The Incidence of Housing Allowances: Quasi-Experimental Evidence

Essi Eerola, Teemu Lyytikäinen, Tuukka Saarimaa, Tuuli Vanhapelto

Research output: Working paperScientific

Abstract

This paper studies the effects of housing allowances on rents. Our research design is based on a reform that made the allowance more generous for small housing units as a quasi-experimental setting. We find that large increases in housing allowances for small housing units have little or no effect on their rents relative to larger units. Thus, the incidence of the reform is largely on allowance recipients and not on their landlords. Consistent with very moderate rent effects, we do not find evidence of recipient households responding to the increased incentive to choose small units. A possible explanation is that optimization frictions and short expected allowance spell duration limited demand responses to the reform.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherValtion taloudellinen tutkimuskeskus (VATT)
Number of pages41
Publication statusPublished - 13 Oct 2022
MoE publication typeD4 Published development or research report or study

Publication series

NameVATT Working Papers
No.149
ISSN (Print)1798-0283
ISSN (Electronic)1798-0291

Keywords

  • rental housing
  • demand subsidies
  • housing allowance
  • rent
  • incidence
  • housing demand

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