Homeownership and Equilibrium Unemployment (Chapter 7)

This chapter delves into the role of homeownership in the equilibrium unemployment theory studied in Chapter 1. Specifically, this chapter introduces in the so-called Beveridge curve (that determines the unemployment rate), the finding that outright homeowners exert less effort in searching for a job than tenants. Also, this chapter introduces in the so-called Job Creation Condition (which determines the equilibrium value of market tightness), the hypothesis that outright homeowners invest more in human capital, since they are usually wealthier than tenants. Eventually, the “net” effect of homeownership on (un)employment is, a priori, ambiguous and will depend on the strength of the two opposite effects: the “search intensity” effect, and the “labour productivity” effect.