Martin Vinæs Larsen

About

I study the political causes and consequences of rising inequality in housing prices, and I work to make housing a more central concern for scholars of politics and public policy. My research focuses on local land-use politics, opposition to housing development, and the political economy of social housing. I also study representation and accountability, including how mainstream parties in Europe respond to and compete with radical right parties.

I am running a European Research Council Starting Grant called POLICITY on citizen opposition to urban development. Read more about the project here.

Selected publications by topic

Housing, land use, and local opposition

• Larsen, Martin Vinæs & Niels Nyholt. Understanding NIMBYism as Local Preservationism. Journal of Politics (conditionally accepted). PDF
• Larsen, Martin Vinæs & Niels Nyholt. Understanding Opposition to Apartment Buildings. Journal of Political Institutions and Political Economy, 5(1): 39–26 (2024). PDF Data
• Larsen, Martin Vinæs & Laura Kettel. Reassessing the Impact of Local Control: When Smaller Local Governments Permit More Housing. Perspectives on Politics (Early View). PDF Data
• Andersen, Carsten B., Michael Hankinson, Martin Vinæs Larsen, Asya Magazinnik & Peter B. Mortensen. The Shape of Democracy: Jurisdiction Boundaries and the Siting of Renewable Energy Infrastructure. Revise & Resubmit. PDF
• Larsen, Martin Vinæs & Andreas Wiedemann. Constituency Lost: How the Marginalization of Social Housing Residents Undermines Partisan Incentives for Its Provision. Working paper (2025). PDF

Housing prices, inequality, and populism

• Ansell, Ben, Frederik Hjorth, Jacob Nyrup & Martin Vinæs Larsen. Sheltering Populists? House Prices and the Support for Populist Parties. Journal of Politics, 84(3): 1420–1436 (2022). PDF Data
• Larsen, Martin Vinæs, Frederik Hjorth, Kim Sønderskov & Peter Dinesen. When Do Citizens Respond Politically to the Local Economy? Evidence from Registry Data on Local Housing Markets. American Political Science Review, 113(2): 499–516 (2019). PDF Data

Representation, accountability, and electoral incentives

• Larsen, Martin Vinæs. How Do Voters Hold Politicians Accountable for Personal Welfare? Evidence of a Self-Serving Bias. The Journal of Politics, 83(2): 740–752 (2021). PDF Data
• Larsen, Martin Vinæs. Incumbent Tenure Crowds Out Economic Voting. British Journal of Political Science, 51(2): 646–665 (2021). PDF Data
• Larsen, Martin Vinæs. Is the Relationship between Political Responsibility and Electoral Accountability Causal, Adaptive and Policy-specific? Political Behavior, 41(4): 1071–1098 (2019). PDF Data
• Hjorth, Frederik, Martin Vinæs Larsen & Jacob Nyrup. Reining in the Rascals: Challenger Parties’ Path to Power. Journal of Politics, 87(2): 479–495 (2025). PDF Data
• Tromborg, Mathias & Martin Vinæs Larsen. Exploring the Connection Between Electoral Systems and Personalized Behavior among Politicians and Voters. European Journal of Political Research, 64(3): 1480–1491 (2025). PDF Data
• Egerod, Benjamin & Martin Vinæs Larsen. Can Citizens Set City Policy? Evidence From a Decentralized Welfare State. Urban Affairs Review, 57(4): 1178–1195 (2021). PDF

Misc.

• Larsen, Martin Vinæs, Gabriel Lenz & Anna Mikkelborg. Migration and the Persistence of Violence. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(48) (2024). PDF Data
• Hjorth, Frederik & Martin Vinæs Larsen. When Does Accommodation Work? Electoral Effects of Mainstream Left Position Taking on Immigration. British Journal of Political Science, 52(2): 949–957 (2022). PDF Data
• Larsen, Martin Vinæs & Asmus Leth Olsen. Reducing Bias in Citizens’ Perception of Crime Rates: Evidence From a Field Experiment on Burglary Prevalence. Journal of Politics, 82(2): 747–752 (2020). PDF Data