IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v72y2021icp135-153.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The welfare implications of housing-related tax policies in China

Author

Listed:
  • Guo, Shen
  • Jiang, Zheng

Abstract

This paper investigates the welfare implications of two housing-related tax policies in China, the property tax and the implicit residential land tax. We use a general equilibrium model with distorted land markets and households differing in home ownerships, asset holdings, and incomes. We find that the implicit residential land tax causes a larger social welfare loss than the property tax. The social welfare loss is due to the exacerbation of land misallocations and more significantly the rising of rents that disproportionally hurts the poor renters. Our findings thus imply that the currently imposed implicit residential land tax in China should be replaced by the conventional property tax.

Suggested Citation

  • Guo, Shen & Jiang, Zheng, 2021. "The welfare implications of housing-related tax policies in China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 135-153.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:72:y:2021:i:c:p:135-153
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2020.11.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056020302707
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2020.11.006?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. Thomas Piketty & Li Yang & Gabriel Zucman, 2019. "Capital Accumulation, Private Property, and Rising Inequality in China, 1978–2015," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(7), pages 2469-2496, July.
    2. Hanming Fang & Quanlin Gu & Wei Xiong & Li-An Zhou, 2016. "Demystifying the Chinese Housing Boom," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(1), pages 105-166.
    3. Morris A. Davis, 2010. "housing and the business cycle," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics,, Palgrave Macmillan.
    4. Wu, Jing & Gyourko, Joseph & Deng, Yongheng, 2016. "Evaluating the risk of Chinese housing markets: What we know and what we need to know," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 91-114.
    5. Thomas Piketty & Li Yang & Gabriel Zucman, 2017. "Appendix to "Capital Accumulation, Private Property and Rising Inequality in China, 1978-2015"," Working Papers 201707, World Inequality Lab.
    6. Zheng Liu & Pengfei Wang & Tao Zha, 2013. "Land‐Price Dynamics and Macroeconomic Fluctuations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(3), pages 1147-1184, May.
    7. Sami Alpanda & Sarah Zubairy, 2016. "Housing and Tax Policy," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(2-3), pages 485-512, March.
    8. Bai, ChongEn & Li, Qi & Ouyang, Min, 2014. "Property taxes and home prices: A tale of two cities," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 180(1), pages 1-15.
    9. Chang, Chun & Liu, Zheng & Spiegel, Mark M., 2015. "Capital controls and optimal Chinese monetary policy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 1-15.
    10. Sami Alpanda, 2012. "Taxation, collateral use of land, and Japanese asset prices," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 819-850, October.
    11. Kamila Sommer & Paul Sullivan, 2018. "Implications of US Tax Policy for House Prices, Rents, and Homeownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(2), pages 241-274, February.
    12. Du, Zaichao & Zhang, Lin, 2015. "Home-purchase restriction, property tax and housing price in China: A counterfactual analysis," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 188(2), pages 558-568.
    13. Matteo Iacoviello, 2005. "House Prices, Borrowing Constraints, and Monetary Policy in the Business Cycle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 739-764, June.
    14. Chong-En Bai & Chang-Tai Hsieh & Yingyi Qian, 2006. "The Return to Capital in China," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 37(2), pages 61-102.
    15. Chengri Ding & Erik Lichtenberg, 2011. "Land And Urban Economic Growth In China," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(2), pages 299-317, May.
    16. Guo, Shen & Jiang, Zheng, 2019. "Optimal Fiscal Policy With Land Financing In China," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(7), pages 2649-2674, October.
    17. Carlos Garriga & Rodolfo Manuelli & Adrian Peralta-Alva, 2019. "A Macroeconomic Model of Price Swings in the Housing Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(6), pages 2036-2072, June.
    18. Floetotto, Max & Kirker, Michael & Stroebel, Johannes, 2016. "Government intervention in the housing market: Who wins, who loses?," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 106-123.
    19. Jipeng Zhang & Jianyong Fan & Jiawei Mo, 2017. "Government Intervention, Land Market, And Urban Development: Evidence From Chinese Cities," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(1), pages 115-136, January.
    20. Chu, Shiou-Yen, 2018. "Macroeconomic policies and housing market in Taiwan," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 404-421.
    21. Chambers, Matthew & Garriga, Carlos & Schlagenhauf, Don E., 2009. "Housing policy and the progressivity of income taxation," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 1116-1134, November.
    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. Shangfa Hou & Jiaying Wang & Degui Zhu, 2022. "Has the Newly Imposed Property Tax Controlled Housing Prices? An Analysis of China’s 2009–2020 Interprovincial Panel Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-18, November.

    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. Agarwal, Sumit & Li, Keyang & Qin, Yu & Wu, Jing & Yan, Jubo, 2020. "Tax evasion, capital gains taxes, and the housing market," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    2. Shenzhe Jiang & Jianjun Miao & Yuzhe Zhang, 2019. "China’s Housing Bubble, Infrastructure Investment, and Economic Growth," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series WP2020-005, Boston University - Department of Economics.
    3. Gyourko, Joseph & Shen, Yang & Wu, Jing & Zhang, Rongjie, 2022. "Land finance in China: Analysis and review," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    4. Hamed Ghiaie & Jean‐François Rouillard, 2022. "Housing tax expenditures and financial intermediation," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(2), pages 937-970, May.
    5. Hamed Ghiaie & Jean-François Rouillard, 2018. "Housing Taxation and Financial Intermediation," Cahiers de recherche 18-01, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke, revised Nov 2018.
    6. Dieppe, Alistair & Gilhooly, Robert & Han, Jenny & Korhonen, Iikka & Lodge, David, 2018. "The transition of China to sustainable growth – implications for the global economy and the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 206, European Central Bank.
    7. Sami Alpanda & Sarah Zubairy, 2016. "Housing and Tax Policy," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 48(2-3), pages 485-512, March.
    8. Bielecki, Marcin & Stähler, Nikolai, 2022. "Labor Tax Reductions In Europe: The Role Of Property Taxation," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(2), pages 419-451, March.
    9. Jia Pengfei & Lim King Yoong, 2021. "Tax Policy and Toxic Housing Bubbles in China," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 21(1), pages 151-183, January.
    10. Liberati, Danilo & Loberto, Michele, 2019. "Taxation and housing markets with search frictions," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    11. Yongheng Deng & Jing Wu & Yang Tang & ping wang, 2019. "Spatial Misallocation in Chinese Housing and Land Markets," 2019 Meeting Papers 1351, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    12. Stähler, Nikolai, 2019. "Who benefits from using property taxes to finance a labor tax wedge reduction?," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    13. Bertrand Achou & Hippolyte d'Albis & Eleni Iliopulos, 2021. "Real Estate and Rental Markets during Covid Times," Documents de recherche 21-02, Centre d'Études des Politiques Économiques (EPEE), Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne.
    14. Zhou, Zhengyi, 2018. "Housing market sentiment and intervention effectiveness: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 91-110.
    15. Myroslav Pidkuyko, 2023. "Heterogeneous Spillovers of Housing Credit Policy," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 51, pages 39-59, December.
    16. Zhu, Guozhong & Dale-Johnson, David, 2020. "Transition to the property tax in China: A dynamic general equilibrium analysis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    17. Chen, Xin & Qin, Yaohua & Xiao, He & Zhang, Yifei, 2019. "Microfinancing and Home-purchase Restrictions: Evidence from the Online “Peer-to-Peer” Lending in China," MPRA Paper 95375, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Charles Ka Yui LEUNG, 2022. "Housing and Macroeconomics," ISER Discussion Paper 1197, Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University.
    19. Davis, Morris A. & Van Nieuwerburgh, Stijn, 2015. "Housing, Finance, and the Macroeconomy," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 753-811, Elsevier.
    20. Sun, Tianyu & Chand, Satish & Sharpe, Keiran, 2018. "Effect of Aging on Urban Land Prices in China," MPRA Paper 89237, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing; Fiscal policy; Welfare;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • R38 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Government Policy

    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:reveco:v:72:y:2021:i:c:p:135-153. 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/inca/620165 .

    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.