Quantifying misallocation of public housing

Jennifer Buurma-Olsen*, Hans R.A. Kost, Jos van Ommeren, Jort Sinninghe Damsté

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

We empirically investigate how rent control combined with the use of a non-market allocation mechanism – centralised waiting lists – affects the efficiency of housing allocation among public-housing tenants. We show that, on average, Dutch public-housing tenants consume a house whose value differs by 7.5% from what they would consume under an efficient allocation. This entails particularly large transfers in housing consumption from younger households to older households. The annual welfare loss arising from misallocation within the public-housing sector is modest, estimated at around €65 per tenant.

Original languageEnglish
Article number105272
Pages (from-to)1-16
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Public Economics
Volume242
Early online date22 Jan 2025
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Authors

Keywords

  • Misallocation
  • Non-market allocation
  • Public housing
  • Rent control

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Quantifying misallocation of public housing'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this