Matthew Kaliner

Graduate Student in Sociology

10/28/2007

Research Interests

Community and urban sociology, neighborhood effects, housing markets, crime and criminology, social movements and political protest, political sociology, GIS and spatial analysis.

Previous Degrees

BA in sociology, Brandeis University, May 2000.

Qualifying Paper Title

Does Neighborhood Reputation Matter? Estimating the Cost of a "Bad" Reputation from Housing Prices

Committee

Robert Sampson (chair), Jason Kaufman, and Anthony Braga.

Abstract

I offer a conception of neighborhood reputation as a neighborhood's external identity as perceived by the larger public, and develop a methodology for measuring this concept, via quantitative content analysis of the local media. Focusing on a neighborhood's reputation for criminality and violence - essentially the extent to which it has a "bad reputation" - I test this conception on a case study of neighborhood identities and housing market behavior in Washington, DC. Using the hedonic price model common to real estate economics, I estimate the price that homebuyers are willing to pay to avoid a neighborhood with a "bad" reputation, net of observed crime rates, detailed housing characteristics, neighborhood demographics and structural qualities, and proximity/amenity variables. Models lag the reputation measure up to seven years before the point of sale to distinguish the durable nature of reputation from the short-term information effects expected from a media-based variable. Although measurement error remains a concern, the analysis lends strong support to the proposed conception and method. The reputation measure proves to be a non-trivial and robust predictor of housing prices, and grows in magnitude the further it is lagged before sale. These results suggest that reputation is powerfully connected to home purchases, and thus to migration and investment, and can have long-term implications for urban social processes. I conclude by highlighting other areas of research that may be advanced by considering the role of neighborhood reputation.

Contact

617-496-3852 (Phone)
617-496-5794 (FAX)

643 William James Hall
33 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Office Hours

Thurs 10-11:30am Greenhouse Cafe,Science Center