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Landlords and Access to Opportunity

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  • Dionissi Aliprantis
  • Hal Martin
  • David Phillips

Abstract

Landlords in high-opportunity neighborhoods screen out tenants using vouchers. In our correspondence experiment, signaling voucher status cuts landlord responses in half. This voucher penalty increases with posted rent and varies little with signals of tenant quality and race. We repeat the experiment after a policy change and test how landlords respond to raising voucher payment limits by $450 per month in high-rent neighborhoods. Most landlords do not change their screening behavior; those who do respond are few and operate at small scale. Our results suggest a successful, systematic policy of moving to opportunity would require more direct engagement with landlords.

Suggested Citation

  • Dionissi Aliprantis & Hal Martin & David Phillips, 2019. "Landlords and Access to Opportunity," Working Papers 19-02R2, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedcwq:190202
    DOI: 10.26509/frbc-wp-201902r2
    Note: First version January 2019 under the title “Can Landlords Be Paid to Stop Avoiding Voucher Tenants?” Second version (with current title) August 2019.
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    Cited by:

    1. Peter Leopold S. Bergman & Eric W. Chan & Adam Kapor, 2020. "Housing Search Frictions: Evidence from Detailed Search Data and a Field Experiment," CESifo Working Paper Series 8080, CESifo.
    2. Dionissi Aliprantis & Hal Martin & Kristen Tauber, 2020. "What Determines the Success of Housing Mobility Programs?," Working Papers 20-36R, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, revised 19 Oct 2022.
    3. Eric Chyn & Kareem Haggag, 2023. "Moved to Vote: The Long-Run Effects of Neighborhoods on Political Participation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(6), pages 1596-1605, November.
    4. William N. Evans & David C. Phillips & Krista Ruffini, 2021. "Policies To Reduce And Prevent Homelessness: What We Know And Gaps In The Research," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 914-963, June.
    5. Dionissi Aliprantis, 2019. "Racial Inequality, Neighborhood Effects, and Moving to Opportunity," Economic Commentary, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, issue October.
    6. Dionissi Aliprantis & Kristen Tauber & Hal Martin, 2022. "What Determines the Success of Housing Mobility Programs?," Working Papers 2022-043, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    housing choice vouchers; opportunity neighborhood; small area fair market rent; landlord; SAFMR; mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • R23 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Regional Migration; Regional Labor Markets; Population
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • H30 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - General

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