Estimating Neighborhood Choice Models: Lessons from a Housing Assistance Experiment

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2015
Volume: 105
Issue: 11
Pages: 3385-3415

Score contribution per author:

2.681 = (α=2.01 / 3 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

We use data from a housing-assistance experiment to estimate a model of neighborhood choice. The experimental variation effectively randomizes the rents which households face and helps identify a key structural parameter. Access to two randomly selected treatment groups and a control group allows for out-of-sample validation of the model. We simulate the effects of changing the subsidy-use constraints implemented in the actual experiment. We find that restricting subsidies to even lower poverty neighborhoods would substantially reduce take-up and actually increase average exposure to poverty. Furthermore, adding restrictions based on neighborhood racial composition would not change average exposure to either race or poverty. (JEL I32, I38, R23, R38)

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:105:y:2015:i:11:p:3385-3415
Journal Field
General
Author Count
3
Added to Database
2026-01-25