IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chieco/v50y2018icp101-116.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Living arrangements of the elderly: A new perspective from choice constraints in China

Author

Listed:
  • Fan, Ying
  • Fang, Shuai
  • Yang, Zan

Abstract

As the foundation of elderly care, living arrangements are closely connected with the physical and psychological well-being of the elderly and the social resources allocation. The objective of this study is to understand the constraints between the preferred and actual choices of elderly living arrangements in China. We first establish a standardized theoretical model and derive two hypotheses on choice constraints. Based on the CHARLS database, we empirically test the theoretical hypotheses based on multiple-step empirical tests. Our findings are as follows. 1) The correlation between elderly income and the likelihood of living with their children is nonlinear: when the elderly prefers to live apart, their higher absolute income provides a greater likelihood that they can do so, and when they prefer to live with their children, the relative income of the elderly and their children are important in the likelihood of living together. 2) The poorer the health status of the elderly, the greater likelihood that they live with their children, particularly if they have daughters. The results are robust after controlling for the potential endogeneity issue, the passive choice situation, and volatility in preference.

Suggested Citation

  • Fan, Ying & Fang, Shuai & Yang, Zan, 2018. "Living arrangements of the elderly: A new perspective from choice constraints in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 101-116.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:50:y:2018:i:c:p:101-116
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2018.04.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X18300427
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chieco.2018.04.001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Axel Borsch-Supan & Vassilis Hajivassiliou & Laurence J. Kotlikoff, 1992. "Health, Children, and Elderly Living Arrangements: A Multiperiod-Multinomial Probit Model with Unobserved Heterogeneity and Autocorrelated Errors," NBER Chapters, in: Topics in the Economics of Aging, pages 79-108, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Hoerger, Thomas J & Picone, Gabriel A & Sloan, Frank A, 1996. "Public Subsidies, Private Provision of Care and Living Arrangements of the Elderly," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(3), pages 428-440, August.
    3. Eric V. Edmonds & Kristin Mammen & Douglas L. Miller, 2005. "Rearranging the Family?: Income Support and Elderly Living Arrangements in a Low-Income Country," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(1).
    4. David N. Well, 2007. "Accounting for the Effect Of Health on Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 1265-1306.
    5. Gary V. Engelhardt & Jonathan Gruber & Cynthia D. Perry, 2005. "Social Security and Elderly Living Arrangements: Evidence from the Social Security Notch," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(2).
    6. Liliana E. Pezzin & Peter Kemper & James Reschovsky, 1996. "Does Publicly Provided Home Care Substitute for Family Care? Experimental Evidence with Endogenous Living Arrangements," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 31(3), pages 650-676.
    7. Merril Silverstein & Zhen Cong & Shuzhuo Li, 2006. "Intergenerational Transfers and Living Arrangements of Older People in Rural China: Consequences for Psychological Well-Being," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(5), pages 256-266.
    8. Van Houtven, Courtney Harold & Norton, Edward C., 2004. "Informal care and health care use of older adults," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 1159-1180, November.
    9. Fang Cai & John Giles & Philip O'Keefe & Dewen Wang, 2012. "The Elderly and Old Age Support in Rural China : Challenges and Prospects," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 2249, December.
    10. Sarma, Sisira & Simpson, Wayne, 2007. "A panel multinomial logit analysis of elderly living arrangements: Evidence from aging in Manitoba longitudinal data, Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(12), pages 2539-2552, December.
    11. Julie DaVanzo & Angelique Chan, 1994. "Living arrangements of older malaysians: Who coresides with their adult children?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 31(1), pages 95-113, February.
    12. repec:wbk:wbpubs:6007 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Laurence J. Kotlikoff & John N. Morris, 1990. "Why Don't the Elderly Live with Their Children? A New Look," NBER Chapters, in: Issues in the Economics of Aging, pages 149-172, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Giles, John & Wang, Dewen & Zhao, Changbao, 2010. "Can China's rural elderly count on support from adult children ? implications of rural-to-urban migration," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5510, The World Bank.
    15. Liu, Guangya & Dupre, Matthew E. & Gu, Danan & Mair, Christine A. & Chen, Feinian, 2012. "Psychological well-being of the institutionalized and community-residing oldest old in China: The role of children," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(10), pages 1874-1882.
    16. Cavaco, Sandra & Etienne, Jean-Michel & Skalli, Ali, 2007. "Identifying causal paths between health and socio-economic status: Evidence from European older workforce surveys," Working Papers 07-8, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Department of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cheung, Hiu Ying & Fu, Yu Qi & Yang, Zan, 2023. "Older People’s Choice of the Community-based Care: A Welfare Pluralism Perspective," Working Paper Series 23/7, Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance.
    2. Hanewald, Katja & Bateman, Hazel & Fang, Hanming & Wu, Shang, 2020. "Is there a demand for reverse mortgages in China? Evidence from two online surveys," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 19-37.
    3. Feng, Lyubing & He, Yuxi & Zhan, Peng, 2023. "Economic independence and living arrangements of older women with agricultural Hukou in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    4. Qian Song & Luoman Bao & Jeffery A. Burr, 2023. "The Structure and Transition of “Extended Living Arrangements” in Later Life: Evidence from Rural China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 365-395, September.
    5. Zhaohua Zhang & Yuxi Luo & Derrick Robinson, 2019. "Who Are the Beneficiaries of China’s New Rural Pension Scheme? Sons, Daughters, or Parents?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-16, August.
    6. Fan, Ying & Fu, Yuqi & Yang, Zan & Chen, Ming, 2023. "Search Frictions in Rental Markets: Evidence from Urban China," Working Paper Series 23/11, Royal Institute of Technology, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management & Banking and Finance.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lingguo Cheng & Hong Liu & Ye Zhang & Zhong Zhao, 2018. "The heterogeneous impact of pension income on elderly living arrangements: evidence from China’s new rural pension scheme," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 155-192, January.
    2. Matteo Lippi Bruni & Cristina Ugolini, 2016. "Delegating home care for the elderly to external caregivers? An empirical study on Italian data," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 155-183, March.
    3. Engelhardt, Gary V. & Greenhalgh-Stanley, Nadia, 2010. "Home health care and the housing and living arrangements of the elderly," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 226-238, March.
    4. Sandrine Juin, 2016. "Care for dependent elderly people : dealing with health and financing issues," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph16-02 edited by Thomas Barnay, December.
    5. Hsin-Ling Hsieh & Shin-Yi Chou & Echu Liu & Hsien-Ming Lien, 2015. "Strengthening or Weakening? The Impact of Universal Health Insurance on Intergenerational Coresidence in Taiwan," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(3), pages 883-904, June.
    6. Fengming Chen & Hiroshi Yoshida, 2016. "Number of Children and Living Arrangements of the Elderly in China," TERG Discussion Papers 352, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Tohoku University.
    7. Matteo Lippi Bruni & Cristina Ugolini, 2016. "Delegating home care for the elderly to external caregivers? An empirical study on Italian data," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 155-183, March.
    8. Joan Costa-Font & Sergi Jiménez-Martín & Cristina Vilaplana-Prieto, 2016. "Thinking of Incentivizing Care? The Effect of Demand Subsidies on Informal Caregiving and Intergenerational Transfers," Working Papers 2016-08, FEDEA.
    9. Thomas Barnay & Sandrine Juin, 2014. "Does care to dependent elderly people living at home increase their mental health?," TEPP Working Paper 2014-06, TEPP.
    10. Sarma, Sisira & Simpson, Wayne, 2007. "A panel multinomial logit analysis of elderly living arrangements: Evidence from aging in Manitoba longitudinal data, Canada," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(12), pages 2539-2552, December.
    11. Orsini, Chiara, 2010. "Changing the way the elderly live: Evidence from the home health care market in the United States," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1-2), pages 142-152, February.
    12. Darius Lakdawalla & Tomas Philipson, 1999. "Aging and the Growth of Long-Term Care," NBER Working Papers 6980, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Liu, Yinan & Zai, Xianhua, 2022. "The Unintended Effect of Medicaid Aging Waivers on Informal Caregiving," EconStor Preprints 249566, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    14. Sarah Karlsberg Schaffer, 2015. "The Effect of Free Personal Care for the Elderly on Informal Caregiving," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(S1), pages 104-117, March.
    15. Gary V. Engelhardt & Nadia Greenhalgh-Stanley, 2008. "Public Long-Term Care Insurance and the Housing and Living Arrangements of the Elderly: Evidence from Medicare Home Health Benefits," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College wp2008-15, Center for Retirement Research, revised Dec 2008.
    16. Jie Pan & Gary Wagner, 2011. "The Effect of State Tax Preferences on the Living Arrangements of Elderly Individuals," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 17(2), pages 193-210, May.
    17. Barnay, Thomas & Juin, Sandrine, 2016. "Does home care for dependent elderly people improve their mental health?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 149-160.
    18. Michelle Sovinsky & Steven Stern, 2016. "Dynamic modelling of long-term care decisions," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 463-488, June.
    19. Goda, Gopi Shah & Golberstein, Ezra & Grabowski, David C., 2011. "Income and the utilization of long-term care services: Evidence from the Social Security benefit notch," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 719-729, July.
    20. repec:kap:iaecre:v:17:y:2011:i:2:p:193-210 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Mommaerts, Corina, 2018. "Are coresidence and nursing homes substitutes? Evidence from Medicaid spend-down provisions," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 125-138.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Elderly living arrangement; Preference; Choice constraint; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:50:y:2018:i:c:p:101-116. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chieco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.