SMU SOE Seminar (June 16, 2023): Identifying Housing Preferences in Regulated Markets: Evidence from Waiting Lists

Please click here if you are unable to view this page.

ABSTRACT In many markets, goods are not allocated based on prices. A prominent example is public housing that is typically allocated based on waiting times. Using a dynamic framework, we show that these waiting times are informative on household preferences regarding the quality of public housing. We apply this framework to estimate the internal and external effects of a large-scale Dutch policy to improve public housing. By estimating unconditional quantile regressions, we show that public housing tenants have a strong preference to reside in newly-built housing units and positively value new public housing units nearby. In addition, we find that owner-occupying residents only weakly value nearby newly-built public housing. These results emphasize that the welfare benefits of investments in public housing quality are likely to be strongly underestimated if effects on the regulated public housing sector are not taken into account. Click here to view the CV.
		PRESENTER Jos van Ommeren VU University, Amsterdam
		RESEARCH FIELDS Urban Economics
		DATE: 16 June 2023 (Friday)
		TIME: 4pm - 5.30pm
		VENUE: Meeting Room 5.1, Level 5 School of Economics Singapore Management University 90 Stamford Road Singapore 178903