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INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The Mobile Home Industry In 1999, almost 8.5 million of the nation's 115 million housing units were mobile homes. This was 7.3 percent of the housing stock, up from 6.5 percent of the housing stock in 1987. Of the more than 338 thousand mobile homes added to the U.S. housing stock in 1999, more than 10 percent were added in the western states. As the number of Americans living in mobile homes increases, more attention is being paid to mobile home parks, their management and associated public policies. Among the issues of great interest are the effects of various types of mobile home rent control. The imposition of rent controls in many California jurisdictions has been shown to explain declining shipments of mobile homes to California (Hirsch and Rufolo, 1999). More up-to-date time series data for California also show that from 1983- 2003 (through the month of May), the number of mobile homes subject to rent controls increased. While we do not have data on the growth in the actual portion of the stock of mobile homes under rent control, Figures la through lc show this by various mobile home descriptors, Total Traded Square Feet, Total Traded Value (constant dollars), and the Number of Transactions. Economic Theory and Background Price controls, especially rent controls, have long interested economists. Most of the available literature addresses rent control for apartments — some of which may be relevant to the case of mobile homes. There appears to be widespread agreement on a number of points. While some renters benefit from lower rents, there are costs3. Economic theory underscores how rent controls create various problems. Below -market prices, if enforced, create opportunities for non -price rationing. In this case, many people are obliged to waste time and effort chasing down access to the limited supply. These resource expenditures do not accrue to any sellers and cannot be converted to product. This has been called a "deadweight" efficiency loss. Also, maintenance of the existing housing stock and investment in new stock are expected to decline. In fact, abandonment of housing stock by owners has also been observed. Housing conversions and demolitions have also been attributed to rent controls, an outcome further reducing the housing stock. Additional efficiency losses come from renters failing to adjust their housing consumption as their circumstances change because they want to hold on