Increasing supply is frequently proposed as a solution to rising housing costs. However, there is little evidence on how new market-rate construction-which is typically expensive-affects the market for lower quality housing in the short run. I begin by using address history data to identify...

We study the local effects of new market-rate housing in low-income areas using microdata on large apartment buildings, rents, and migration. New buildings decrease nearby rents by 5 to 7 percent relative to locations slightly farther away or developed later, and they increase in-migration from...

Local control of land-use regulation creates a not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) problem that can suppress housing construction, contributing to rising prices and potentially slowing economic growth. I study how increased local control affects housing production by exploiting a common electoral...

Since 1970, the share of Black individuals living in suburbs of larger cities has risen from 16 to 36 percent. We present three facts illustrating how this suburbanization has changed spatial inequality. First, suburbanization entirely accounts for Black households' relative improvements in...

Federal place-based policy could improve efficiency if it targets areas with large amenity or agglomeration externalities. We begin by showing that positive shocks to federal spending in a county and their associated economic stimulus substantially decrease crime, an important amenity. We then...

Increasing supply is frequently proposed as a solution to rising housing costs. However, there is little evidence on how new market-rate construction—which is typically expensive—affects the market for lower quality housing in the short run. I begin by using address history data to identify...

Since 1970, the share of Black individuals living in suburbs of larger cities has risen from 16 to 36 percent. We present three facts illustrating how this suburbanization has changed spatial inequality. First, suburbanization entirely accounts for Black households' relative improvements in...

Local control of land-use regulation creates a not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) problem that can suppress housing construction, contributing to rising prices and potentially slowing economic growth. I study how increased local control affects housing production by exploiting a common electoral reform...