Intertemporal tenure choices

An intertemporal model of household tenure choice is estimated using data from the Michigan Panel Survey on Income Dynamics. Unlike empirical studies that focus on household tenure differences at any point in time, this analysis considers choice patterns over a 4-year period. The estimation results often indicate substantial leads, lags, and household condition duration effects on the structure of tenure status choices and the timing of their change. An implication of these findings is that inferences based on analyses of tenure choice at one particular point in time often are misleading.     

Mobility and optimal tenure choice

In this paper, we offer a dynamic model of the optimal tenure behavior of an individual who faces the possibility of moving multiple times during his lifetime. We also investigate the lifetime effects of such factors as income tax, property tax, transaction costs, and mortgage rates on the household’s tenure choice. The agents in the model utilize a genetic algorithm, a probabilistic search approach, to determine their optimal lifetime tenure choice path. The agents are forward looking in that they anticipate such possible events as changes in jobs, marital status, household size, or dissatisfaction with current residence. Our results suggest several housing policy implications and explain some of the empirical findings in the literature.     

Housing Decisions of Young Swedish Adults

Pooled and longitudinal data for the years 1989 and 1992 were used to study the housing decisions of young Swedish adults before and after the 1991 Swedish tax reform. Although the household formation and tenure choice decisions of young adults were found to be simultaneously determined, neglecting the cross-equation correlation between these two decisions had no major impact on the estimated coefficients. Demographic factors were found to significantly affect both the household formation and tenure choice decisions. Economic factors were also found to significantly affect young adults' choice of tenure mode. This is however not the case regarding the household formation decision. Young adults' decision whether to form a household was found to be rather insensitive to economic factors. Furthermore, the impact of the relative cost of owned to rented housing was found to be significantly lower after the 1991 Swedish tax reform. One possible explanation might be the smaller variation in relative cost of owned versus rented housing between households after the 1991 Swedish tax reform. Finally, neglecting household-specific heterogeneity in the tenure choice estimation causes a downward bias in the parameter estimates.     

Tenure choice and expected mobility: A synthesis

This study employs a joint logit probability model to estimate the effects of a vector of independent variables on the household's current tenure choice and expected mobility which are hypothesized to be simultaneously determined. In the empirical analysis it was found that the coefficient on the endogenous variables (tenure choice and expected mobility) is the most highly significant of all the coefficients estimated. In addition, in previous analyses the age of the household head has always exhibited a highly significant positive effect on the probability of ownership. However, in this analysis it is demonstrated that this age variable was acting as a proxy for the expected mobility and wealth of the household.     

Housing tenure transitions of older households: Life cycle, demographic, and familial factors

Understanding the housing choices of the older households will grow in importance as the baby boom generation starts to retire. This analysis utilizes a rich longitudinal data set (PSID) to provide insight into the reasons why older households make housing transitions. Because of the richness of the data, this analysis is able to control for life transitions, a household's income and wealth, and connection to one's children in predicting when a homeowner makes a housing transition. The results demonstrate that age is not related directly to housing tenure choice for older households. Instead, having lower health status and being a single head of household is the important predictor of housing tenure transitions. At the same time, very few life changing events immediately lead a homeowner to become a renter, although they do influence the decision to downsize or consumer home equity. Finally, living next to one's children lowers the probability of becoming a renter or downsizing, and having richer children increases the probability of downsizing and thereby consuming one's housing wealth.     

Labor force migration, non-labor force migration, and non-employment reasons for migration

This paper documents the extent and nature of non-employment factors in migration. The labor force status of over 18 million recent interstate migrants in the United States and stated reasons for moving reported in several surveys in the U.S. are examined. Labor force migrants are heterogeneous in terms of the relationships between acquisition of employment and the migration decision, and in terms of the influence of decision makers outside of the migrant household including firms and the government. Numerically important categories of migrants not traditionally captured in migration models exist, including the elderly, the military, and movers from abroad. Whereas non-employment reasons are secondary to employment reasons for a majority of labor force migrants, non-employment factors are singularly important or operate in combination with employment factors for the majority of all migrants. The heterogeneity of migrant types and migration reasons needs to be better captured in migration models.     

The downpayment constraint and housing tenure choice : A simplified exposition

This paper uses a two-period model to illustrate the effect_ of the downpayment constraint on housing tenure choice. The key trade-off induced by the constraint (the sacrifice of initial consumption in return for the tax-related benefits of eventual homeownership) is clearly portrayed. In addition to illustrating the basic problem, the analysis derives the impact of parameter changes on the outcome of the tenure decision.     

Occupational change,employer change,internal migration,and earnings

"In this paper I use microdata from the [U.S.] Panel Study of Income Dynamics to measure the financial returns to intercounty and interstate migration for individuals in a temporal framework accounting for gains that accrue over time....To account for the indirect effects of migration on earnings, explanatory variables are created by interacting migration status with: (1) occupational change, (2) employer change and (3) changes in both occupation and employer. These interaction terms are then included in the earnings functions. Earnings are estimated for three years subsequent to the migration decision to account for the financial returns to migration accruing over time. Results indicate that, when estimating earnings, the use of a simple migration dummy variable will mask the indirect effects of migration on earnings."     

The relationships between income and price elasticities in studies of housing demand,tenure choice,and household formation

Three decisions pertaining to the demand for housing are (1) household formation, (2) tenure choice, and (3) how much housing to consume, given the household formation and tenure choice decisions. Income and price elasticities can be estimated that include one, two, or all three of these decisions. The relationships between these elasticities are developed.     

Qualifications for tenure: The legal definitions

One of the most important norms of the academy is the right, and the unique ability, of faculty members to determine whether or not their colleagues are qualified for promotion or tenure. This right has been protected by the U.S. Supreme Court. The national debate about quality in higher education has exacerbated the pressure caused by a limited job market in many academic disciplines to exert substantial pressure on institutions to make careful, appropriate tenure decisions, and on junior faculty to amass a record of performance that will be considered worthy of a positive tenure decision. Judicial responses to discrimination litigation have implications for the way in which promotion/tenure criteria are interpreted and applied by decision makers, the manner in which probationary faculty are nurtured and evaluated, and the faculty member's own strategy for building a record of high-quality performance.     

The determinants of SMSA homeownership rates

Aggregate SMSA data are used to explain homeownership rates. It finds that income, house values, the size and age distribution of households, and the rate of population change in an SMSA were significant determinants of the tenure decision on an SMSA-wide basis in 1970. Over 56% of the variance in SMSA homeownership rates could be explained by these variables.     

A note on individual choice models of migration

In this paper individual probabilistic choice models are developed for the decision to migrate and the choice among alternative destinations. The models are developed to investigate how characteristics of decision makers and of alternative destinations affect choice. Several migration models in the literature (e.g., mover-stayer models) are shown to be special cases, their behavioral assumptions are made explicit, and a framework for testing these assumptions is provided.     

Housing tenure choice: Evidence from time series

A model of tenure choice is specified and estimated. A simple expression to represent the expected rate of return on equity for a homeowner is developed. Also the influence of the federal housing subsidy programs is analyzed. Both, plus permanent income and the implicit rental price of owner-occupied housing, are important determinants of tenure choice. Other influences are the financing gap with the standard mortgage instrument in an inflationary environment, the number of children less than 18 per family, assets and liabilities, and mortgage credit terms. Finally, the changes in housing tenure choice over the estimation period are analyzed.     

居京韩国人住房租买选择内在影响因素分析

北京要建设世界城市，研究外国人在北京的住房租买选择，对城市空间布局和房地产发展具有重要实践意义。本文以居京韩国人为研究对象，通过调查访谈所掌握的第一手数据资料，运用卡方（χ^2）检验方法对韩国人在京租买房的内在影响因素进行了分析。研究发现，居京韩国人租买房决策主要与各职业群体对中国当地社会的依存度、家庭收入水平、未来居留时间等因子正相关，与他们在韩国是否有住房没有明显的相关性。另外，驻京大型公司的职员因有其公司给予的住房补贴，一般租房居住，对购房持消极态度。     

A preliminary exploration of the effects of rational factors and behavioral biases on the managerial choice to invest in corporate responsibility

We explore a possible decision‐making process in which mixes of rational and non‐rational factors affect the choice made by a firm's management to invest in corporate responsibility. We propose that the rational factors affecting the decision‐makers' investment choice are: (a) moral choice; (b) risk management; (c) consequential changes that would be required in corporate structure or production processes; and (d) long‐term versus short‐term considerations. The non‐rational behavioral biases that we suggest affecting the decision‐makers' investment choice are: (a) attitude to risk, (b) status quo bias, (c) subjective discounting, and (d) myopic loss‐aversion. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Effect of the Probability of Marriage on Housing Demand for Single Women

This paper uses a simultaneous system of three equations to model housing choices for female-headed households (FHH). The system includes housing demand, the probability of owning, and the probability of marriage. Also, a wealth gap variable related to the downpayment constraint is measured and included in the tenure choice estimation. The probability of owning is lower for female householders anticipating marriage. The wealth gap significantly affects the home-ownership decision for all households, and wealth constrained FHHs are significantly more responsive to changes in the relative price of owning.     

Tenure Choice with Sample Selection: Differences among Alternative Samples

Most tenure choice models using cross-sectional data have used either a sample of recent movers or a sample comprising all households. There are problems with estimating both types of models in cross-sectional data. A sample of recent movers oversamples renters, and a sample of all households will yield estimates based on household decisions made in the past. This research designs a method to correct for sample selection in a sample of recent movers. There are large differences in the importance of age, immigrant status, and immigrant length of stay as predictors of homeownership. At the same time, income effects are similar across models.     

The New InstitutionalismContradictory Notions of Change

This article suggests that the new institutionalism contains ambiguous and contradictory notions of change. By setting up a model that explains institutional constraints on decision makers, the new institutionalism correctly points out the limits of a rational choice framework of economic decision making. However, by failing to explain the sources and avenues of modifications of those constraints, the new institutionalism is unable to provide a satisfactory explanation of change. Instead, we find a patchwork of exogenous factors, such as technology, culture, and ideology, which feed into institutional change in unclear ways. This paper reaches the conclusion that those factors for change should be examined directly, rather than through the proxy of institutions.     

Tenure choice and housing demand in Japan

This paper reports the results of an empirical analysis of tenure choice and housing demand that makes use of household-level data from Japan. The paper finds that the price and permanent-income elasticities of demand for owneroccupied housing are approximately −0.8 and 1.4, respectively, and that these estimates are highly robust. The price elasticity estimate is comparable to those for other countries, but the income elasticity estimate is much higher, possibly because of the greater accuracy of the income variable. It is also found that the tenure choice and housing demand decisions are apparently not made simultaneously.     

Analysis of the Changing Influences on Traditional Households' Ownership Patterns

Sociological and economic forces have begun to alter ownership patterns in ways not yet captured by movements in the aggregate ownership rate. While demographic factors such as marital status and family structure remain influential in determining tenure choice, their impact has waned, particularly among the best educated households and those with rising real incomes. Labor market conditions, as evidenced by increasing returns to skill, are more strongly felt than ever before in the housing market. The impact on owning of being highly educated now rivals the influence of being married with minor children. Increasingly delayed ownership is a reality, even for traditional family units with 36- to 45-year-old heads that have not prospered in the labor market. The rising real cost of even relatively inexpensive suburban housing is also beginning to be reflected in a heightened impact for real family income on tenure choice. Finally, race currently is more adversely influential in determining suburban ownership for young, middle-aged minority families than it was in 1960, particularly if the household head is not well educated. We suspect this is due to racially disparate impacts of increasingly rigorous zoning regulations and higher impact fees in the suburbs.