The Effects of House Prices and Home Equity Extraction on Career Outcomes

Abstract This paper investigates the effects of housing wealth shocks on workers’ career decisions related to job quality and long-term career outcomes. Using a novel data set of career histories in the film industry, we find that homeowners facing greater house price declines reduce participation in high-quality projects but increase involvement in low-quality films. Conversely, renters are not affected by these shocks. Consistent with individuals using home equity during job searches, these shocks have a greater impact on homeowners who extracted home equity during the housing boom. Moreover, house price declines from the housing crisis affect long-term career paths. (JEL J01, R20, D14, G51)