Rent control is one of the few policy issues on which there is a general agreement among economists. Economic theory predicts, and few economists have tried to dispute, that imposing rent controls on a housing market is likely to lead to rental housing shortages and general deterioration of...

Microeconomic theory predicts that rent controls will lead to greater housing quality deterioration than would have been the case in an uncontrolled market. However, empirical analyses of rent control have concentrated on income distribution effects. This study tests the hypothesis of quality...