the global financial crisis period and become more stable at lower frequencies. Finally, local stock market returns provide a better proxy of market portfolio for the domestic real estate markets than global stock returns. Our results highlight the importance of considering both time and scale-varying features in co-movement relationship and systematic risk assessment in Asian securitized real estate markets.","PeriodicalId":239768,"journal":{"name":"Urban Research eJournal","volume":"77 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129774793","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cities, Towns, and Poverty: Migration Equilibrium and Income Distribution in a Todaro-Type Model with Multiple Destinations","authors":"L. Christiaensen, Joachim De Weerdt, R. Kanbur","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2961720","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2961720","url":null,"abstract":"Should public investment be targeted to big cities or to small towns, if the objective is to minimize national poverty? To answer this policy question we extend the basic Todaro-type model of rural-urban migration to the case of migration from rural areas to two potential destinations, secondary town and big city. We first derive conditions under which a poverty gradient from rural to town to city will exist as an equilibrium phenomenon. We then address the policy question and show how the answer depends on the migration response, where the poverty line lies relative to incomes in the three locations, and at times also the poverty index itself. In particular, we develop sufficient statistics for the policy decisions based on these income parameters and illustrate the empirical remit of the model with long running panel data from Kagera, Tanzania. Further, we show that the structure of the sufficient statistics is maintained in the case where the model is generalized to introduce heterogeneous workers and jobs. Overall, the findings confirm that, given migration responses, national poverty outcomes are not immune to whether urban employment generation takes place in the towns or the city.","PeriodicalId":239768,"journal":{"name":"Urban Research eJournal","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116868256","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Development of Agripreneurship in Cameroon","authors":"Professor Alain Ndedi","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2947711","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2947711","url":null,"abstract":"This paper gives a roadmap for the development of agripreneurship in Cameroon. Cameroon as a country relies in this sector which occupies almost 75% of the population for sustainable economic development. The choice of agripreneurship is due to its importance in Cameroon’s agricultural potential. Despite being the fifth biggest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, the backbone of Cameroon's economy is agriculture. The great majority of Cameroonian farmers are small-holders, generally obtaining low yields from small plots of land using traditional methods: handheld hoes and animals for draught power.","PeriodicalId":239768,"journal":{"name":"Urban Research eJournal","volume":"30 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114323721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Macroprudential Measures and Housing Markets: A Note on the Empirical Literature","authors":"E. Eerola","doi":"10.1108/JRF-10-2016-0135","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/JRF-10-2016-0135","url":null,"abstract":"The global financial crisis has led to increased attention on the relationship of household indebtedness and systemic risks. As a result, macroprudential measures aimed at reducing the risks have been introduced in many countries. This note reviews the recent empirical literature on these measures focusing on the housing market. Thus far, the literature mostly consists of cross-country studies using aggregate data and looking at a large set of different measures. The studies typically report associations between the measures and outcome variables of interest (often credit growth and house price appreciation), but do not assess the causal effects of the different measures or the underlying mechanisms. Exploiting household level data together with policy reforms, should be a useful step forward in understanding the effects of the measures and uncovering the mechanisms through which they operate. Focusing on micro-data would also allow studying the distributional effects of the measures. Understanding the distributional effects is important in its own right, but also because the ultimate goals of the macroprudential policies are related not only to the aggregate level of credit but also to the distribution of leverage.","PeriodicalId":239768,"journal":{"name":"Urban Research eJournal","volume":"61 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132353159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Professional Sporting Events and Traffic: Evidence from US Cities","authors":"B. Humphreys, Hyunwoong Pyun","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2940762","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2940762","url":null,"abstract":"Sporting events concentrate people at specific locations on game day. No empirical evidence currently exists linking sporting events to local traffic conditions. We analyze urban mobility data from 25 US metropolitan areas with MLB teams over the period 1990 to 2014 to assess the relationship between local traffic and Major League Baseball (MLB) games. Instrumental variable regression results indicate MLB attendance causes increases in local vehicle-miles traveled. At the sample average attendance of 2.8 million, average daily vehicle-miles traveled increases by about 6.9% in cities with MLB teams. Traffic congestion increases by 2%, suggesting that MLB games generate congestion externalities.","PeriodicalId":239768,"journal":{"name":"Urban Research eJournal","volume":"79 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-03-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131828244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Effects of Inequality, Density, and Heterogeneous Residential Preferences on Urban Displacement and Metropolitan Structure: An Agent-Based Model","authors":"G. Boeing","doi":"10.2139/ssrn.2939933","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2939933","url":null,"abstract":"Urban displacement—when a household is forced to relocate due to conditions affecting its home or surroundings—often results from rising housing costs, particularly in wealthy, prosperous cities. However, its dynamics are complex and often difficult to understand. This paper presents an agent-based model of urban settlement, agglomeration, displacement, and sprawl. New settlements form around a spatial amenity that draws initial, poor settlers to subsist on the resource. As the settlement grows, subsequent settlers of varying income, skills, and interests are heterogeneously drawn to either the original amenity or to the emerging human agglomeration. As this agglomeration grows and densifies, land values increase, and the initial poor settlers are displaced from the spatial amenity on which they relied. Through path dependence, high-income residents remain clustered around this original amenity for which they have no direct use or interest. This toy model explores these dynamics, demonstrating a simplified mechanism of how urban displacement and gentrification can be sensitive to income inequality, density, and varied preferences for different types of amenities.","PeriodicalId":239768,"journal":{"name":"Urban Research eJournal","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-03-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125955315","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}