Examining Policies to Reduce Homelessness Using a General Equilibrium Model of the Housing Market
Erin T. Mansura, John M. Quigley, Steven Raphael and Eugene Smolensky
September 2002
In this study uses a general equilibrium simulation model to assess the potential impacts on homelessness of various housing-market policy interventions in the four largest metropolitan areas in California. Researchers explore the welfare consequences and the effects on homelessness of three housing-market policy interventions: extending housing vouchers to all low-income households, subsidizing all landlords, and subsidizing those landlords who supply low-income housing. Results suggest that a very large fraction of homelessness can be eliminated through increased reliance upon well-known housing subsidy policies.