US

Rent Control

Local ordinances that limit rent increases for some rental housing units, such as in New York and San Francisco, have had a positive impact over the past three decades on the amount and quality of broadly affordable rental housing in cities that have used them.

Responses weighted by each expert's confidence

Participant University Vote Confidence Bio/Vote History
Acemoglu
Daron Acemoglu
MIT
Disagree
4
Bio/Vote History
Alesina
Alberto Alesina
Harvard
Strongly Disagree
9
Bio/Vote History
Altonji
Joseph Altonji
Yale Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Auerbach
Alan Auerbach
Berkeley
Disagree
6
Bio/Vote History
Autor
David Autor
MIT
Strongly Disagree
8
Bio/Vote History
Rent control discourages supply of rental units. Incumbent renters benefit from capped prices. New renters face reduced rental options.
Baicker
Katherine Baicker
University of Chicago
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Bertrand
Marianne Bertrand
Chicago Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Chetty
Raj Chetty
Harvard
Disagree
7
Bio/Vote History
Chevalier
Judith Chevalier
Yale
Strongly Disagree
9
Bio/Vote History
Rent control will have similar effects to any price control.
Currie
Janet Currie
Princeton
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Cutler
David Cutler
Harvard
Disagree
3
Bio/Vote History
I suspect zoning and building limits have been more important.
Deaton
Angus Deaton
Princeton
Strongly Disagree
9
Bio/Vote History
Duffie
Darrell Duffie
Stanford
Uncertain
2
Bio/Vote History
Edlin
Aaron Edlin
Berkeley
Disagree
1
Bio/Vote History
Rent control lowers incentives to invest and increases incentives to hold underoccupied rentals
Eichengreen
Barry Eichengreen
Berkeley
Uncertain
2
Bio/Vote History
Fair
Ray Fair
Yale
Strongly Disagree
10
Bio/Vote History
Goldberg
Pinelopi Goldberg
Yale
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Price controls create disincentives to increase supply. But without rent control, no one outside the top 1% would be left in Manhattan.
Goldin
Claudia Goldin
Harvard
Strongly Disagree
7
Bio/Vote History
Goolsbee
Austan Goolsbee
Chicago
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Greenstone
Michael Greenstone
University of Chicago
Strongly Disagree
8
Bio/Vote History
Great if you are lucky enough to get one of those apartments! Bad for all others The worst policies apply to new construction.
Hall
Robert Hall
Stanford
Strongly Disagree
9
Bio/Vote History
Holmström
Bengt Holmström
MIT
Agree
3
Bio/Vote History
Hoxby
Caroline Hoxby
Stanford
Strongly Disagree
10
Bio/Vote History
Rent controlled units do not end up in the hands of low income people. Rent control discourages landlords from creating modest priced units.
Judd
Kenneth Judd
Stanford
Strongly Disagree
9
Bio/Vote History
Kashyap
Anil Kashyap
Chicago Booth
Disagree
3
Bio/Vote History
Klenow
Pete Klenow
Stanford
Disagree
3
Bio/Vote History
Land use regulations restricted supply as well. Plus, rent controls lead to misallocation of housing units.
-see background information here
-see background information here
Lazear
Edward Lazear
Stanford
Strongly Disagree
8
Bio/Vote History
Even in the short run, rent control induces owners to move property to other uses, misallocate the property, and substitute non-price alloc.
Levin
Jonathan Levin
Stanford
No Opinion
Bio/Vote History
I'm skeptical - but don't know enough about the programs to have a very informed view.
Maskin
Eric Maskin
Harvard
Disagree
7
Bio/Vote History
Nordhaus
William Nordhaus
Yale
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Obstfeld
Maurice Obstfeld
Berkeley
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Rouse
Cecilia Rouse
Princeton
Disagree
6
Bio/Vote History
While well intended, theoretically they also likely limit expansions in supply and improvements in quality.
Saez
Emmanuel Saez
Berkeley
Disagree
6
Bio/Vote History
Scheinkman
José Scheinkman
Columbia University
Disagree
6
Bio/Vote History
Schmalensee
Richard Schmalensee
MIT
Strongly Disagree
8
Bio/Vote History
Unless al the textbooks are wrong, this is wrong.
Shin
Hyun Song Shin
Princeton
Disagree
3
Bio/Vote History
Stock
James Stock
Harvard Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Stokey
Nancy Stokey
University of Chicago
Strongly Disagree
9
Bio/Vote History
The planets are lined up here: theory and evidence point in the same direction.
Thaler
Richard Thaler
Chicago Booth
Disagree
3
Bio/Vote History
Next questions: does the sun revolve around the earth.
Udry
Christopher Udry
Northwestern
Disagree
5
Bio/Vote History
Zingales
Luigi Zingales
Chicago Booth
Disagree
6
Bio/Vote History