This 24-month project, led by Professor Christoph Thoenissen as Principal Investigator, with Dr Emily Whitehouse, Dr Juan Paez-Farrell and Professor Alberto Montagnoli as Co-Investigators, will yield new insights into how house price changes influence individuals’ labour supply, investment and savings behaviours, and how this ultimately affects productivity and economic growth.
Does an increase in house prices provide extra collateral needed for productive investment, or does it simply re-direct funds away from productivity-enhancing capital to bricks and mortar? Are these effects more pronounced when house prices experience bubble-like behaviour? How is the savings behaviour of households affected by high mortgage debt? These are just some of the questions waiting to be answered by this research project.
Two new research associates will be recruited for the project.