The Effect of Long-Term Rent Control on Tenant Mobility

The effect of rent control on commute times

“…As residents age, their ties to a community generally increase. Evidence of an inverse relationship between age and mobility is reported by Clark and Heskin [5], Ault et al [2], Nagy [18], and Munch and Svarer [17]. Eleven age categories are included in the regressions.…”

“…2 Gilderbloom and Markham [8] constrained their sample of municipalities to those with populations over 10,000, citing the fact that the census does not make data on smaller municipalities easily accessible. We get around this problem by using census tract level data; rent control status is assigned on the basis of the census "place" in which the tract population most generally lies.…”

“…The first is the percent of the population that is black. Ault et al [2] suggest that discrimination may leave African-Americans with a limited set of housing choices and, therefore, limit their mobility. If this is the case, we would expect to see extended commute times for this subgroup of the population.…”

Housing Policies in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the United States: Lessons Learned

“…Rent control has been shown, among other things, to cause rent increases of not-regulated units (Caudill, 1993), to perturb optimal allocation mechanisms (Glaeser and Luttmer, 2003), to lower housing quality (Gyourko and Linneman, 1990), and to reduce household mobility (Ault, Jackson, and Saba, 1994). Our aim is not to extensively review this literature but, rather, to compare the specific effects of rent control observed in the Swiss housing market with those predicted by the literature.…”

Rent controls and homeless rates

“…Moon and Stotsky [1993b] argue that there is weak empirical support for the notion that rent controls reduce housing quality. Ault and Saba [1990], Jackson [1993] and Ault et al [1994] present studies indicating that rent controls generate the traditional effects of tenant immobility, lower maintenance, and reduced supply. Their methodology is based on Caudill et al [1993], which has been refuted by Moon and Stotsky [1993a].…”