The Effects of Housing Assistance on Labor Supply: Evidence from a Voucher Lottery

Brian A. Jacob and Jens Ludwig

American Economic Review, 2012, vol. 102, issue 1, 272-304

Abstract: This study estimates the effects of means-tested housing programs on labor supply using data from a randomized housing voucher wait-list lottery in Chicago. Economic theory is ambiguous about the expected sign of any labor supply response. We find that among working-age, able-bodied adults, housing voucher use reduces labor force participation by around 4 percentage points (6 percent) and quarterly earnings by $329 (10 percent), and increases Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program participation by around 2 percentage points (15 percent). We find no evidence that the housing-specific mechanisms hypothesized to promote work, such as neighborhood quality or residential stability, are important empirically. (JEL I38, J22, R23, R38)

Date: 2012
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (119)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.aeaweb.org/articles.php?doi=10.1257/aer.102.1.272 (application/pdf)
http://www.aeaweb.org/aer/data/feb2012/20081381_data.zip dataset accompanying article (application/zip)
Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.

Related works:
Working Paper: The Effects of Housing Assistance on Labor Supply: Evidence from a Voucher Lottery (2008)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:102:y:2012:i:1:p:272-304

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.aeaweb.org/journals/subscriptions

Access Statistics for this article

American Economic Review is currently edited by Esther Duflo

More articles in American Economic Review from American Economic Association Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Michael P. Albert ().