This thesis studies the impact of geographic mobility on the decision of a household to whether to buy or to rent a house, and sheds light on the efficiency of mortgage default prevention policies. The first chapter provides an introduction and an overview of the ongoing policy debates on homeownership and mortgage terms. In the second and third chapters, I study the housing tenure decision in the context of a life cycle model with uninsurable individual income risk, plausibly calibrated to match key features of the U.S. housing market. I find that the relatively low ownership rate of young households is mainly explained by their high geographic mobility. Downpayment constraints have minor quantitative implications on ownership rates, except for old households. I also find that idiosyncratic earnings uncertainty has a significant impact on ownership rates. Based on these results, I argue that the long term increase in ownership rates observed over the period 1993-2009 was not necessarily due to mortgage market innovations and the relaxation of downpayment requirements, as is often argued. Instead, it was simply an implication of U.S. demographic evolution, most notably the decline in interstate migration and, less importantly, population aging. Finally, in Chapter 4, I study the impact of the relaxation of downpayment requirement on homeownership and default risk. Given its quantitative success in matching the U.S. homeownership curve, my model represents a reasonable benchmark to asses the efficiency of mortgage default prevention policies. I find that both income and mobility are the main trigger factors for default decisions. In fact, households with a higher mobility (ie. young households) rate are more likely to default. According to the welfare analysis, I suggest that policymakers include a minimum downpayment requirement of 9.5% in the new definition of the Qualified Residential Mortgage. This number should, however, be viewed with some caution, since I focus on a steady state economy, in which house prices are constant. In fact, the house price represents an important factor influencing the default rate. Potentially, the optimal minimum downpayment requirement should be set at higher value than 9.5%. / Thesis (Ph.D, Economics) -- Queen's University, 2014-06-24 19:58:17.324

Homeownership is both an individual and society objective, because of the positive neighborhood effects associated with areas of higher homeownership. To help realize these positive effects, the Mexican government has several programs directed to increasing homeownership. Many factors, however, may influence homeownership including shocks experienced by households. Shocks such as death in family, illness or accidents, unemployment, and business, crop, or livestock loss affect homeownership if households are unable to cushion the impact of the shock. Government income support programs, however, may help cushion the effect of a shock. The main objective is to determine how shocks that households’ experience and government income support programs influence homeownership in Mexico. A secondary objective is to determine how socio-demographic variables influence homeownership in Mexico. Based on the Random Utility Model, logit models of homeownership are estimated using data are from the 2002 Mexican National Survey on Living Levels of Households. Two models are estimated; with and without income. Income is excluded because of a large number of households that did not report income. Generally, inferences from the two models are similar. Homeownership appears to not be affected by shocks experienced by households. It appears households are able to cushion the impact of shocks. The two income support programs, the Program of Direct Rural Support of Mexico (PROGRESA) and the Program of Direct Rural Support of Mexico (PROCAMPO), appear to be increasing homeownership. These social welfare programs provide cash transfers to households. For whatever reason, PROGRESA has a larger effect on homeownership than PROCAMPO. Households with older heads have a larger probability of being a homeowner than households with younger heads. No statistically significance relationship exists between education and homeownership. Regional differences are seen in homeownership, with households located in the northwest region having a higher probability of homeownership than other regions. Differences in the significance of variable representing the household head’s gender, marital status, and occupation on homeownership exist between logit models that include and do not include current income. The most likely reason for these differences is interactions between the variables and a wealth effect.

This dissertation consists of three essays in Housing and Family Economics. In the first chapter, I analyze the interstate migration patterns of families and the effect of labor force attachment of women on joint migration decisions. I show that as the earned income of spouses become similar, the probability of migration falls substantially. This observation is robust in the sense that 1) it holds even after controlling for a rich set of factors that are strongly correlated with relative income, 2) it yields qualitatively similar results when I model the incidence of attrition as another exit, 3) it consistently disappears for the shorter distance moves. I also find that the negative relationship between income similarity of couples and interstate migration is especially strong for supposedly more settled families and couples that have similar labor market characteristics beyond income levels. In the second chapter, I quantify the contribution of women's labor force attachment to the declining trend in interstate migration. I first document that for families in which both spouses have similar incomes, the propensity to migrate is significantly lower than for families with unequal spousal earnings. I then construct a labor search model in which households make location, marriage, and divorce decisions. I calibrate the model to match aggregate U.S. statistics on mobility, marriage and labor flows and use it to quantify the effect of a fall in the gender wage gap on interstate migration. Narrowing the gender wage gap increases women's contribution to total family income; it induces a higher share of families with both spouses working and more couples with similar incomes. The model predicts that the observed change in the gender wage gap accounts for 35% of the drop in family migration since 1981. Finally, in the third chapter, I examine the effects of homeownership on individuals' unemployment durations in the USA. I take into account that an unemployment spell can terminate with a job or with a non-participation transition. The endogeneity of homeownership is addressed through the estimation of a full maximum likelihood function which jointly models the competing hazards and the probability of being a homeowner. Unobserved factors contributing to the probability of being a homeowner are allowed to be correlated with unobservable heterogeneity in the hazard rates. Tentative results suggest that unemployed homeowners are less likely to find a job which is especially stronger for outright owners. I also find that homeowners' nonparticipation hazard does not significantly differ from that of renters' although having a mortgage lowers the chance of exiting the labor force. / text

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Indigenous populations in Canadian urban centres have grown tremendously in recent years. One of the biggest challenges when Indigenous peoples move to urban centres is finding safe, affordable housing. The research focuses on the need to increase urban affordable housing options and highlights the community land trust as a model for providing perpetually affordable housing for urban Indigenous populations. A documentary analysis was completed to determine the housing needs and potential options for Indigenous peoples in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The second part examines the Little Earth of United Tribes Homeownership Initiative located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Homeownership Initiative, which partners with the City of Lakes Community Land Trust, was chosen because it specifically targets Indigenous peoples. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to further inform the case study and to provide greater background information. The two parts were brought together to determine how a community land trust might complement the range of Indigenous housing options currently available in Winnipeg. / October 2016

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Martin Seay / For many decades, the American Dream of homeownership has been a source of pride and one of the traditional ways to improve financial and non-financial well-being for American households. However, during the recent housing crisis, millions of homeowners lost their homes or experienced negative home equity due to job loss, reductions in work hours, or a decline in home values. The recent housing crisis made many individuals and families rethink their American Dream. As with most investments, there are some risks associated with owning a home, especially when housing markets are volatile and the economy is uncertain. Understanding the relationship between household’s risk preference and homeownership decisions may help households make better and more informed decisions regarding their housing tenure choice. This study investigates the relationship between household’s risk preference and homeownership decisions among young adults made during the stability in the housing market, which occurred around 1993, and during the decline in the housing market, which occurred around 2010. This study also examined demographic and economic characteristics of homeowners during those periods. Two separate datasets from the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1979 and the National Longitudinal Study of Youth 1997 were utilized to address research questions and research hypotheses under the lens of the expected utility theory. The results showed shifts in household’s rick preferences, homeownership rates, and demographic and economic characteristics between periods. Compared to households who preferred lowest risk level, households who preferred highest risk level were more likely to own a home in both periods. The relationships between household’s risk preference and homeownership decisions did not change between periods. However, some relationships between household’s demographic and economic characteristics and homeownership decisions changed between periods. The findings of this study have several important implications for potential homebuyers, lenders, and personal financial planning practitioners. Household’s risk preference, as well as demographic and economic characteristics, should be considered during the home purchase process. The findings also expand the literature on expected utility theory, household’s risk preference, and homeownership research areas.

The importance of a well-functioning housing market has been proposed for long within economics, economic geography and urban planning.  A high mobility on the housing market most likely positively affects the dynamics of the labor market, a dynamic important for economic growth. Mobility defined as the link between the worker and the workplace in terms of transportation and housing are most likely essential components of a dynamic and well-functioning labor market. The Oswald hypothesis states that positive relationship between homeownership and unemployment exists, the lower mobility in the homeownership housing stock compared to the rental housing stock affects labor market mobility in a negative way which can be noted if European countries are compared. My thesis explores this relationship in a Swedish context by mobilizing a quantitative approach with aggregate data on municipal level ranging from 1998 to 2013. The Swedish housing market is in a deregulation process since 1992, a conversion process from public rental housing to homeownership co-op apartments has taken place and public policies now favor homeownership over renting. Municipal data on unemployment, homeownership of apartment, rental tenant and control variables for economy and personal characteristics are applied in Pooled OLS, random effects and fixed effects regression models. The results from the Pooled OLS and the Random effects model confirms the positive relationship proposed by Oswald for homeownership of apartment but not for homeownership of detached housing. Also rental tenant show a positive relationship. The results from the fixed effect estimation rejects the hypothesis altogether and show a negative relationship.

Owning a home is often referred to as the American Dream. However, the reality for low income homeowners is often problematic. Some scholars suggested that homeowners are better off than renters are, while others suggested that the current quest for low-income homeownership interferes with other affordable housing initiatives. Yet, few researchers examined the decision-making process of low-income homeowners. This phenomenological study explores and describes the experiences, attitudes, and perspectives of low-income individuals and their homeownership decisions. This study further delineates the costs and benefits of the Housing Choice Voucher Homeownership Program (HCVH) as perceived by low-income families in a southern U.S. city. Rational choice and social cognitive theories serve as a conceptual framework to explore the decision-making processes of people considering participating in the HCVH. Ten HCV clients responded to 13 semistructured questions. The results of the study generated 5 key themes: the pride of owning a home, weighing the costs and benefits of homeownership, leaving a legacy for children and grandchildren, lack of knowledge of the HCVH and other mortgage assistance programs, and “they did it so can I.” These findings suggest that all 10 participants believed in the benefits of owning a home. Several of the participants noted that there are also substantial costs associated with owning a home. This study has policy and social change implications for policymakers and low-income families considering purchasing a home. The recommendations include requiring all housing authorities establish HCVH programs and requiring housing authorities to provide post follow-up services for HCVH clients who exit the program.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 1985. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

This dissertation explains the existence, sources, and variability of intra-organizational conflict in a hybrid organization. It assesses the usefulness of "structural" and "cultural" explanations of conflict and ultimately advances an alternative explanation for the presence of and variability in conflict in a hybrid organization. Homeowners' associations are used as a case for understanding the development of multiple institutional logics and the relationship between institutional pluralism and complexity and the presence of and variability in conflict in a hybrid organization. Drawing from quantitative and qualitative research conducted on homeowners' associations in the Greater-Boston area, including 250 surveys and 56 in-depth interviews with board members of homeowners' associations, I show how the American history and ideology of homeownership has generated two multiple, permanent, and functionally contradictory institutional logics--one based on the market and the other based on the community--in homeowners' associations. Using institutional theory and the concepts of institutional work and ambidexterity, I argue that organizational actor's responses to the presence of institutional pluralism and complexity, as evidenced in their perceptions and practices, determine whether a hybrid organization is subject to more or less conflict. My findings lead to three general conclusions. First, many homeowners' associations experience significant conflict. Second, structural and cultural explanations of conflict only partially explain the presence of conflict in homeowners' associations. They do not explain the variability of conflict in homeowners' associations. Third, and most significantly, the micro-actions of organizational actors matter in situations of institutional pluralism and complexity. I propose that organizational actors' responses to institutional pluralism and complexity explain variability in conflict; organizational actors either "don't do" or "do" logics. Organizational actors who "don't do" logics respond to institutional pluralism and complexity by eliminating and compartmentalizing logics. They perceive multiplicity as novel and problematic and enact disruptive practices to contest and separate logics. This results in more conflict. Organizational actors who "do" logics respond to institutional pluralism and complexity ambidextrously. They perceive multiplicity as routine, and even beneficial, and enact practices to maintain multiple institutional logics via context-specific and purposeful practices including adjustment, improvisation, and switching. This results in less conflict.