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Movin’ on up? The impacts of a large-scale housing lottery in Uruguay

Author

Listed:
  • Armentano, Vincent
  • McIntosh, Craig
  • Monestier, Felipe
  • Piñeiro-Rodríguez, Rafael
  • Rosenblatt, Fernando
  • Tuñón, Guadalupe

Abstract

We report on a large-scale urban resettlement program in Uruguay. Under the program, thousands of low- to middle-income households were randomly assigned over the course of seven years to ownership of apartments in new buildings in more central areas and received a subsidy averaging $44,000 per household. We match applicants to comprehensive administrative data on employment, schooling, fertility, and voting over the decade after the move. We find that the program led to a small decline in fertility for women and a two-percentage-point increase in formal employment but did not affect school attendance. The relocation program did not result in transformative improvements in the lives of its beneficiaries, likely because of its minimum income requirements and the lack of strong spatial inequality in Uruguay.

Suggested Citation

  • Armentano, Vincent & McIntosh, Craig & Monestier, Felipe & Piñeiro-Rodríguez, Rafael & Rosenblatt, Fernando & Tuñón, Guadalupe, 2024. "Movin’ on up? The impacts of a large-scale housing lottery in Uruguay," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:235:y:2024:i:c:s0047272724000744
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2024.105138
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing policy; Economic mobility; Political participation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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