Date of Award

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Paul, Mark

Area of Concentration

Quantitative Economics

Abstract

Rental housing affordability, an integral component of overall wellbeing, remains out of reach for a majority of Americans. Second generation rent controls, a policy first introduced in the early 1970s which limits the amount landlords can raise rents yearly, may help keep rent prices affordable while allowing landlords a modest profit. Though traditional analyses of rent control have led economists to firmly oppose such policies, findings from recent empirical research on the effects of rent control on rent prices are varied, and often contradictory. This thesis seeks to evaluate the effects of moderate, local rent control policies on rent prices in New Jersey. I begin by replicating and extending Ambrosius et al.'s 2015 study, which utilizes OLS regressions. Though my findings indicate that rent control in NJ, regardless of the policy's strength, has little to no statistically significant effect on rents and rents per room, I argue, using the minimum wage revolution as a guiding framework, that spatial heterogeneity requires the use of models utilizing matching to better understand the real effects of rent control. I present a difference-in-differences model, though data limitations prevent me from running this model. This thesis emphasizes the need for more research, particularly using better methodological design such as a difference-in-differences approach, on rent control's effects to gain a deeper understanding of the role of rent control in addressing the US's rental housing affordability crisis.

Download

Share

COinS