By Elise Ormonde, ACRE Research & Program Coordinator
The Arkansas Center for Research in Economics continued its Fall 2023 Distinguished Speaker Series with a presentation from Dr. Emily Hamilton on October 26. Dr. Hamilton is a Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center 
at George Mason University. Her research focuses on urban economics, land use policy, and housing affordability. She is often asked to testify before various state legislatures and the U.S. House of Representatives to share her expertise on these topics.
Emily Hamilton and ACRE Director Jeremy Horpedahl
Throughout Dr. Hamilton’s presentation, students, faculty, and community members learned the background and history of zoning policy and the relationship between local land-use regulations and rising housing costs in American cities. She explained how higher costs contribute to slower economic growth and prevent cities from being affordable places for people to live, even if they are regions that are offering beneficial job opportunities and competitive wages. In particular, Dr. Hamilton argued that minimum lot size requirements are one of the most important zoning rules that increase the cost of housing, because they prevent construction of more houses on a given piece of land.
Pointing to Houston, Texas, as an example of a city with relatively high levels of housing affordability compared to other U.S. cities, Hamilton highlighted their lack of use-zoning and how residents have voted against adopting a zoning ordinance every time a proposal has been present on a ballot. Dr. Hamilton’s work allows us to better understand the economic implications of housing prices under supply constraints and the effects of housing policies.
The final public lecture for the ACRE Fall 2023 Distinguished Speaker Series will conclude with a presentation on November 28, by Dr. Michael C. Munger on “Monopoly Power, Political Power, and the Problem of Platforms.”