Research
Working Papers
Local Effects of Bypassing Zoning Regulations, with Noémie Sportiche [SSRN link] New!
Prior research shows that restrictive zoning regulations are major drivers of rising housing costs and residential segregation in the United States. In response, a growing number of state and local governments are passing laws to allow for denser housing in strictly zoned localities, despite entrenched opposition from incumbent residents. This paper examines whether incumbent residents’ responses undermine the success of these policies by studying new construction permitted under Massachusetts Chapter 40B; one of the longest-standing and most productive examples of a housing policy that bypasses local zoning laws. Exploiting hyperlocal variation in residents’ proximity to new 40B buildings, we find that only a subset of larger 40B developments cause property values to decrease, and that this effect is both highly localized and only emerges in the longer term, many years after these developments are proposed. Focusing on these larger developments that are more likely to elicit resident reactions, we find that only a fraction of incumbent residents move out after their approval and that the magnitude of these migration responses is insufficient to undermine policymakers’ desegregation goals. We also do not find evidence that incumbent residents become more politically active against future development, as they are no more likely to vote in local or general elections nor are they more likely to vote for repealing Chapter 40B after 40B developments are proposed near their homes.
Knocking it Down and Mixing it Up: The Impact of Public Housing Regenerations, with Lorenzo Neri [IZA Discussion Paper No. 15855]
Revise and Resubmit, Review of Economics and Statistics
Partly due to their negative effects on surrounding neighborhoods, some countries have gradually been replacing distressed public housing developments with mixed-income housing. This paper studies the effects of such policies on local housing markets in the context of London (UK), where local authorities demolished and rebuilt several public housing developments while adding market-rate units on-site. We show that these ‘regeneration’ programs lead to large increases in nearby house prices and rents over a six-year period, although house prices decrease farther away. The results are consistent with strong demand effects from observed amenity improvements near the buildings and downward price pressures from increased supply dominating in the broader area. We provide suggestive evidence that regenerations involving larger socioeconomic composition changes are associated with higher price increases.
Coverage: GLA Housing, Nada Es Gratis
Discrimination Against Housing Vouchers: Evidence from Online Rental Listings, with Jaehee Song [SSRN link]
The Housing Choice Voucher program offers generous subsidies to low-income households for renting housing in the private market in the United States. However, only a fraction of program recipients successfully lease up a housing unit, often staying in high-poverty areas. This paper examines an important contributor to low lease-up rates especially in low-poverty areas: landlord discrimination against voucher holders. Using the universe of Craigslist rental listings, we identify listings containing voucher-related keywords and analyze their attitude toward voucher holders. Among these listings, we find that many landlords seek out voucher holders in high-poverty, high-minority areas, but discriminatory listings are more frequent in low-poverty, low-minority areas. Using a difference-in-differences design, we provide evidence that statewide legislation prohibiting source-of-income discrimination can significantly reduce discriminatory rental listings, particularly in low-poverty, low-minority areas.
Publications
Can Fair Share Policies Expand Neighborhood Choice? Evidence from Bypassing Exclusionary Zoning under Massachusetts Chapter 40B (with N. Sportiche, D. M. Cutler, M. Daepp, and E. M. Graves). Housing Policy Debate, 2024 [Link]
Coverage: NLIHC
Pecuniary Effects of Public Housing Demolitions: Evidence from Chicago. Regional Science and Urban Economics 98, 2023 [Link] [Ungated version]
Coverage: Building the Skyline
Work in Progress
Neighborhood Change and Local Economic Activity, with Lorenzo Neri
Redistribution through Housing Assistance, with Juliette Fournier
Spillover Effects from Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning, with Lorenzo Neri
Segregated Welfare: The Effects of Federal Public Housing, with Luca Perdoni
The Impact of Massachusetts’ Chapter 40B on Affordable Housing Beneficiaries: Evidence from Housing Lotteries (with Noémie Sportiche and David M. Cutler)
Awarded Russell Sage Foundation Grant