This project examines consumer's perceptions of the housing crisis in Houston, Texas. The focus is both on the role of individual consumption patterns in causing the crisis as well as the role of governmental policies. The project uses a panel study to examine how consumers' perceptions, government policies and the economic situation impacted the housing situation in Houston. The data that will be generated will allow one to examine the impact of each of these factors as well as to test important economic theories of consumption and to help create a literature in political science that ties in policy regimes to consumptive behavior.
The broader impact of this panely study centers not only on the new data that will contribute to basic research, but to the information it provides to policy makers as part of the policy evaluation process.
