AbstractsEconomics

My dissertation research aims to fill two gaps in the literature on empirical economics of housing. In chapter 1, I use two blocks of American Housing Survey (AHS) national data to test four hypotheses about the determinants of housing value volatility, and reach consistent empirical findings using both AHS samples. While there are a number of studies of housing price volatility at the aggregate level, there are few studies of the determinants of the volatility of individual houses’ values. My findings show: 1) House values at both ends of the quality distribution are more volatile than those at the center. 2) House values in predominantly black areas are more volatile than those in white areas. 3) The more atypical a house is, the larger the volatility of house value. 4) The more highly land leveraged a house is, the larger the volatility of house value. In addition, there exists significant difference of housing value volatility among states. In chapter 2, I study potential factors that prompt households to choose owning a manufactured home over owning a traditional home or renting. The AHS 1985-2003 national sample is applied to a nested logit model. Explanatory variables include both attributes of housing choices and characteristics of households. We found that: 1) Housing user cost significantly negatively affects housing choice. 2) Households with previous experience of living in manufactured homes are more likely to be manufactured home owners. 3) Households of low and medium-income, relatively young, and small sizes are more likely to own manufactured homes. 4) Married and white people more likely become homeowners of both manufactured and traditional homes than single and black people.