CSDE Computational Demography Working Group (CDWG): Andrew Messamore (04/15/26)
Posted: 4/9/2026 (CSDE Workshop and Local Events)
On April 15th from 10-11AM PST, the UW Computational Demography Working Group will host CSDE Affiliate Dr. Andrew Messamore (Sociology). Dr. Messamore will deliver a talk titled “The Emergence of Ownership Opacity in Landed Capitalism: Consolidation, Adaptation, Evasion The talk will be held in person at Raitt 223.
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.
Date: 04/15/2026
Time: 10 - 11 AM
Location: Raitt 223