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Locked in by leverage: Job search during the housing crisis

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  • Brown, Jennifer
  • Matsa, David A.

Abstract

This paper examines how housing market distress affects job search. Using data from a leading online job search platform during the Great Recession, we find that job seekers in areas with depressed housing markets apply for fewer jobs that require relocation. With their search constrained geographically, job seekers broaden their search for lower-level positions nearby. These effects are stronger for job seekers with recourse mortgages, which we confirm using a spatial regression discontinuity analysis. Our findings suggest that housing market distress distorts labor market outcomes by impeding households’ ability to move.

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  • Brown, Jennifer & Matsa, David A., 2020. "Locked in by leverage: Job search during the housing crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(3), pages 623-648.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:136:y:2020:i:3:p:623-648
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2019.11.001
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    1. Elliot Anenberg & Daniel R. Ringo, 2019. "The Propagation of Demand Shocks Through Housing Markets," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2019-084, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    2. Karahan, Fatih & Rhee, Serena, 2019. "Geographic reallocation and unemployment during the Great Recession: The role of the housing bust," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 47-69.
    3. Adams, Camilla & Meer, Jonathan & Sloan, CarlyWill, 2022. "The minimum wage and search effort," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    4. Emilia Del Bono & Greta Morando, 2022. "For some, luck matters more: the impact of the great recession on the early careers of graduates from different socio-economic backgrounds [Cashier or consultant? Entry labor market conditions, fie," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 869-893.
    5. Mr. Nicola Pierri & Mr. Yannick Timmer, 2020. "IT Shields: Technology Adoption and Economic Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic," IMF Working Papers 2020/208, International Monetary Fund.
    6. Hensvik, Lena & Le Barbanchon, Thomas & Rathelot, Roland, 2021. "Job search during the COVID-19 crisis," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    7. J. M. Applegate & Marco A. Janssen, 2022. "Job Mobility and Wealth Inequality," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 59(1), pages 1-25, January.
    8. Ji, Yan, 2021. "Job Search under Debt: Aggregate Implications of Student Loans," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 741-759.
    9. Carlos Garriga & Aaron Hedlund, 2019. "Crises in the Housing Market: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Lessons," Working Papers 2019-33, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    10. Hadiye Aslan, 2022. "Personal Financial Distress, Limited Attention," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 97-128, March.
    11. Sunganani V. Kalemba & Aude Bernard & Jonathan Corcoran & Elin Charles-Edwards, 2022. "Has the decline in the intensity of internal migration been accompanied by changes in reasons for migration?," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 279-313, September.
    12. Del Bono, Emilia & Morando, Greta, 2021. "For Some, Luck Matters More: The Impact of the Great Recession on the Early Careers of Graduates from Different Socio-Economic Backgrounds," IZA Discussion Papers 14540, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Marcus Moelbak Ingholt, 2017. "House Prices, Geographical Mobility, and Unemployment," Discussion Papers 17-06, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    14. Oikonomou, Myrto & Pierri, Nicola & Timmer, Yannick, 2023. "IT shields: Technology adoption and economic resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    15. Andr� Kall�k Anundsen & Bj�rnar Karlsen Kivedal & Erling R�ed Larsen & Leif Anders Thorsrud, 2020. "Behavioral changes and policy effects during Covid-19," Working Papers No 07/2020, Centre for Applied Macro- and Petroleum economics (CAMP), BI Norwegian Business School.
    16. Shai Bernstein & Richard R. Townsend & Ting Xu, 2020. "Flight to Safety: How Economic Downturns Affect Talent Flows to Startups," NBER Working Papers 27907, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Bednarzik, Robert W. & Kern, Andreas & Hisnanick, John J., 2017. "Displacement and Debt: The Role of Debt in Returning to Work in the Period Following the Great Recession," IZA Discussion Papers 10764, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Asaf Bernstein, 2021. "Negative Home Equity and Household Labor Supply," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(6), pages 2963-2995, December.
    19. Daniel R. Ringo, 2021. "Home ownership as a labor market friction," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(S1), pages 111-133, March.
    20. Anundsen, André Kallåk & Kivedal, Bjørnar Karlsen & Røed Larsen, Erling & Thorsrud, Leif Anders, 2023. "Behavioral changes in the housing market before and after the Covid-19 lockdown," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(PB).
    21. Cheol Eun & Lingling Wang & Tim Zhang, 2022. "House Price Growth Synchronization and Business Cycle Alignment," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 675-710, November.
    22. Goehausen, Johannes & Thomsen, Stephan L., 2024. "Housing Costs, College Enrollment, and Student Mobility," IZA Discussion Papers 16726, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing market; Mortgage debt; Job search; Labor mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G01 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Financial Crises
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search

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