Yiwen (Xavier)
Kuai

Research Economist at Fannie Mae

About

I'm a research economist at Fannie Mae. I'm also affiliated with the Luskin School of Public Affairs, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). My research interests include housing policy, affordable housing, housing affordability, mortgage, neighborhoods and poverty, transportation, urban economics, urban data science, and international development.

I previously worked at New York University (NYU)'s Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy and UCLA's Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. My research projects include topics in affordable housing, urban density, gentrification, the built environment, data-drive policy analysis, innovative urban data, and transportation policy related to housing.

I hold a Doctoral degree in urban planning from UCLA's Luskin School of Public Affairs, a Master's degree in urban planning from NYU's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and a Bachelor's degree in economics from University of California, Berkeley.

Selected Research

Google Scholar

Affordable Housing

A Missed Opportunity? The 4% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program

Federal Housing Assistance in Los Angeles County (Co-author: Paavo Monkkonen, UCLA)

Gateway to Opportunity? Disparities in Neighborhood Conditions Among Low Income Housing Tax Credit Residents (Co-authors: Ingrid Gould Ellen, NYU; Keren M. Horn, UMass-Boston)

Effect of QAP Incentives on the Location of LIHTC Properties (Co-authors: Ingrid Gould Ellen, NYU; Keren M. Horn, UMass-Boston; Roman Pazuniak, NYU; Michael David Williams, NYU)

Neighborhoods

The Neighborhood Context of Eviction in Southern California (Co-authors: Michael Lens, UCLA; Kyle Nelson, UCLA; Ashley Gromis, Princeton)

Spatial Concentration and Spillover: Eviction Dynamics in Los Angeles Neighborhoods, 2005-2015 (Co-authors: Kyle Nelson, UCLA; Ashley Gromis, Princeton; Michael Lens, UCLA)

Gentrification and Displacement: New York City in the 2000s (Co-investigators: Justin Steil, MIT; Stacey Sutton, University of Illinois at Chicago)

Trends in Misdemeanor Arrests in Los Angeles: 2001 - 2017 (Co-authors: Michael Lens, UCLA; Michael A. Stoll, UCLA)

State of New York City’s Housing & Neighborhoods - 2013, 2014 (NYU Furman Center)

Commercially-Zoned Vacant Lot Temporary Activation in New Orleans (New Orleans Redevelopment Authority)

Social Equity

Mortgage Experience and Closing Surprises among Same-Sex Borrowers in the United States: Evidence from the National Survey of Mortgage Originations (Co-author: Jose Loya, UCLA)

Transportation

Is Residential On-Street Parking Excessive in American Suburbia? Evidence from a Consumer Preference Survey (Co-investigator: Zhan Guo, NYU)

International Projects

Economical and Comfortable Housing Siting in Shanghai, China

Do more socially mixed neighborhoods erode or enhance social interactions? Survey evidence from Hong Kong (Co-author: Paavo Monkkonen, UCLA)

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