Download or read book Essays on Housing, Unemployment and Monetary Policy written by Ejindu Ume and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 91 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this dissertation, I study the interconnections between the housing market and labor market, and the link between monetary policy and housing market activity. In the first chapter, I focus on the interplay between the housing and labor market. To do so, I construct a model of search and bargaining across two different markets: the labor market and the housing market. The model highlights that housing prices and frictions in the housing market have a profound impact on labor market activity through the desire of workers to eventually purchase a home, the "American Dream." The model also reveals that labor market frictions can impact housing market activity. I also perform a calibration exercise to evaluate economic activity in general equilibrium. I find that frictions in the housing market generate strong negative external effects on the labor market. More specifically, a tighter housing market is associated with higher unemployment rates and less job creation. Consequently, my findings suggest that policymakers should be very careful in implementing policies targeted towards housing -- housing markets are likely to generate significant external effects to other sectors of the economy, especially the labor market. To study the effects of monetary policy on housing market activity I develop an overlapping generations model in which housing is traded across generations of individuals. Incomplete information leads to a transactions role for money so that monetary policy can be effectively studied. Moreover, individuals face liquidity risk which interferes with their ability to accumulate housing wealth. Contrary to the existing literature, I demonstrate that it is important to disaggregate fixed investment between the residential and non-residential sectors. In particular, I find the effects of monetary policy are asymmetric across the components of the overall capital stock. I conclude this chapter with a policy experiment studying how optimal monetary policy depends on housing market fundamentals. In response to adverse supply conditions in the housing sector, monetary policy should be more aggressive in order to promote residential investment and the housing stock. However, monetary policy should be conservative in order to limit exposure to risk if fundamentals favor housing demand. The third chapter is an empirical look at the relationship between monetary policy and housing market activity. I analyze and quantify the effects of monetary policy on residential investment, housing starts, new private housing permits and new single family houses sold. To conduct the analysis I estimate a vector autoregression model (VAR) where the monetary policy shock is identified using sign restrictions. No restrictions are imposed on the variables of interest, however, in response to a monetary policy shock I impose sign restrictions on the impulse responses of price, output, reserves and the federal funds rate. I find that a contractionary monetary policy shock reduces housing market activity for up to a year after the shock. Interestingly, 2 to 3 years after the economy contracts, activity in the housing sector reverses course. The findings suggest that once the economy contracts the Federal Reserve Bank reverses course by lowering the federal funds rate, and this policy reversal stimulates housing market activity.