Residential mobility in Moscow during the transition

This paper extends this work for Moscow by confirming the higher mobility rates in 1994, indicating that the early surge in mobility was not a brief phenomenon produced by pent up demand. This paper also documents that a large share of the movers are one-family nuclei from multi-nuclei households. By 1994, the majority of movers were acquiring their new housing through market methods; waiting list procedures for state housing accounted for only about one-fifth of new occupant households. The determinants of mobility among market movers are consistent with economic theory, being a blend of dissatisfaction with the current unit (overcrowding) and ability to pay, as indicated by current income and assets. Overall, the results show a clear movement of the Moscow housing sector toward operating along market principles. (Author abstract)