Published Research: A Proxy for Collecting Data on Residents in Subsidized Properties

Research & Policy | January 28th 2015

A working paper recently published in Cityscape uses existing data on Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) projects to develop a proxy for identifying family developments.

The working paper, titled “Developing a Proxy for Identifying Family Developments in HUD’s LIHTC Data: Using Information on the Distribution of Units by Size,” was recently published in Cityscape: A Journal of Public Policy Development and Research, a publication of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Policy Development and Research. It is written by Dr. Katherine M. O’Regan, currently Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Professor of Public Policy on leave from NYU Wagner, and affiliate faculty on leave from the NYU Furman Center, and Rachel M.B. Atkins from The New School.

In the paper, the authors point out that the only existing database on projects that are a part of the LIHTC Program has scarce data on which developments serve or house families. The only national database that documents LIHTC developments has incomplete data on whether projects target specific populations, even in newer projects. 

O’Reagan and Atkins develop a proxy method to identify which developments target families using publicly available data on the size distribution of units in LIHTC projects, and test it in six states to see how well it works, estimating that it captures 92 to 96 percent of units in family developments.

The working paper is now available in Cityscape

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