《DO HOUSING ALLOWANCES WORK?》

The Experimental Housing Allowance Program1

The Demand Experience4

The Supply Experiment10

The Administrative Agency Experiment14

Summary of the Program Design20

Finding from the Program20

Some Program Comparisons30

A Critical Review of the Program as a Social Experiment33

The Components of the Program33

The Evaluation Spectrum and Where the Program Components Fit39

The Outcomes of the Program47

A Major Gap in the Conception of the Housing Adjustment Process50

Other Possible Criticisms57

Conclusions60

Policy Implications: A Progress Report67

Housing Policy and the Experiments68

Housing Allowances as a Subsidy to Demand77

Housing Allowances versus Unrestricted Cash Assistance83

Housing Allowances versus Construction-linked Subsidies87

Are Social Experiments Worth the Cost?96

Comments by Frank de Leeuw on the Aaron Paper99

Comments by Alice Rivlin on the Watts and Aaron Papers106

Participation113

Housing Conditions of Potential Participants115

Program Characteristics and Participation: The Demand Experiment121

Participation Profiles in Open Enrollment: The Supply Experiment131

Policy Considerations135

Comments by Ann B. Schnare141

Residential Mobility147

Past Research151

Mobility and Housing Allowances157

Policy Implications171

Comments by Wilhelmina A. Leigh172

Consumption Aspects185

The Key Market Relationships189

Experimental Data and Statistical Inference194

Evidence on Behavioral Demand Parameters196

Expenditures, Consumption, and Measures of Adequacy208

Housing Requirements and Tied Subsidies219

The Effects of Variations in Program Parameters229

Conclusions235

Comments by John Yinger240

Market Effects247

Theoretical Analysis248

Program Results253

Explanations256

Recent Housing Demand Studies261

New Empirical Results262

Conclusions276

Comments by A. Thomas King276

Administrative Lessons285

Administrative Functions: A Proposed Typology286

A Review of Administrative Findings from the Experimental Housing Allowance Program288

Evaluation of the Administrative Agency Experiment302

Redesign of an Administrative Experiment311

Comments by David O. Porter320

A Universal Housing Allowance Program339

The Urban Institute Transfer Income Model Simulations341

Housing Requirements and Program Participation345

Housing Requirements and Housing Expenditures352

The Market Effects of a National Housing Allowance Program357

Conclusions364

Comments by Edgar O. Olsen366

Conference Discussion375

Housing Standards and Their Policy Implications376

The Income Elasticity of Housing Demand384

The Supply Experiment390

The Administrative Agency Experiment395

What Services Should Be Furnished to Potential Allowance Recipients?397

Should Society Adopt Housing Allowances Rather Than Alternative Forms of Assistance?399

Conference Participants405

Selected Bibliography409

Index413