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Homeownership and Commutes

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  • Jan Rouwendal
  • Peter Nijkamp

Abstract

According to Oswald's hypothesis homeowners experience more problems in finding a new job after becoming unemployed because their moving costs are higher than those of renters. Empirical research has revealed that this effect is counteracted by the job search behavior of unemployed homeowners: they accept a job on the local labor market, that is, a job that does not force them to move to a different residential location, more frequently than unemployed renters. One possible explanation of this result is that the local labor market is larger for homeowners than for renters, in the sense that they are willing to accept longer commutes. This suggests that the longer commutes of homeowners (a well known empirical fact) are partly caused by higher moving costs. In this paper we analyze the validity of this explanation by investigating the relationship between homeownership and commutes while controlling for other variables, and possible effects of selection and heterogeneity.

Suggested Citation

  • Jan Rouwendal & Peter Nijkamp, 2011. "Homeownership and Commutes," ERSA conference papers ersa10p1623, European Regional Science Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:wiw:wiwrsa:ersa10p1623
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    File URL: https://www-sre.wu.ac.at/ersa/ersaconfs/ersa10/ERSA2010finalpaper1623.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Study: Higher levels of homeownership can kill jobs
      by Brad Plumer in Ezra Klein's Wonkblog on 2013-05-07 21:11:16

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    Cited by:

    1. Jan Rouwendal, 2009. "Housing Wealth and Household Portfolios in an Ageing Society," De Economist, Springer, vol. 157(1), pages 1-48, March.

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