Kholodilin offers a full review Among the articles on rent control, there are some 206 articles, published and unpublished, from 1967 to 2013. The results are summarized in the figure below, where (-) indicates articles finding a negative effect, (0) no effect, and (+) a positive effect. The top left figure, for example, shows, not surprisingly, that almost all articles find that rent control lowers rents in rent-controlled housing.
Most studies that examine the issue, however, find that rents increase in uncontrolled housing (middle row, right column). In other words, “imposing rent control amplifies the housing shortage. As a result, waiting lists grow longer and potential tenants have to spend more time looking for housing.”
Similarly, “nearly all studies indicate a negative effect of rent controls on mobility” (top column, middle row).
It is important to note that “published studies are almost unanimous about the impact of rent control on housing quality… (i.e.) that rent control leads to a deterioration in the quality of regulated housing.” (middle row, middle column).
