Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
Do informal housing conditions constrain labour supply? I estimate the effect of receiving a free house under the South African government’s housing program, which has given away over 3 million housing units since 1994. Using four waves of household panel data from Cape Town and geographical data on the location of large housing projects, I exploit a natural experiment whereby households living close to projects were first in line to get them to instrument for selection into the programme. I use projects that were planned and approved, but never actually built, to deal with non-random placement of housing projects. Government housing has a significant positive effect on household earnings. This is driven primarily by increases in earnings for women. I present evidence consistent with a mechanism whereby formal housing frees up time by alleviating the demands of work in the home.