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Does Rent Control Turn Tenants Into NIMBYs?

Author

Listed:
  • Hager, Anselm
  • Hilbig, Hanno

    (Harvard University)

  • Vief, Robert

Abstract

Affordable housing is a key challenge of the 21st century. A pivotal driver of growing housing prices is residents' opposition to construction, a phenomenon known as NIMBYism ("Not In My Backyard"). To make housing more affordable, city governments are increasingly implementing rent control policies. Does rent control---by making tenants more likely to stay in their apartments---spark NIMBYism and thus exacerbate the housing crisis? We study the case of Berlin, which recently passed a sweeping rent control law. Leveraging two discontinuities in the policy, we show that rent control made tenants less NIMBY. Specifically, tenants in rent controlled apartments became more likely to approve of local-level construction and immigration, compared to tenants in non-rent-controlled apartments. We argue that the decline in NIMBYism is likely due to an economic channel. Tenants in urban centers associate construction and immigration with displacement pressures and gentrification. Rent control alleviates these concerns by providing financial and residential security.

Suggested Citation

  • Hager, Anselm & Hilbig, Hanno & Vief, Robert, 2022. "Does Rent Control Turn Tenants Into NIMBYs?," OSF Preprints kwjem, Center for Open Science.
    • Handle: RePEc:osf:osfxxx:kwjem
    DOI: 10.31219/osf.io/kwjem
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hankinson, Michael, 2018. "When Do Renters Behave Like Homeowners? High Rent, Price Anxiety, and NIMBYism," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 112(3), pages 473-493, August.
    2. Anja M. Hahn & Konstantin A. Kholodilin & Sofie R. Waltl, 2021. "Die unmittelbaren Auswirkungen des Berliner Mietendeckels: Wohnungen günstiger, aber schwieriger zu finden," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 88(8), pages 117-124.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kholodilin, Konstantin A., 2024. "Rent control effects through the lens of empirical research: An almost complete review of the literature," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).

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