Long-Run Labor Costs of Housing Booms and Busts

Begley, Taylor A.; Haslag, Peter H.; Weagley, Daniel

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3577828

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Long-Run Labor Costs of Housing Booms and Busts

Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management Research Paper

55 Pages Posted: 21 Apr 2020 Last revised: 5 May 2022

See all articles by Taylor A. Begley

Taylor A. Begley

Washington University in St. Louis - John M. Olin Business School

Daniel Weagley

Georgia Institute of Technology - Scheller College of Business

Date Written: May 4, 2022

Abstract

We show large flows of workers into the real estate agent occupation (REA) during the early 2000s from virtually all parts of the skill, wage, and education spectrums. We find those entering REA in MSAs with house price bubbles end up in jobs paying significantly less in the long-run as compared to similar REA entrants in non-bubble areas. Even in 2017, when house prices and employment return to their pre-crisis levels, REA entrants in Bubble MSAs are in occupations earning about 6% less. These results point to lasting effects of labor allocation decisions in response to distorted price signals.

Keywords: House Prices, Human Capital, Job Switching, Career Choice, Real Estate Agents

JEL Classification: E32, J24, J31, R21, R31

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Begley, Taylor A. and Haslag, Peter H. and Weagley, Daniel, Long-Run Labor Costs of Housing Booms and Busts (May 4, 2022). Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management Research Paper, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3577828 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3577828