TY  - JOUR
AU  - Collinson, Robert
AU  - Ellen, Ingrid Gould
AU  - Ludwig, Jens
TI  - Low-Income Housing Policy
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 21071
PY  - 2015
Y2  - April 2015
DO  - 10.3386/w21071
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w21071
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w21071.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Robert Collinson
University of Notre Dame
Economics Department
Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities
3060 Jenkins Nanovic Hall
Notre Dame, INDI 46556
United States
Tel: 8478671284
E-Mail: rcollin8@nd.edu

Ingrid Ellen
New York University
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School
of Public Service
295 Lafayette Street
New York, NY 10012
E-Mail: ingrid.ellen@nyu.edu

Jens Ludwig
Harris School of Public Policy
University of Chicago
1307 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL 60637
Tel: 773/834-0811
E-Mail: jludwig@uchicago.edu
M1  - published as Robert Collinson, Ingrid Gould Ellen, Jens Ludwig. "Low-Income Housing Policy," in Robert A. Moffitt, editor, "Economics of Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, Volume 2" University of Chicago Press (2016)

M3  - presented at "Means-Tested Transfer Programs", December 5-6, 2014
AB  - The United States government devotes about $40 billion each year to means-tested housing programs, plus another $6 billion or so in tax expenditures on the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). What exactly do we spend this money on, why, and what does it accomplish? We focus on these questions. We begin by reviewing the history of low-income housing programs in the U.S., and then summarize the characteristics of participants in means-tested housing programs and how programs have changed over time. We consider important conceptual issues surrounding the design of and rationale for means-tested housing programs in the U.S. and review existing empirical evidence, which is limited in important ways. Finally, we conclude with thoughts about the most pressing questions that might be addressed in future research in this area.
ER  -