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Housing Wealth Accumulation and Electoral Representation

Author

Listed:
  • Carlos Fernando Avenancio-León
  • Yutao He
  • Michael Reher

Abstract

Political representation is systematically aligned with economically consequential differences in individual behavior: homeowners who are most deeply incorporated into electoral institutions are systematically more effective at accumulating housing wealth. Using a nationwide voter-property dataset, we find that realized housing appreciation increases monotonically with electoral participation, robust to controls for geography, partisanship, demographics, wealth proxies, and income. Politically engaged homeowners actively generate value by purchasing undervalued properties, investing more in improvements, and selling at a premium, indicating individual-level differences rather than passive market exposure. An original survey shows that these homeowners also systematically differ in personality traits, pointing to deeper individual differences associated with both political engagement and housing-market performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Carlos Fernando Avenancio-León & Yutao He & Michael Reher, 2026. "Housing Wealth Accumulation and Electoral Representation," NBER Working Papers 35731, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:35731
    Note: POL
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D91 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand

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