Investing in Local Housing: The Diffusion of City-Level Housing Trust Funds Across the United States Open Access

Abstract

Housing Trust Funds (HTFs) are dedicated sources of public funding that support the development, preservation, and rehabilitation of affordable housing. The number of HTFs has surged from roughly 150 in 1999 to over 800 across the United States today. City-level HTFs are particularly notable because local governments can tailor strategies to community-specific needs and market dynamics in ways that states are primarily unable to. This raises the question: What conditions have enabled city-level HTFs to spread across the United States? And to what extent are HTFs adequate in providing affordable housing? This research draws on scholarship in policy diffusion to understand the mechanisms behind the adoption of HTF. It builds on state-level analyses of HTF diffusion by Scally (2012) and Flink (2021) to examine the diffusion of HTFs at the city level. By considering three central diffusion mechanisms (learning, competition, and coercion) and evaluating how local determinants such as city capacity can mediate these processes, this paper builds on existing diffusion scholarship. This study integrates quantitative diffusion analysis using an event history model. Results suggest that learning models of policy diffusion serve as statistically significant predictors of HTF adoption.

Table of Contents

Introduction                                                              1

Background                                                               3

Literature Review                                                     5

Theoretical Argument                                           11

Data and Methods                                                  16

Findings                                                                 32

Conclusion                                                               61

Bibliography                                                             73

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Political Science
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Political Science, Public Administration
Keyword	Housing Housing Policy Diffusion
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dr. Michael Rich, Emory University
Committee Members	Dr. Natalia Bueno, Emory University Dr. Michael Leo Owens, Emory University

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