Housing price and entrepreneurship in China

Lixing Li and Xiaoyu Wu ()

Journal of Comparative Economics, 2014, vol. 42, issue 2, 436-449

Abstract: Housing price has increased dramatically in China during the past decade. The appreciation of house value could relax credit constraint and thus encourage entrepreneurship. However, a house serves as both an important investment channel and a prerequisite for marriage in China. The continuous high return of investment in housing and intensified marriage market competition make house purchase a priority for young people and their parents, which would crowd out entrepreneurial activities. Using two large datasets, we find that high housing price in general discourages entrepreneurial activities for urban adults. For house owners, while house value appreciation has a positive wealth effect, the ratio of mortgage over income has a negative effect. For non-owners, a higher ratio of housing price over income corresponds to a lower probability of entrepreneurship. This study highlights the negative consequences of surging housing price on entrepreneurship in developing countries.

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Real estate market; Housing price; Credit constraint; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J23 O18 R21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (85)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jcecon:v:42:y:2014:i:2:p:436-449

DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2013.09.001

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