The Economics Of Homelessness: The Evidence From North America
Abstract
It is generally believed that the increased incidence of homelessness in the US has arisen from broad societal factors - changes in the institutionalization of the mentally ill, increases in drug addiction and alcohol usage, etc. This paper reports on a comprehensive test of the alternate hypothesis that variations in homelessness arise from changed circumstances in the housing market and in the income distribution. We utilize essentially all the systematic information available on homelessness in US urban areas - census counts, shelter bed counts, records of transfer payments, and administrative agency estimates. We use these data to estimate the effects of housing prices, vacancies, and rentto-income ratios upon the incidence of homelessness. Our results suggest that simple economic principles governing the availability and pricing of housing and the growth in demand for the lowest quality housing explain a large portion of the variation in homelessness among US metropolitan housing markets. Furthermore, rather modest improvements in the affordability of rental housing or its availability can substantially reduce the incidence of homelessness in the US.Download Info
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Bibliographic Info
Article provided by Taylor and Francis Journals in its journal International Journal of Housing Policy.
Volume (Year): 1 (2001)
Issue (Month): 3 ()
Pages: 323-336
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Related research
Keywords: Homelessness; De-INSTITUTIONALIZATION; Income Distribution; Housing Conditions;Other versions of this item:
- John M. Quigley, Steven Raphael, 2001. "The Economics Of Homelessness: The Evidence From North America," European Journal of Housing Policy, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 1(3), pages 323-336, December.
- Quigley, John M. & Raphael, Steven, 2002. "The Economics of Homelessness: The Evidence from North America," Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy, Working Paper Series qt2dw8b4r3, Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy.
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Honig, Marjorie & Filer, Randall K, 1993. "Causes of Intercity Variation in Homelessness," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(1), pages 248-55, March.
- John M. Quigley & Steven Raphael & Eugene Smolensky, 2001.
"Homeless In America, Homeless In California,"
The Review of Economics and Statistics,
MIT Press, vol. 83(1), pages 37-51, February.
- Quigley, John M. & Raphael, Steven & Smolensky, Eugene, 2002. "Homeless in America, Homeless in California," Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy, Working Paper Series qt4v61c0ws, Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy.
- Levitt, Steven D, 1996.
"The Effect of Prison Population Size on Crime Rates: Evidence from Prison Overcrowding Litigation,"
The Quarterly Journal of Economics,
MIT Press, vol. 111(2), pages 319-51, May.
- Steven D. Levitt, 1995. "The Effect of Prison Population Size on Crime Rates: Evidence From Prison Overcrowding Litigation," NBER Working Papers 5119, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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