Is there a link between home ownership and unemployment levels? Evidence from German regional data

Using German regional data for 1998, 2002 and 2006, this study reexamines the Oswald hypothesis, the conjecture that high levels of home ownership lead to inferior outcomes in regional labor markets. Including a set of controls for regional unemployment rates, three different econometric models are specified and estimated: a cross-sectional model, a pooled data model, and a model taking into account unobserved time-invariant effects on regional unemployment rates. It is found that the link between home ownership and unemployment levels is inverse in cross-section but positive in panel estimations. The economic significance of the relationship is small in both cases, however. Factors like average labor productivity, participation, export orientation and human capital endowment clearly dominate the impact of home ownership on unemployment in German regions. --Home ownership,unemployment,Oswald's hypothesis,German regions

Is there a link between home ownership and unemployment levels? Evidence from German regional data

Using German regional data for 1998, 2002 and 2006, this study reexamines the Oswald hypothesis, the conjecture that high levels of home ownership lead to inferior outcomes in regional labor markets. Including a set of controls for regional unemployment rates, three different econometric models are specified and estimated: a cross-sectional model, a pooled data model, and a model taking into account unobserved time-invariant effects on regional unemployment rates. It is found that the link between home ownership and unemployment levels is inverse in cross-section but positive in panel estimations. The economic significance of the relationship is small in both cases, however. Factors like average labor productivity, participation, export orientation and human capital endowment clearly dominate the impact of home ownership on unemployment in German regions

House prices, housing development costs, and the supply of new single-family housing in German counties and cities

This paper employs panel data on 413 German counties and cities from 2004 to 2009 to investigate the supply of new single-family housing in local housing markets. New local housing supply is measured by the annual number of construction permits in relation to the existing single-family housing stock. This supply indicator is econometrically related to existing home prices and new housing development costs, which include the costs of housing construction and vacant land in a given location. The results suggest that both higher prices for existing homes and recent increases in development costs are positively associated with local single-family home permit rates. Instead, higher levels of development costs turn out to dampen construction activity. The average local price elasticity of new single-family home supply is considerably less than one, with surprising differences across the urban hierarchy

House Prices, Housing Development Costs, and the Supply of New Single-Family Housing in German Counties and Cities

This paper employs panel data on 413 counties and cities over 2004-2009 to investigate the local supply of new single-family housing in Germany. Construction activity in local housing markets (measured by new housing permits related to the local housing stock) is modeled as a function of local home prices and new housing development costs, with the latter including local costs related to construction and local costs of vacant land. The results suggest the permit rate in a location to be positively linked to higher local home price levels and recent increases in development costs, while higher levels of replacement costs dampen construction activity. The average price elasticity of new single-family home permits is considerably less than one, supporting recently published estimates based on national time-series data

Do local governments tax homeowner communities differently?

This paper investigates whether and how strongly the share of homeowners in a community affects residential property taxation by local governments. Different from renters, homeowners bear the full property tax burden irrespective of local market conditions, and the tax is more salient to them. "Homeowner communities" may hence oppose high property taxes in order to protect their housing wealth. Using granular spatial data from a complete housing inventory in the 2011 German Census and historical war damages as a source of exogenous variation in local homeownership, we provide empirical evidence that otherwise identical jurisdictions charge significantly lower property taxes when the share of homeowners in their population is higher. This result is invariant to local market conditions, which suggests tax salience as the key mechanism behind this effect. We find positive spatial dependence in tax multipliers, indicative of property tax mimicking by local governments

Theoretische Fundierung und Bewertung alternativer Methoden der Wohlfahrtsmessung

Der anhaltende Klimawandel, die Folgen der Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise und die aktuellen Bestrebungen in Deutschland, nach der Havarie des Atomkraftwerks Fukushima I eine zügige Wende hin zu einer nachhaltigen Energieversorgung zu vollziehen, haben die öffentliche Diskussion um Quellen, Verteilung und unerwünschte Nebeneffekte unseres Wohlstandes und die Tragfähigkeit der bisherigen Produktions-, Konsum- und Wachstumsmuster befeuert. Die Eignung klassischer wirtschaftspolitischer Erfolgsmaßstäbe - wie beispielsweise des Bruttoinlandsprodukts - als alleinige Leitgrößen zur Beurteilung der Wohlfahrt einer Volkswirtschaft wird zunehmend infrage gestellt. Politik, Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft suchen nach alternativen Wohlfahrtsmaßen, um ein vollständigeres Bild vom Zustand einer Gesellschaft zu erhalten. Ziel der vorliegenden Studie ist die Systematisierung, Einordnung und Bewertung verschiedener aktuell diskutierter Ansätze zur Wohlfahrtsmessung. Hierzu werden zunächst die unterschiedlichen Anwendungsgebiete für alternative Wohlfahrtsmaße skizziert und - aufbauend auf einer allgemeinverständlichen Darstellung der theoretischen Grundlagen der Wohlfahrtsmessung - Kriterien für die Konstruktion geeigneter Maße abgeleitet. In diesem Zusammenhang wird auch die Eignung des Bruttoinlandsprodukts als Wohlfahrtsmaß hinterfragt und bewertet. Für den vom Auftraggeber der Studie, die KfW Bankengruppe, publizierten KfW-Nachhaltigkeitsindikator ergeben sich aus der Studie Hinweise für eine Weiterentwicklung des Indikators

Ist eine makroprudenzielle Regulierung des deutschen Hypothekenmarktes geboten?

Die Bundesregierung hat neue Instrumente der makroprudenziellen Regulierung für den deutschen Hypothekenmarkt geschaffen. Dieser Aufsatz untersucht die Notwendigkeit der Anwendung dieser Instrumente vor dem Hintergrund bestehender Finanzierungsgewohnheiten und Regulierungen. Angesichts der im internationalen Vergleich bereits als konservativ anzusehenden Ausgestaltung der Wohnimmobilienfinanzierung erscheint ein Einsatz makroprudenzieller Instrumente auf absehbare Zeit nicht erforderlich. Grundsätzlich sollten Entscheidungen hierüber regelgebunden auf Grundlage belastbarer Einzelkreditdaten erfolgen. Dafür bedarf es insgesamt eines besseren Monitorings des Immobilienfinanzierungsmarktes

Auswirkungen der Finanz- und Schuldenkrise auf den deutschen Eigenheimsektor

Die Auswirkungen der Finanz- und Wirtschaftskrise auf den Markt für selbst-genutzte Wohnimmobilien in Deutschland sind bislang kaum untersucht. Die-ser Beitrag analysiert die in Folge der Krise auf dem deutschen Eigenheim-markt stattfindenden Anpassungsmechanismen innerhalb eines theoretischen Modells und leitete Aussagen darüber ab, wie die wichtigsten Marktgrößen durch die Krise beeinflusst werden. Um die Aussagekraft der auf Basis des Modells getroffenen qualitativen Erkenntnisse zu überprüfen, werden die Mo-dellaussagen der tatsächlichen aktuellen Entwicklung ausgewählter Woh-nungsmarktindikatoren gegenübergestellt. Wie sich zeigt, ist die Finanzkrise nicht notwendigerweise mit negativen Auswirkungen auf den deutschen Ei-genheimsektor verbunden. Von Seiten des Kredit-, des Immobilienkapital- und des Neubaumarkts gehen Impulse aus, die die durch sinkende Einkommen und steigende Arbeitslosigkeit bedingte negative Beeinflussung der Nachfrage nach selbstgenutztem Wohnraum zumindest teilweise kompensieren

The capitalization of non-market attributes into regional housing rents and wages: Evidence on German functional labor market areas

This paper extends existing research on regional quality of life in Germany by newly estimating the role of region-specific (dis-)amenities in the determination of regional housing rents and wages. Different from previous studies, the empirical analysis draws on functional labor market areas recently delineated by Kosfeld and Werner [Raumf Raumordn (2012) 70: 49-64] rather than administrative jurisdictions, circumventing problems of spatial autocorrelation. Consistent with cross-region spatial equilibrium, the results indicate that labor market area heterogeneity in housing rents and wages is closely related to differences in non-market attributes that affect household utility. The results enable the construction of a comprehensive ranking of regional quality of life which can be directly compared to the findings of previous studies

Explaining spatial variation in homeownership rates: Results for German regions

A wide range of aggregate data is used to examine the spatial variation in homeownership rates among a cross-section of 96 German planning regions. The analysis accounts for potential endogeneity of prices and affordability as well as for spatial dependence in homeownership levels. In addition to familiar demographic and socioeconomic variables, the regional price and affordability of owner-occupied housing, and the regional composition of the housing stock can be identified as important determinants of regional tenure choice patterns. At large, the above factors suffice to explain both the substantial disparities in homeownership rates between eastern and western Germany as well as between rural, urbanized and agglomerated locations. The results of this study offer some interesting implications for housing policy