Faculty & Research Published Research Research Domestic Policy & Politics (-) Economics Facet Area of Focus - Research Christopher J. Ruhm Adam Leive David Leblang Molly Lipscomb Bala Mulloth Charles Holt Christine Mahoney Eileen Chou John Pepper Leora Friedberg Raymond C. Scheppach Sebastian Tello-Trillo (-) Edgar O. Olsen Facet People - Research Facet UVA Partner - Research Published Research Economics Does HUD Overpay for Voucher Units, and Will SAFMRs Reduce the Overpayment? Authors: Edgar O. Olsen One argument for Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) is that they would reduce overpayment for voucher units in low-rent neighborhoods. This article provides a more comprehensive theoretical analysis that leads to the conclusion that the worst voucher units and those in the worst neighborhoods will usually rent for more than the mean market rent of identical units, and the best units in the best neighborhoods will rent for less than this amount. Learn more Working Paper Economics Domestic Policy & Politics Alleviating Poverty through Housing Policy Reform Authors: Edgar O. Olsen The purpose of this paper is to describe proposals for reform of low-income housing assistance that will alleviate poverty without increasing public spending. Low-income housing assistance is fertile ground for such reforms. Learn more Published Research Economics Geographic Price Variation, Housing Assistance, and Poverty Authors: Edgar O. Olsen, Dirk W. Early, Philip N. Jefferson (ed) Two important shortcomings of the official measure of poverty are its failure to account for noncash benefits (including the benefits of low-income housing programs) when calculating resources and differences in the cost-of-living across geographic areas when setting poverty thresholds. Alternative estimates of poverty rates that account for the variation in the cost-of-living across areas when setting thresholds and the value of rental housing subsidies when measuring household resources have been produced. Learn more
Published Research Economics Does HUD Overpay for Voucher Units, and Will SAFMRs Reduce the Overpayment? Authors: Edgar O. Olsen One argument for Small Area Fair Market Rents (SAFMRs) is that they would reduce overpayment for voucher units in low-rent neighborhoods. This article provides a more comprehensive theoretical analysis that leads to the conclusion that the worst voucher units and those in the worst neighborhoods will usually rent for more than the mean market rent of identical units, and the best units in the best neighborhoods will rent for less than this amount. Learn more
Working Paper Economics Domestic Policy & Politics Alleviating Poverty through Housing Policy Reform Authors: Edgar O. Olsen The purpose of this paper is to describe proposals for reform of low-income housing assistance that will alleviate poverty without increasing public spending. Low-income housing assistance is fertile ground for such reforms. Learn more
Published Research Economics Geographic Price Variation, Housing Assistance, and Poverty Authors: Edgar O. Olsen, Dirk W. Early, Philip N. Jefferson (ed) Two important shortcomings of the official measure of poverty are its failure to account for noncash benefits (including the benefits of low-income housing programs) when calculating resources and differences in the cost-of-living across geographic areas when setting poverty thresholds. Alternative estimates of poverty rates that account for the variation in the cost-of-living across areas when setting thresholds and the value of rental housing subsidies when measuring household resources have been produced. Learn more