Housing Policies and the Environment
Paper Session
Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024 10:15 AM - 12:15 PM (CST)
- Chair: Simon Camilo Buechler, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Urban Equilibrium Effects of Electric Vehicle Tax Credits
Abstract
This paper extends the monocentric city model to incorporate endogenous auto-mobile fuel choice and household energy consumption. Electric vehicles (EVs) have
lower marginal commuting costs, making them optimal in suburban locations. EV
tax credits cause energy consumption and carbon emissions to fall due to more effi-
cient commutes. However, in the long-run, EV credits induce substantial sprawl and
a 30% energy rebound effect consisting of larger homes, longer commutes, and greater
numeraire consumption. Nevertheless, unless electricity production is heavily tilted
towards coal, EV credits are benefit-neutral under a social cost of CO2 between $190
and $230 per ton.
The Impact of 2019 Changes to Texas’ Flood Disclosure Requirements on House Prices
Abstract
This paper examines the impacts of a 2019 change to Texas’s flood disclosure requirements. That change meant that properties in 500-year flood zones were required to disclose that fact. We use a dataset of single-family arm’s-length sales transactions to study the impact of this law change on home prices and time on market. Using a difference-in-differences framework, we find that prices in 500-year flood zones fell 4.7 percent compared to properties with flood risk that were already required to disclose. Price declines following the policy are broadly observed for alternative specifications of flood risk, suggesting there remains unpriced flood risk in housing markets. Event studies, however, suggest a more complex dynamic than a pure policy effect. The starkest price declines are first observed in January 2021, 16 to 20 months after the policy went into effect. We also find that in the period after disclosure, flood insurance policies were 7.3 percent more likely to be for a property in a 500-year zone than before the change. We suggest additional research that could help identify how flood risk salience during the housing search process and disclosure requirements interact to capitalize flood risk into prices and potentially impact voluntary insurance uptake.Large-scale Rent Control Policy Intervention: Evidence From Catalonia, Spain
Abstract
We investigate the effects of rent control on the dynamics of housing rents and prices. We make use of a large-scale policy intervention that capped rental prices at a local rental index in more than 60 cities in Catalonia, Spain, in 2020. Using a Difference-in-Differences estimator to exploit the spatial and temporal variation of the legislation, we find that rent control decreases average rents, but also depresses house prices in the regulated areas. The reduction in both rental and house prices stems from effects at the bottom of the respective distributions. Additionally, while there are no significant effects for rents at the top, house prices in the upper end of the sales price distribution significantly increase. Our findings suggest that the intervention is effective in reducing rental and housing costs for the lower price segments, but also widens the gap in property values between the lower and upper ends of the distribution.Discussant(s)
Alex van de Minne
,
University of Connecticut
Jiro Yoshida
,
Pennsylvania State University
Dongxiao Niu
,
Maastricht University
Eunjee Kwon
,
University of Cincinnati
JEL Classifications
- R3 - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location
- Q4 - Energy