The authors provide an economic framework to analyze investment in informal housing in developing countries. They consider a simple model of investment in the housing market where investors can choose between two sectors-the formal sector, where physical investment faces no risk of destruction,...

Most countries do not use one single type of housing subsidy but combine many of them. Le Blanc provides operational criteria that allow evaluation of systems of housing subsidies, both at the individual program level and at the aggregate (country) level. He examines the public finance...

This paper investigates the impact of housing demand on the composition of the optimal portfolios of homeowners in France, following the methodology developed by Flavin and Yamashita (2002). We use historical data on housing prices and financial assets returns to estimate the mean return and...

This paper uses random assignment of students to investigate the impact of study groups and roommates on academic achievement. We find that informal social interaction with roommates has a significant positive impact on academic achievement, while study group peers have no discernible impact, a...

Chit Funds are indigenous financial institutions in India that combines credit and savings in a single scheme. In a chit fund scheme, a group of individuals come together for a predetermined time period and contribute to a common pool at regular intervals. In order to understand the intricacies...

Informal settlements are an integral part of the urban landscape in developing countries. These settlements are widely distributed within cities, including central business centers and peripheral areas with environment hazards. In most cases, residents of these settlements do not have access to...