This paper examines the robustness of Deaton’s widely used method for estimating consumer responses. While unit values, ratios of expenditures to quantities purchased, are often employed in demand analysis as proxies for missing market prices, Deaton argues bias is likely to result as a...

This paper takes a skeptical look at a leading argument about what is causing the foreclosure crisis and distills some potential lessons for policy. We use an economic model to focus on two key decisions: the borrower's choice to default on a mortgage and the lender's subsequent choice whether...

We show that capitalization of local education into the housing price induces childless voters to support local education. In particular, low income childless households vote for a tax raise when capitalization is strong, whereas high income childless supports a higher tax when capitalization is...

The purpose of this paper is to consider an economy in which incorporates cross-border shopping and where the different levels of government worry about the well-being of their citizens. We assume a federalist economy with a central government and two regions with specific characteristics. Two...

This paper aims to analyze the income composition in rural households in Brazil between 1992 and 2001. Non-farm income and regional disparities are emphasized. The main result indicates a tendency towards income diversification, mostly due to the increase of income provided by the system of...

In this paper we present some results of a research project to develop and estimate a micro-econometric model of residential choice. The model is applied to a sample of Italian chief towns of district. The choice is assumed to depend on household characteristics, income, structural and...

Local financing of public schools in the U.S. leads to a bundling of two distinct choices - residential choice and school choice - and increases the degree of socioeconomic segregation across school districts. A school finance reform can go a long way in weakening this link. In this paper I...

Approximately $30 billion (2000$) has been spent on Superfund clean-ups of hazardous waste sites, and remediation efforts are incomplete at roughly half of the 1,500 Superfund sites. This study estimates the effect of Superfund clean-ups on local housing price appreciation. We compare housing...

Recent literature on the relationship between ethnic or racial segregation and outcomes has failed to produce a consensus view of the role of ghettos; some studies suggest that residence in an enclave is beneficial, some reach the opposite conclusion, and still others imply that any relationship...

This paper studies household beliefs during the recent US housing boom. The first part presents evidence from the Michigan Survey of Consumers. To characterize the heterogeneity in households' views about housing and the economy, we perform a cluster analysis on survey responses at different...