Note: This page is a periodically updated collection of recent empirical research on rent control around the world. If a relevant paper is missing, please feel free to contact me.
United States - New York City
Ambrose, B. W., Bian, X., Chen, R., & Jiang, H. (2025). Rent Control, Rent Overcharge, and Racial Disparity, working paper.
Jiang, H., Quintero, L., & Yang, X. (2025). Does Rent Control Increase Tenant Unemployment?. Journal of Urban Economics.
Bian, X., Chen, R., & Jiang, H. (2025). Do immigrants equally benefit from rent control?. Real Estate Economics.
Bian, X., Chen, R., & Jiang, H. (2025). Housing affordability and rent control: The case of elderly renters. Urban Studies.
Seltzer, L. (2024). Effects of financing constraints on maintenance investments in rent-stabilized apartments. Journal of Financial Intermediation.
Favilukis, J., Mabille, P., & Van Nieuwerburgh, S. (2023). Affordable housing and city welfare. Review of Economic Studies.
Chen, R., Jiang, H., & Quintero, L. (2023). Measuring the value of rent stabilization and understanding its implications for racial inequality: Evidence from New York City. Regional Science and Urban Economics.
Glaeser, E., & Luttmer, E. (2003). The Misallocation of Housing Under Rent Control. American Economic Review.
United States - Other Places
California
Angst, S., Rosen, J., Painter, G., & De Gregorio, S. (2025). Harassment or neglect? How market dynamics and rent control shape landlord behaviour in Los Angeles. Urban Studies.
Gardner, M., & Asquith, B. (2025). The effect of rent control status on eviction filing rates: Causal evidence from San Francisco. Housing Policy Debate.
Geddes, E., & Holz, N. (2025). Rational eviction: How landlords use evictions in response to rent control. Journal of Housing Economics.
Diamond, R., McQuade, T., & Qian, F. (2019). The effects of rent control expansion on tenants, landlords, and inequality: Evidence from San Francisco. American Economic Review.
Asquith, B. (2019). Housing supply dynamics under rent control: what can evictions tell us?. AEA Papers and Proceedings.
Zheng, D., Deng, Y., Gordon, P., & Dale-Johnson, D. (2007). An examination of the impact of rent control on mobile home prices in California. Journal of Housing Economics.
Massachusetts
Autor, D. H., Palmer, C. J., & Pathak, P. A. (2019). Ending rent control reduced crime in Cambridge. AEA Papers and Proceedings.
Autor, D. H., Palmer, C. J., & Pathak, P. A. (2014). Housing market spillovers: Evidence from the end of rent control in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Journal of Political Economy.
Sims, D. P. (2007). Out of control: What can we learn from the end of Massachusetts rent control?. Journal of Urban Economics.
Sims, D. P. (2011). Rent control rationing and community composition: evidence from Massachusetts. The BE Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy.
Minnesota
Ahern, K. R., & Giacoletti, M. (2022). Robbing Peter to Pay Paul? The Redistribution of Wealth Caused by Rent Control, working paper.
New Jersey
Krol, R., & Svorny, S. (2005). The effect of rent control on commute times. Journal of Urban Economics.
Nationwide
Stacy, C., et al. (2025). Rent control and the supply of affordable housing. Journal of Housing Economics.
European Countries
Denmark
Skak, M., & Bloze, G. (2013). Rent control and misallocation. Urban Studies.
Svarer, M., Rosholm, M., & Munch, J. R. (2005). Rent control and unemployment duration. Journal of Public Economics.
Munch, J. R., & Svarer, M. (2002). Rent control and tenancy duration. Journal of Urban Economics.
France
Morin, Y., Regnaud, M., Breuille, M., & Le Gallo, J. (2025). PARIS2019: The impact of rent control on the Parisian rental market. Journal of Housing Economics.
Chapelle, G., Wasmer, E., & Bono, P. H. (2019). Spatial misallocation and rent controls. AEA Papers and Proceedings.
Germany
Hahn, A. M., Kholodilin, K. A., Waltl, S. R., & Fongoni, M. (2024). Forward to the past: Short-term effects of the rent freeze in Berlin. Management Science.
Baye, V., & Dinger, V. (2024). Investment incentives of rent controls and gentrification: Evidence from German micro data. Real Estate Economics.
Mense, A., Michelsen, C., & Kholodilin, K. A. (2023). Rent control, market segmentation, and misallocation: Causal evidence from a large-scale policy intervention. Journal of Urban Economics.
Breidenbach, P., Eilers, L., & Fries, J. (2022). Temporal dynamics of rent regulations–The case of the German rent control. Regional Science and Urban Economics.
Mense, A., Michelsen, C., & Kholodilin, K. A. (2019). The effects of second-generation rent control on land values. AEA Papers and Proceedings.
Ireland
O’Toole, C., Gillespie, T., Lyons, R. C., & Kren, J. (2025). The Supply Side Effects of Rent Controls: Evidence from Ireland. Journal of Housing Economics.
Spain
Abel, M., Carrer, L., & Luque, J. (2025). Rent Control and Decontrol: Temporary Gains, Persistent Losses, working paper.
Monras, J., & Montalvo, J. G. (2023). The Effect of Second-Generation Rent Controls: New Evidence from Catalonia, working paper.
Jofre-Monseny, J., Martínez-Mazza, R., & Segú, M. (2023). Effectiveness and supply effects of high-coverage rent control policies. Regional Science and Urban Economics.
Sweden
Öst, C. E., & Johansson, P. (2023). The consequences of the Swedish rent control system on labor income: Evidence from a randomized apartment lottery. Journal of Public Economics.
Asian Countries
India
Dutta, A., Gandhi, S., & Green, R. K. (2025). Do housing regulations affect rural–urban migration? Evidence from rent control in India. Journal of Economic Geography.
Gandhi, S., Green, R. K., & Patranabis, S. (2022). Insecure property rights and the housing market: Explaining India’s housing vacancy paradox. Journal of Urban Economics.
Korea
Yun, S., & Choi, H. (2025). Circumventing rent controls with tenants’ maintenance fees: Evidence from Korea. Journal of Housing Economics.