Housing investment in the Netherlands

Employing Dutch market data over the period 1977:1–1994:4, estimates of two housing equations are obtained. The first equation is based on an underlying model in which profit-maximising building firms do not face adjustment costs when altering their output schedule. The second model distinguishes between short-run and long-run elasticities of supply, where firms face adjustment costs. Although the formulation of the equations can be regarded as representing the underlying long-term relationships, employing the Johansen procedure does not produce economically meaningful results. Using instrumental variables, the first model yields a supply elasticity of the order of 1.6 and the second model produces a short-run elasticity of 2.3 and a long-run elasticity of 6. Comparison of these estimates with those obtained by Topel and Rosen (Topel, R. and Rosen, S., 1988. Housing investment in the United States J. Pol. Econ. 96 (4), 718–740) in the US shows that investment seems to be more sensitive to price changes in the Netherlands than in the US.