University education, homeownership and housing wealth

Haining Wang, Zhiming Cheng, Russell Smyth, Gong Sun, Jie Li and Wangshuai Wang

China Economic Review, 2022, vol. 71, issue C

Abstract: We utilise the implementation of the 1999 higher education expansion in China as a natural experiment to examine the relationship between university educational attainment, homeownership and housing wealth. Using data from the 2018 China Family Panel Studies, results from our preferred models, which correct for endogeneity, suggest that having a university qualification generates a 3.5–6.3 percentage points increase in the probability of homeownership and a 24.3–51.1 percentage points increase in total housing wealth. We also find that holding a university qualification increases the number of houses one owns and housing wealth for those whose housing wealth is above the median. We find that self-reported social status and entitlement to superannuation are channels through which higher education affects homeownership and housing wealth and that financial literacy is a channel through which higher education affects housing wealth. We find considerable heterogeneity in the impact of higher education on housing outcomes across gender, family income levels, parent education and between urban and rural areas.

Keywords: China; Higher education; Homeownership; Housing wealth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I24 I26 R31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:chieco:v:71:y:2022:i:c:s1043951x21001607

DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2021.101742

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