The Politics of Homeownership

Kingston, Paul; Thompson, John L.P.; Eichar, Douglas M.

doi:10.1177/1532673x8401200201

Cited by 33 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…First, several studies show that right-wing parties disproportionately represent homeowners (Kingston, Thompson, and Eichar 1984;Verberg, 2000). First, several studies show that right-wing parties disproportionately represent homeowners (Kingston, Thompson, and Eichar 1984;Verberg, 2000).…”

Section: From Voters To Partiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Political Economy of Ownership: Housing Markets and the Welfare State

2014

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T he major economic story of the last decade has been the surge and collapse of house prices worldwide. Yet political economists have had little to say about how this critical phenomenon affects citizens' welfare and their demands from government. This article develops a novel theoretical argument linking housing prices to social policy preferences and policy outcomes. I argue that homeowners experiencing house price appreciation will become less supportive of redistribution and social insurance policies since increased house prices both increase individuals' permanent income and the value of housing as self-supplied insurance against income loss. Political parties of the right will, responding to these preferences, cut social spending substantially during housing booms. I test these propositions using both microdata on social preferences from panel surveys in the USA, the UK, and a cross-country survey of 29 countries, and macrodata of national social spending for 18 countries between 1975 and 2001.

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Section: From Voters To Partiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Political Economy of Ownership: Housing Markets and the Welfare State

2014

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“…Empirical research on this hypothesis is limited. While an effect of tenure on welfare attitudes was corroborated for the UK (Saunders, 1990), Kingston et al (1984) did not find an effect of home ownership on socio-economic policy preferences for the US.…”

Section: A U T H O R C O P Ymentioning

confidence: 99%

Home ownership and support for government redistribution

André

Dewilde

2014

Comp Eur Polit

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In this article, we investigate the relationship between home ownership and support for redistribution in 24 European countries, integrating research on housing regimes and welfare attitudes. We improve upon earlier research by taking into account withingroup heterogeneity of owners and tenants, by elaborating on social mechanisms (selfinterest and socio-spatial segregation), by researching a wide range of European (instead of Anglo-Saxon) countries and by recognizing differences in the meaning of tenure and home ownership across countries. We find that, while home owners are less supportive of redistribution, the effect of home ownership varies with age and income position. We furthermore find that housing regime characteristics matter, as owners and tenants have different welfare attitudes in different contexts. In settings where home ownership has become more financialized, support for redistribution is smaller, and more so among home owners. On the other hand, in settings where outright home ownership fills gaps in welfare provision, both owners and tenants prefer more redistribution.

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“…For the United States, Kingston et al. () find no evidence for an effect of homeownership on voters’ views on socioeconomic policy. Verberg () finds that Canadian homeowners are more conservative on economic, moral and labour issues than tenants.…”

Section: The Political Implications Of Housing and Housing Marketsmentioning

confidence: 99%

An asymmetric partisanship effect: House price fluctuations and party positions

Beckmann

2019

European J Political Res

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Political economy arguments on party behaviour usually address parties of the left and the right. This article introduces a novel argument that portrays house price changes as an economic signal that rightwing parties disproportionately respond to in their programmatic positioning. This asymmetric partisanship effect is driven by homeowners' importance for right-wing parties as a core voter group. Increasing house prices improve homeowners' economic prospects. Right-wing parties thus have some flexibility to reach out to undecided voters by targeting the centre of the political spectrum. Falling house prices, however, signal worsening economic outlooks for homeowners. Right-wing parties thus have a strong incentive to send out signals of reassurance and prioritise their core voters. For a sample of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries from 1970 to 2014, the findings support this argument. Right-wing parties move programmatically leftwards with booming house prices and rightwards when house prices fall, while parties of the left do not respond systematically.

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The Politics of Homeownership

Cited by 33 publications

References 14 publications

The Political Economy of Ownership: Housing Markets and the Welfare State

The Political Economy of Ownership: Housing Markets and the Welfare State

Home ownership and support for government redistribution

An asymmetric partisanship effect: House price fluctuations and party positions

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