Labor Market Impacts of Exposure to Affordable Housing Supply: Evidence from the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program

Deepak Saraswat ()

No 2022-09, Working papers from University of Connecticut, Department of Economics

Abstract: Affordable housing programs as place-based programs in the United States have an impact on the neighborhoods, but little is known about the impact of affordable housing construction on individuals living in the neighborhoods hosting these projects. This paper investigates the effects of affordable housing construction under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program on individuals’ labor market outcomes and welfare dependence. We exploit the timing of changes in the LIHTC program leading to spatial changes in the affordable housing supply to compare labor market outcomes of individuals exposed to varying levels of housing construction. We overcome the empirical challenges posed by the selective sorting of individuals into neighborhoods by matching the timing of the change in housing supply to an individuals’ neighborhood of residence. We find an average improvement in the labor market outcomes of individuals as a result of higher exposure to the supply of affordable housing in their neighborhood. In addition, we document significant heterogeneities by race and ethnicity and find evidence that these heterogeneities are likely explained by the program-induced and migration-induced changes in neighborhood quality.

Keywords: Low-income housing; Gentrification; Tax credits; Labor supply; Neighborhood changes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I38 J15 J22 R23 R31 R38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 47 pages
Date: 2022-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-ure
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:uct:uconnp:2022-09

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