Homeownership and the Labour Market in Europe

* Provides a comprehensive overview of the effects of housing market institutions on the European labour market * Contains clear policy messages at both the country and EU levels of government * Looks specifically at the housing markets in UK, France, Spain, and the Netherlands Increasing labour market flexibility is at the top of the European agenda. A new and challenging view is a lack of mobility in the labour market may arise from rigidities in the housing market. The research in this book has been inspired by the intriguing hypothesis put forward by Andrew Oswald that homeownership may be a hindrance to the smooth working of the labour markets, as homeowners tend to be less willing to accept jobs outside their own region. This book brings together leading economists from across Europe to analyse the interaction between housing markets and labour markets. In the EU homeownership rates have been on the increase, often as a result of government policies, making the barriers that homeownership creates in terms of labour mobility increasingly important. This book shows on the one hand, at the individual level, that homeownership limits the likelihood of becoming unemployed and increases the probability of finding a job once unemployed. On the other hand, the transaction costs inherent in the housing market and homeownership hamper job-to-job changes and increase unemployment at the country level. This insight provides a clear policy message to European policymakers: reform in the housing market, aimed at lowering transaction costs and providing less generous subsidies for homeowners could be an effective instrument for reducing unemployment and improving labour market flexibility.

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Readership:

Academic labour economists and macroeconomists. Policymakers needing arguments and evidence for policy changes in the housing and labour markets.

Theory 1: Thomas Dohmen: Housing, mobility, and unemployment Macro-economics and Micro-economics: empirics 2: Andrew Oswald: The Housing Market and Europe's Unemployment 3: Thomas de Graaff, Michiel van Leuvensteijn, and Casper van Ewijk: Social Renting, Transfer Taxes, and Labour Mobility in Europe Country Studies: Unemployment and Homeownership 4: Jakob Munch, Michael Rosholm, and Michael Svarer: Homeowners and Unemployment 5: Aico van Vuuren: The Impact of Homeownership on Unemployment in the Netherlands 6: Carole Brunet and Jean-Yves Lesueur: Do Homeowners Stay Unemployed Longer? A French Micro-econometric study Country studies: Job Mobility and Homeownership 7: Michiel van Leuvensteijn and Pierre Koning: The Effect of Homeownership on Labor Mobility in the Netherlands 8: Jakob Munch, Michael Rosholm, and Michael Svarer: Homeownership, Job Duration, and Wages? 9: Harminder Battu, Ada Ma, and Euan Phimister: Family Migration and Labour Mobility: A Panel Investigation in the UK Conclusion 10: Jan Rouwendal and Peter Nijkamp: Homeownership and Labour Market Behaviour: Interpreting the Evidence