Data Science Talk Series 

Title: Evaluating Rent Control Policy - The Case of Rent Stabilization in New York City 

Abstract: Despite a rekindled public interest in rent stabilization amidst the housing affordability crisis, evidence of the magnitude and distribution of the benefits offered by this policy is lacking. Measuring the policy's benefits is challenging because the counterfactual unregulated rents of rent-stabilized housing units are not observed. We estimate quality-adjusted rent discounts for each rent-stabilized unit in New York City (NYC) from 2002 to 2017 using various statistical and data science methods. Policy implications will also be discussed. 

Bio of the speaker: Dr. Hanchen Jiang is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of North Texas.  He obtained his Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University in 2020, and an M.A. at Vanderbilt University in 2014. Dr. Jiang specializes in Urban and Real Estate Economics and Health Economics, with a particular focus on: (1) Housing Affordability, (2) Urban Sustainability, and (3) Economic Opportunity. Dr. Jiang's research has been published in leading peer-reviewed academic journals, including Regional Science and Urban Economics, Real Estate Economics, and Journal of Health Economics.