One housing paradox in many markets is the simultaneous presence of high costs and high vacancy. India has expensive housing relative to incomes and an urban housing vacancy rate of 12.4%. We look at two possible explanations for vacancy – pro-tenant rent control laws, and poor contract...

The recent financial crisis was triggered by large and unexpected losses on mortgages and mortgage-related securities. Here we examine model risk arising from innovations in mortgage markets and how those innovations affect asset values. In particular, we examine the effect of parameter...