Building technology, the focus of this edition of Evidence Matters, plays a significant role in increasing housing affordability at a time when many U.S. households are experiencing high housing cost burdens. Advances in building materials and processes can not only reduce construction costs but...

This edition of Evidence Matters considers challenges and strategies related to housing finance and homeownership. It discusses barriers to buying a home, such as tightened access to mortgage credit, as well as the growing number of older homeowners with mortgage debt. This edition also...

This issue of Evidence Matters explores housing issues in Indian Country with a focus on tribal self-determination. The lead article, “Obstacles, Solutions, and Self-Determination in Indian Housing Policy,” discusses the development and implementation of federal policies that empower tribal...

Local zoning and land use regulations, as well as “not in my backyard” opposition, the focus of this edition of Evidence Matters, increase development costs and contribute to a shortage of affordable housing in many places that desperately need it. Density limitations, height restrictions,...

Using data from the Current Population Survey from 1980 through 2010 we examine what drives variation andcyclicality in the growth rate of real wages over time. We employ a novel decomposition technique that allowsus to divide the time series for median weekly earnings growth into the part...

This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the heterogeneity of recessions inmonthly U.S. coincident and leading indicator variables. Univariate Markovswitchingmodels indicate that it is appropriate to allow for two distinct recessionregimes, corresponding with ‘mild’ and ‘severe’...

Intangible capital is an important factor of production in modern economies that is generally neglected in business cycle analyses. We demonstrate that intangible capital can have a substantial impact on business cycle dynamics, especially if the intangible is complementary with production...