Fifty Shades of State: Quantifying Housing Market Regulations in Germany

68 Pages Posted: 17 Feb 2016

See all articles by Konstantin A. Kholodilin

Konstantin A. Kholodilin

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: February 12, 2016

Abstract

The paper aims at measuring the rental housing market regulations in Germany between 1913 and 2015. Four classes of housing policy are considered: Fostering of social housing, tenant protection, rationing of housing, and rent controls. Based on a thorough analysis of federal and regional legislation, for each class, an index is constructed, increasing in degree of regulation. An average of the class-specific indices makes up a composite index. The index reflects dramatic increases in regulations during and immediately after the World Wars. Likewise, the 2010s are characterized by a surge in virtually all classes of regulations in Germany related to the growing housing scarcity in large cities due to intra- and international migration that leads to a geographical mismatch between housing supply and demand.

Keywords: Housing policy; rental housing; Germany; regulation index

JEL Classification: K23; N9; R30

Suggested Citation

Kholodilin, Konstantin A., Fifty Shades of State: Quantifying Housing Market Regulations in Germany (February 12, 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2733140 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2733140

Konstantin A. Kholodilin (Contact Author)

German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin) ( email )

Mohrenstraße 58
Berlin, 10117
Germany

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
161
Abstract Views
1,050
Rank
250,514
PlumX Metrics