Population Research Discovery Seminars
The Emergence of Ownership Opacity in Landed Capitalism: Consolidation, Adaptation, Evasion
Andrew Messamore, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Washington
Parrington Hall Room 360
To Join By Zoom: Register HERE
01/09/2026
12:30-1:30 PM PT
360 Parrington Hall
Co-Sponsor(s):
Declining sole proprietorship rates among landlords are viewed as indicators of growing corporate control of rental housing. However, declines in sole proprietorship may reflect the popularization of investment vehicles across amateur landlords, causing studies to overestimate the ownership share of firms. Moving beyond political economy, this presentation conceptualizes landed capitalism as a complex and adaptive housing system, and proposes declines in sole proprietorship reflect the emergence of ownership opacity across the landlord population. Evaluating this perspective through an enumeration of landownership in Austin, Texas, results from longitudinal analysis show that the ownership share of small landlords is stable, but that processes of portfolio consolidation, investor adaptation, and regulatory evasion are encouraging opaque ownership structures across landlords of nearly all sizes. These findings suggest ownership opacity is a form of emergent complexity created by population evolution among landlords, and demonstrate the utility of housing systems theory for both the field of comparative landownership studies and policies that aim to address disparities in housing ownership and tenure.
Andrew Messamore is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington. His research is concerned with the dynamics of housing systems in the United States, including how landownership, housing investment, and property usage evolve over time. His research has been published in Social Problems, Urban Studies, Journal of Urban Affairs, Urban Affairs Review and other outlets.