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Faculty

Richard K. Green

Professor

Director and Chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate

Chair, Wilbur H. Smith III Department of Real Estate Development

Richard Green headshot

Education

Ph.D. in Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Expertise

Economics
Housing markets
Housing policy
Tax policy
Transportation
Mortgage finance
Urban growth

Biography

Richard K. Green, Ph.D., is the Director of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate. He holds the Lusk Chair in Real Estate and is a Professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and the Marshall School of Business.

Prior to joining the USC faculty, Dr. Green spent four years as the Oliver T. Carr, Jr., Chair of Real Estate Finance at The George Washington University School of Business. He was Director of the Center for Washington Area Studies and the Center for Real Estate and Urban Studies at that institution. Dr. Green also taught real estate finance and economics courses for 12 years at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was Wangard Faculty Scholar and Chair of Real Estate and Urban Land Economics. He also has been principal economist and director of financial strategy and policy analysis at Freddie Mac. More recently, he was a visiting professor of real estate at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and he continues to retain an affiliation with Wharton. He is or has been involved with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, the Conference of Business Economists, the Center for Urban Land Economics Research, and the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. Dr. Green also is a Weimer Fellow at the Homer Hoyt Institute and a member of the faculty of the Selden Institute for Advanced Studies in Real Estate. He was recently President of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association.

Dr. Green earned his Ph.D. and M.S. in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He earned his A.B. in economics from Harvard University.

His research addresses housing markets, housing policy, tax policy, transportation, mortgage finance and urban growth. He is a member of two academic journal editorial boards, and a reviewer for several others. His work is published in a number of journals including the American Economic Review, Journal of Economic Perspectives, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Journal of Urban Economics, Land Economics, Regional Science and Urban Economics, Real Estate Economics, Housing Policy Debate, Journal of Housing Economics, and Urban Studies. His book with Stephen Malpezzi, A Primer on U.S. Housing Markets and Housing Policy, is used at universities throughout the country. His work has been cited or he has been quoted in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor, the Los Angeles Times, Newsweek and the Economist, as well as other outlets. He recently gave a presentation at the 31st annual Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Economic Symposium, where his work was cited by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. The National Association of REALTORS, the Ford Foundation, and the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy have funded grants to support some of Dr. Green’s research. He consults for the World Bank.

In 1995, Dr. Green was honored as “Teacher of the Year” by the University of Wisconsin Graduate Business Association, and soon thereafter was inducted into that University’s Teaching Academy.

Selected Publications

Affiliated Research Centers

Lusk Center for Real Estate

Advancing real estate knowledge, informing business practice, and addressing timely issues that affect the real estate industry, the urban economy, and public policy.

Bedrosian Center on Governance

Effective governance is essential to the quality of life of all Americans. The center is dedicated to understanding and improving the nature of democratic governance, policymaking, and management of the public enterprise in the 21st century. The center provides a highly visible focal point for imaginative research, policy analysis, and dialogue across the university. Through public discussion, the center focuses on pressing issues facing society and integrates conversations with civic education, which is at the heart of strong communities.

Kudos

April 17, 2024 Dr. Green is made a non-resident fellow of the Urban Institute.

April 1, 2024 Dr. Green is made a member of the World Cities Summit Knowledge Council by the Singapore Center for Sustainable Cities.