Increasing the Value of MTO Research for Housing Policy Development

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The Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration Program (MTO) has estimated the effects of two concrete reforms of low-income housing policy on one important group affected by them. Reforms of this type have received, and will continue to receive, serious consideration in housing policy debates. At this stage, it is not feasible to estimate the effects of the MTO reforms on all of the people significantly affected by them. However, it is feasible and desirable to estimate the effects of two similar reforms that would have almost the same effect on the families studied in MTO. These reforms would have no effect on the number of families that receive housing assistance. Instead, they would affect the nature of the housing assistance offered and the taxpayer cost of providing it. One alternative would almost surely have generated cost savings and additional revenue exceeding the cost of the vouchers, thereby providing greater benefits than the current system at a lower taxpayer cost. The MTO results supplemented with estimates of their taxpayer cost would provide a reasonably comprehensive analysis of their effects. This commentary suggests how the taxpayer costs of the alternative reforms might be estimated. Doing it would significantly increase the value of MTO research for housing policy development.