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Trying to Understand Low-income Housing Subsidies: Lessons from the United States

Author

Listed:
  • William G. Grigsby

    (Department of City and Regional Planning, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA, grigsby@pobox.uperen.edu)

  • Steven C. Bourassa

    (School of Urban and Public Affairs, University of Louisville, 426 W Bloom Street, Louisville, KY 40208, USA, steven.bourassa@louisville.edu)

Abstract

This article asks why nations subsidise their low-income housing sectors and offers five reasons: to improve public health; to reduce societal injustice; to preserve the social order; to increase equality of opportunity; and, to accommodate population growth. After discussing those reasons in some detail, they are used as a framework for exploring some salient questions about low-income housing policy in the US. It is suggested that the framework would also be useful for analysis of low-income housing policies in other countries. It is concluded that the largest low-income housing subsidy programme in the US—the Section 8 voucher programme-is inapt.

Suggested Citation

  • William G. Grigsby & Steven C. Bourassa, 2003. "Trying to Understand Low-income Housing Subsidies: Lessons from the United States," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 40(5-6), pages 973-992, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:40:y:2003:i:5-6:p:973-992
    DOI: 10.1080/0042098032000074272
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Murray, Michael P, 1983. "Subsidized and Unsubsidized Housing Starts: 1961-1977," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 65(4), pages 590-597, November.
    2. Murray, Michael P, 1999. "Subsidized and Unsubsidized Housing Stocks 1935 to 1987: Crowding Out and Cointegration," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 18(1), pages 107-124, January.
    3. Lawrence F. Katz & Jeffrey R. Kling & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 2001. "Moving to Opportunity in Boston: Early Results of a Randomized Mobility Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 116(2), pages 607-654.
    4. Edgar O. Olsen, 2003. "Housing Programs for Low-Income Households," NBER Chapters, in: Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, pages 365-442, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Robert Haveman & Barbara Wolfe & James Spaulding, 1991. "Childhood events and circumstances influencing high school completion," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 28(1), pages 133-157, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ekong, Christopher N. & Onye, Kenneth U., 2013. "Building Sustainable Cities in Nigeria: The Need for Mass and Social Housing Provision," MPRA Paper 88236, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Achintya Ray, 2006. "A Class of Decomposable Poverty Measures With Public Transfers," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 9(3), pages 1-8.
    3. Jihad Dagher, 2018. "Regulatory Cycles: Revisiting the Political Economy of Financial Crises," IMF Working Papers 2018/008, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Hon-Kwong Lui, 2007. "The Redistributive Effect of Public Housing in Hong Kong," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 44(10), pages 1937-1952, September.
    5. Paul MAKDISSI & Quentin WODON, 2004. "Can Risk Averse Private Entrepreneurs Efficiently Produce Low Income Housing?," Cahiers de recherche 04-06, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
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