Dissertation research:

The “home-voter hypothesis” and why homeowners oppose new local housing: an agent-based approach

I build a simple modeling framework where agents vote on new local housing but dislike when their votes diverge from those of other residents. If a voting disparity between pro-housing and anti-housing agents in owner-occupied homes is large enough, residents will forego any processes to build new housing, returning to the status quo. The model explores the degree to which a planner must compensate home-voters for increased-density housing vote preferences.

A causal assessment of residential upzoning on housing prices using synthetic controls (JMP draft — respectfully, please do not circulate)

An analysis of the city-level policy changes involving low-density residential upzoning in Minneapolis and its effect on housing outcomes. I consider the difficulty of applying causal inference techniques in these settings. Naturally, assignment into treatment is non-random, as city officials opted into the policy. There are also demand-side (amenity-affecting) elements implemented along the zoning policy, meaning measured treatment effects must be decomposed into demand effects and supply effects.

City-wide welfare, catering to home-voters, and negative externalities

When cities’ focus on administrative processes disproportionately favoring preferences of home owners over renters, or vice versa, negative externalities arise from different sources which can include homelessness rates, higher costs for public services like schooling and law enforcement, and lower-trust social norms.

Committee members: Dr. Steve Newbold (Chair), Dr. Thorsten Janus, Dr. Alexander James, Dr. Nino Abashidze