Research and Policy
Our work
Since 2008, the Foundation for Growth initiative has commissioned studies aimed at understanding the connection between housing and economic growth. These studies, along with earlier work commissioned by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, show how our current growth policies are hampering economic growth. Other reports quantify how new policies would benefit Massachusetts.
The Foundation for Growth initiative is continuing to commission top experts to analyze this issue in order to put forth policy proposals that will help the economy build more housing and grow the economy.
Here’s a rundown of our work to date:
How much more housing do we need to grow economy (2010)
The Foundation for Growth commissioned the UMass Donahue Institute projects how much housing Massachusetts needs to build to achieve optimal economic growth by the year 2020.
Recipe for Growth. (2008)
In research commissioned by The Foundation for Growth, economist Ed Moscovitch finds that the three most important factors in determining metro area employment growth are how much housing the region builds, its success in attracting new residents, and the extent to which it is dependent on manufacturing employment.
Large-lot housing construction in Greater Boston (2006)
An analysis by the MIT Center for Real Estate reveals how new single-family home construction is consuming twice as much land as existing single-family housing.
What's the payoff from Smart Growth? (2005)
Economist Ed Moscovitch quantifies how Massachusetts could drive down prices and stop eating up land if it adopted smart growth production policies.