DP18851 High-Rise Housing Investments and Urban Sustainability
High-rise housing promotes efficient land use and mitigates urban sprawl, contributing to sustainable development. This paper examines the role of social interactions in shaping high-rise housing investment decisions, utilizing comprehensive longitudinal micro-level data from the entire Swedish population and detailed sales data on the nation’s housing stock. Exploiting quasi-random variation in peer exposure, we find that households are more likely to invest in high-rise housing when peers do so. A small-scale survey further reveals that high-rise living experiences are frequently discussed among acquaintances. These findings highlight peer networks’ role in housing choices, offering insights for policies supporting urban housing investments.
