The Economics of Housing Vouchers is a seven-chapter text that examines the housing choices of low-income families in two metropolitan areas, namely, Phoenix and Pittsburgh. Some of these households are offered a novel kind of housing subsidy, including a housing allowance or housing voucher, in an experimental framework designed to test this approach to demand-side housing assistance.

Chapter 1 presents an overview of U.S. housing programs and the dimensions of the U.S. housing problem. Chapter 2 provides a simple microeconomic model that conceptualizes household behavior, as well as a summary of some of the extant evidence on housing demand. This chapter also estimates the housing demand models for the low-income population in the Demand Experiment, using housing expenditures to measure housing. Chapter 3 applies a hedonic index of housing services that abstracts from particular characteristics of the household or landlord that may affect rent and attempts to measure housing in a more objective manner. Chapter 4 describes a model of household behavior that leads to the methodology for estimating experimental effects. Chapter 5 repeats the analysis for Minimum Rent households, while Chapter 6 examines the effect of both kinds of Housing Gap allowance payment on the consumption of housing services. Lastly, Chapter 7 focuses on the implications of the experimental findings for housing policy. This chapter compares a housing allowance strategy with two other approaches, namely, a pure income-transfer approach and a construction-oriented approach.

This book is of value to workers in housing policy, including economists, regional and other social scientists in academia, housing analysts, the Congress, housing lobby groups, and state and local government housing officials.

Contenu

Preface
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1 Introduction
The Evolution of Housing Programs
The U.S. Housing Problem
The Housing Allowance Demand Experiment
Chapter 2 The Demand for Rental Housing
A Microeconomic Model of Housing Demand
Evidence from Recent Empirical Estimates of Housing Demand
Expenditure Changes for Percent of Rent Households
Econometric Estimates of Demand Parameters
The Effect of Demographic Variables
Dynamic Models of Housing Demand
Conclusion
Chapter 3 The Demand for Housing Services
An Explanation of Hedonic Indices
Hedonic Indices for the Demand Experiment Sites
Demand Functions for Housing Services
Analysis of The Hedonic Residual
Demographic Stratification
Conclusion
Chapter 4 The Effect of Minimum Standards Housing Allowances on Housing Consumption
Meeting a Physical Housing Requirement
A Model of Household Behavior
Actual Changes in Housing Consumption
Econometric Estimation
Conclusion
Chapter 5 The Effect of Minimum Rent Housing Allowances on Housing Consumption
Overview of Housing Changes
Rent Changes Induced by the Minimum Rent Plans
Results for Movers
Conclusion
Chapter 6 The Effect of Housing Gap Allowances on the Consumption of Housing Services
Allowance Effects on Overpayment
Allowance Effects on the Consumption of Housing Services
Conclusion
Chapter 7 Policy Implications
Cash Transfers Versus Housing Assistance
Other Housing Outcomes
Existing Housing Programs
Summary
Appendix I Design of the Demand Experiment
Data Collection
Allowance Plans Used in the Demand Experiment
Key Variables
Appendix II Selection Bias in Price Elasticity Estimates
Appendix III The Methodology for Estimating the Experimental Effects on Housing Gap Households
Predicting Normal Housing Consumption
Specification of Selection Bias
Appendix IV Additional Tables
Appendix V Intraurban Residential Mobility: The Role of Transactions Costs, Market Imperfections, and Household Disequilibrium
A Microeconomic Model of Search and Mobility
Benefit and Cost Measurement
Estimation of a Benefit-Cost Model of Search and Mobility
Conclusion
References
Index