Misallocation and rent control

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Volume Title

School of Business | Master's thesis

Date

2024

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Economics

Language

en

Pages

56+1

Series

Abstract

This master’s thesis examines the effects of rent control on the allocation of rental housing. In a perfectly efficient allocation, dwellings would be allotted to the households with the highest willingness to pay for the specific dwelling. Rent control may distort this by, on one hand, causing households with a lower will-ingness to pay to demand dwellings valued higher by others, and on the other hand, requiring matching to be dictated by extra-market mechanisms likely less efficient than price-based bargaining. An empirical analysis of tenants moving from rent controlled housing to unregulated housing, based on Finnish registry data finds that on average individuals consume more floor area and live further away from municipal centers under rent control. The effects appear stronger for smaller households. However, strong untestable identifying assumptions are required, and while the effects persist across different specifications, no strict causal conclusion can be drawn. (JEL R20, R38, D12, D61)

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Thesis advisor

Saarimaa, Tuukka

Keywords

vuokra-asunnot, vuokrasääntely, asuntojen kohdentuminen, vuokra-asuntomarkkinat

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