Who Benefits from Public Housing?
Eerola, Essi; Saarimaa, Tuukka (2015-12-17)
Eerola, Essi
Saarimaa, Tuukka
Valtion taloudellinen tutkimuskeskus VATT
17.12.2015
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2018042618660
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2018042618660
Tiivistelmä
This paper studies how much public housing generates rent savings for the tenants, how these savings are distributed among the tenants, and whether the tenants reside in better quality neighborhoods than similar low-income private rental tenants. Our rent savings estimates are based on a hedonic regression and detailed data on the private and public rental housing units from the city of Helsinki. We estimate that the total subsidy to public housing tenants is considerable and comparable in size to the housing allowance, the main tenant-based housing program. We also find that the subsidy is less targeted towards low-income households than the housing allowance. Regarding neighborhood quality, we find that public housing tenants live in lower quality neighborhoods than similar households living in private rental housing. This result suggests that public housing is not better than the housing allowance in delivering better neighborhood quality to low-income households.
Tutkimusteema
Income distribution, Tulonjako, Effectiveness of public services, Julkisten palvelujen vaikuttavuus
JEL
H220 - Taxation and Subsidies: Incidence, R210 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics: Housing Demand, R230 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics: Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
Avainsanat
Hedonic regression, housing policy, public housing.
Kokoelmat
- VATT Working Papers [164]