The Production Function for Housing: Evidence from France

Article dans une revue: We propose a new nonparametric approach to estimate the production function for housing. Our estimation treats output as a latent variable and relies on a first-order condition for profit maximization combined with a zero-profit condition. More desirable locations command higher land prices and, in turn, more capital to build houses. For parcels of a given size, we compute housing production by summing across the marginal products of capital. For newly built single-family homes in France, the production function for housing is close to constant returns and is well, though not perfectly, approximated by a Cobb-Douglas function with a capital elasticity of 0.65.

Auteur(s)

Pierre-Philippe Combes, Gilles Duranton, Laurent Gobillon

Revue
  • Journal of Political Economy
Date de publication
  • 2021
Mots-clés JEL
R14 R31 R32
Mots-clés
  • Housing
  • Production function
Pages
  • 2766-2816
Version
  • 1
Volume
  • 129