Spillovers from Price Regulations: Evidence from Rent Control in Cambridge, Massachusetts

本研究项目通过利用由取消租金管制引起的变化，调查了溢出效应在住房市场中运作的渠道。该项目旨在提高我们对住房市场外部性、价格控制的直接和间接影响的理解，并利用独特的政策实验来探索城市经济学中的核心问题，如社区的演变和设施的资本化。该项目的几个组成部分利用了马萨诸塞州剑桥市租金监管的丰富新数据集。该数据集包括剑桥所有租金管制单位的精确位置，直到1995年全州公投取消租金管制。我们将数据集与剑桥及周边社区的所有住房市场交易、建筑许可活动、来自城市人口普查的数据（其中包括超过80%的居民的身份、年龄和职业）以及在精细地理水平上汇总的居民信用概况信息联系起来，具体针对租金控制和非租金控制群体。该项目调查了取消租金管制对不受控制的公寓、单户和多户住宅价格的影响。初步分析表明，取消租金管制对那些已有大量租金管制单位的社区中不受管制房屋的价格产生了实质性影响。我们将对数据库进行进一步分析，以探究价格变化的原因。一种机制涉及由于单位之间的投资互补性而导致的建筑许可活动水平的变化，而第二种机制涉及衡量取消租金管制后个人住房分配的变化。额外的实证工作将检验租金管制结束的直接影响。知识价值：该项目记录了关于房地产市场溢出效应的性质和程度的未知事实。它包括开发新的数据库，以便了解产生溢出效应的各种机制。它提出了衡量价格管制的福利成本的新问题。更广泛的影响：影响房地产市场的法规是广泛的，通常是基于溢出效应的存在。更好地了解产生住房溢出效应的根本力量，有助于制定影响住房投资和补贴的政策。此外，价格管制存在于经济的许多部门，这些管制的一个重要方面是它们对不受管制的市场部门的影响。最后，租金管制通常被认为是价格管制如何影响供需运作的教科书范例。我们数据集的详细性质允许将这项研究的各个方面整合到教学中。该项目还将支持研究生。

This research project investigates channels through which spillovers operate in the housing market by exploiting variation induced by the elimination of rent regulation. The project aims to improve our understanding of housing market externalities, the direct and indirect effects of price controls, and to take advantage of a unique policy experiment to explore core issues in urban economics such as the evolution of neighborhoods and the capitalization of amenities.Several components of the project exploit a rich new data set on rent regulation in Cambridge MA. The data set includes the precise location for all rent controlled units in Cambridge until 1995, when a statewide referendum eliminated rent control. We link the data set to all housing market transactions in Cambridge and surrounding communities, building permitting activity, data from the City Census, which includes the identity, age and occupation of more than 80% of residents, and information on the credit profile of residents aggregated at a fine geographic level specific to rent controlled and non-rent controlled groups. The project investigates the impact of the elimination of rent control on the prices of uncontrolled condominiums, single and multi-family housing. Preliminary analysis suggests that there is a substantial impact of the elimination of rent control on the prices of uncontrolled houses in neighborhoods with large amounts of pre-existing rent controlled units. We will carry out further analyses of the database to explore the reasons for the price change. One mechanism involves changes in the level of building permitting activity due to investment complementarities between units, while the second involves measuring changes in the allocation of individuals to housing after the elimination of rent control. Additional empirical work will examine the direct impacts of the end of rent regulation. Intellectual Merit:The project documents previously unknown facts about the nature and extent of spillovers in the housing market. It includes the development of new databases which allow for understanding various mechanisms which generate the spillovers. It raises new questions about measuring the welfare costs of price controls.Broader Impact:Regulations affecting housing markets are widespread and are often predicated on the existence of spillovers. An improved understanding of the underlying forces generating spillovers in housing can help shape policies which influence housing investment and subsidies. Moreover, price controls are present in many segments of the economy and an important aspect of these controls are the effects they have on uncontrolled sectors of the market. Finally, rent control is often considered a textbook example of how price controls affect the functioning of supply and demand. The detailed nature of our dataset allows for aspects of this research to be integrated into teaching. The project will also support graduate students.