Do Homeowners Stay Unemployed Longer? A French Micro-Econometric Study

Abstract

L'objectif de cet article est une évaluation micro-économétrique de l'hypothèse d'Oswald selon laquelle la propriété immobilière produit des effets négatifs sur le marché du travail. On estime dans une première étape le choix du statut résidentiel par un modèle logistique multinomial. Les probabilités ainsi estimées d'être propriétaire, locataire ou logé à titre gratuit sont utilisées dans une seconde étape pour expliquer la durée des épisodes individuels de chômage. Cette méthode d'estimation flexible permet de tenir compte du biais de sélection et de la censure des observations de durée sans contraindre l'allure du taux de sortie du chômage. Les résultats obtenus sur un échantillon de 3 965 individus suggèrent que la propriété immobilière exerce un effet positif sur la durée de chômage.

The Puzzle of Job Search and Housing Tenure: A Reconciliation of Theory and Empirical Evidence

“…The estimates of the MNL for housing tenure, as showed in Table , are also consistent with expectations and earlier evidence (Flatau et al., , ; Van Leuvensteijn and Koning, ; Battu et al., ; Brunet and Lesueur, ). In particular, the instruments are significant and have the expected signs.…”

“…Several variables have been proposed in the literature to instrument housing tenure, or more specifically homeownership. One prominent instrument is the regional homeownership rate (Van Leuvensteijn and Koning, ; Munch et al., ; Brunet and Lesueur, ). However, this instrument has also been criticized for being likely related to labor market aggregate outcomes, hence likely to impact on individual performance (Coulson and Fisher, ; De Graaff, Leuvensteijn, and Van Ewijk, ; De Graaff and Van Leuvensteijn, ) .…”

“…However, this instrument has also been criticized for being likely related to labor market aggregate outcomes, hence likely to impact on individual performance (Coulson and Fisher, ; De Graaff, Leuvensteijn, and Van Ewijk, ; De Graaff and Van Leuvensteijn, ) . Other instruments used in the literature are the user cost of owning compared to renting in the area (Flatau et al., ; Brunet and Lesueur, ; Barrios García and Rodríguez Hernández, ; Brunet and Lesueur, ), father's job (Battu et al., ; Brunet et al., ), age at entry into the housing (Brunet et al., ), average distance to jobs (Brunet and Lesueur, , ), past residential status of parents (Van Leuvensteijn and Koning, ), homeownership rate in the city where the individual was born (Van Leuvensteijn and Koning, ), age dummies (Flatau et al., ), and U.S. states dummies (Green and Hendershott, ). Unfortunately these variables are often based on barely convincing arguments for exogeneity or rare in data.…”

“…Moreover the use of a multinomial specification makes it more complicated to control for the likely endogeneity of housing tenure. Although the relevance of the endogeneity issue (Green and Hendershott, ; Flatau et al., ; Van Leuvensteijn and Koning, ; Munch et al., ; Brunet et al., ; Battu et al., ; Brunet and Lesueur, ; Van Vuuren, ; Coulson and Fisher, ) and of a more refined definition of housing tenure is often stressed in the literature, only seldom are these issues tackled jointly.…”

Risk and return: housing tenure and labour market adjustment after employment loss in the automotive sector in Southern Adelaide

“…They followed individuals who entered unemployment and after controlling for selectivity bias concluded that 'unemployed individuals in owning households find jobs more rapidly than do unemployed individuals in renting households' (Green et al 2002, p. 18). Brunet and Lesueur (2003) found some support for the Oswald hypothesis in their analysis of French labour market and housing data. Ahn and Blazquez (2007) analysed data from Denmark, France and Spain, and concluded that Oswald's theory held only for Denmark and that the effect of home ownership on labour market mobility was insignificant in France and absent in Spain.…”