IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chieco/v49y2018icp114-140.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The long-run effects of housing location on travel behavior: Evidence from China's housing reform

Author

Listed:
  • Linn, Joshua
  • Wang, Zhongmin
  • Xie, Lunyu

Abstract

Many cities in developing countries are experiencing rapid urbanization along with deteriorating traffic congestion and air quality, so it is important to understand what affects travel demand in developing countries. In this paper, we study how housing location affects travel behavior in Beijing, a city in a developing country. We use subsidized housing as a source of variation for housing location—individuals in subsidized housing live much closer to the city center than individuals in the control group. We exploit a change in the eligibility for subsidized housing generated by China's housing reforms to address the potential endogeneity of subsidized housing. We find that subsidized housing substantially reduces distances traveled for commuting and discretionary trips and that subsidized individuals are less likely to drive but have similar rates of automobile ownership. The results suggest that housing location can have long-lasting effects on travel behavior and automobile use in a developing country. We discuss policy implications of these findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Linn, Joshua & Wang, Zhongmin & Xie, Lunyu, 2018. "The long-run effects of housing location on travel behavior: Evidence from China's housing reform," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 114-140.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:49:y:2018:i:c:p:114-140
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2018.02.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X1830018X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chieco.2018.02.002?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. Xie, Lunyu, 2012. "Automobile Usage and Urban Rail Transit Expansion," RFF Working Paper Series dp-12-17-efd, Resources for the Future.
    2. Si-ming Li, 2000. "Housing Consumption in Urban China: A Comparative Study of Beijing and Guangzhou," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 32(6), pages 1115-1134, June.
    3. Cervero, Robert & Day, Jennifer, 2008. "Suburbanization and transit-oriented development in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 315-323, September.
    4. Ya Ping Wang & Yanglin Wang & Glen Bramley, 2005. "Chinese Housing Reform in State-owned Enterprises and Its Impacts on Different Social Groups," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 42(10), pages 1859-1878, September.
    5. Ya Ping Wang & Alan Murie, 1996. "The Process of Commercialisation of Urban Housing in China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 33(6), pages 971-989, June.
    6. Christopher Zegras, 2010. "The Built Environment and Motor Vehicle Ownership and Use: Evidence from Santiago de Chile," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(8), pages 1793-1817, July.
    7. Thomas J. Nechyba & Randall P. Walsh, 2004. "Urban Sprawl," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(4), pages 177-200, Fall.
    8. Zheng, Siqi & Kahn, Matthew E., 2008. "Land and residential property markets in a booming economy: New evidence from Beijing," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 743-757, March.
    9. Wang, Lanlan & Xu, Jintao & Qin, Ping, 2014. "Will a driving restriction policy reduce car trips?—The case study of Beijing, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 279-290.
    10. Youqin Huang, 2004. "Housing Markets, Government Behaviors, and Housing Choice: A Case Study of Three Cities in China," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 36(1), pages 45-68, January.
    11. Viard, V. Brian & Fu, Shihe, 2015. "The effect of Beijing's driving restrictions on pollution and economic activity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 98-115.
    12. Siqi Zheng & Matthew E. Kahn, 2013. "Understanding China's Urban Pollution Dynamics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 51(3), pages 731-772, September.
    13. Wang, Lanlan & Xu, Jintao & Zheng, Xinye & Qin, Ping, "undated". "Will a Driving Restriction Policy Reduce Car Trips? A Case Study of Beijing, China," RFF Working Paper Series dp-13-11-efd, Resources for the Future.
    14. Si-ming Li, 2010. "Evolving Residential and Employment Locations and Patterns of Commuting under Hyper Growth: The Case of Guangzhou, China," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 47(8), pages 1643-1661, July.
    15. Bo Qin & Sun Sheng Han, 2013. "Emerging Polycentricity in Beijing: Evidence from Housing Price Variations, 2001–05," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 50(10), pages 2006-2023, August.
    16. Robert E. Lucas & Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2002. "On the Internal Structure of Cities," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(4), pages 1445-1476, July.
    17. Wang, Donggen & Chai, Yanwei, 2009. "The jobs–housing relationship and commuting in Beijing, China: the legacy of Danwei," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 30-38.
    18. Zheng, Siqi & Peiser, Richard B. & Zhang, Wenzhong, 2009. "The rise of external economies in Beijing: Evidence from intra-urban wage variation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 449-459, July.
    19. Yang, Jun & Liu, Ying & Qin, Ping & Liu, Antung A., 2014. "A review of Beijing׳s vehicle registration lottery: Short-term effects on vehicle growth and fuel consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 157-166.
    20. Shing-Yi Wang, 2012. "Credit Constraints, Job Mobility, and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from a Property Reform in China," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(2), pages 532-551, May.
    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. Huang, Naqun & Ning, Guangjie & Rong, Zhao, 2022. "Destination homeownership and labor force participation: Evidence from rural-to-urban migrants in China," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    2. Li, Keyang & Qin, Yu & Wu, Jing, 2020. "Recent housing affordability in urban China: A comprehensive overview," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).

    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. Zhao, Pengjun & Zhang, Yixue, 2018. "Travel behaviour and life course: Examining changes in car use after residential relocation in Beijing," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 41-53.
    2. Zhang, Linling & Long, Ruyin & Chen, Hong, 2019. "Do car restriction policies effectively promote the development of public transport?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 100-110.
    3. Zhao, Pengjun & Lü, Bin & Roo, Gert de, 2011. "Impact of the jobs-housing balance on urban commuting in Beijing in the transformation era," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 59-69.
    4. Linn, Joshua & Wang, Zhongmin & Xie, Lunyu, 2016. "Who will be affected by a congestion pricing scheme in Beijing?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 34-40.
    5. Diao, Qinghua & Sun, Wei & Yuan, Xinmei & Li, Lili & Zheng, Zhi, 2016. "Life-cycle private-cost-based competitiveness analysis of electric vehicles in China considering the intangible cost of traffic policies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 567-578.
    6. Liu, Zhiyong & Li, Ruimin & Wang, Xiaokun(Cara) & Shang, Pan, 2018. "Effects of vehicle restriction policies: Analysis using license plate recognition data in Langfang, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 89-103.
    7. Zhao, Pengjun & Lu, Bin, 2010. "Exploring job accessibility in the transformation context: an institutionalist approach and its application in Beijing," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 393-401.
    8. Blackman, Allen & Qin, Ping & Yang, Jun, 2020. "How costly are driving restrictions? Contingent valuation evidence from Beijing," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    9. Yang, Zhenshan & Jia, Peng & Liu, Weidong & Yin, Hongchun, 2017. "Car ownership and urban development in Chinese cities: A panel data analysis," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 127-134.
    10. Gibson, Matthew & Carnovale, Maria, 2015. "The effects of road pricing on driver behavior and air pollution," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 62-73.
    11. Liu, Antung A. & Linn, Joshua & Qin, Ping & Yang, Jun, 2018. "Vehicle ownership restrictions and fertility in Beijing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 85-96.
    12. Kong, Deyang & Xia, Quhong & Xue, Yixi & Zhao, Xin, 2020. "Effects of multi policies on electric vehicle diffusion under subsidy policy abolishment in China: A multi-actor perspective," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    13. Anderson, Michael L. & Lu, Fangwen & Zhang, Yiran & Yang, Jun & Qin, Ping, 2016. "Superstitions, street traffic, and subjective well-being," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 1-10.
    14. Yang, Yuan & Wang, Can & Liu, Wenling & Zhou, Peng, 2018. "Understanding the determinants of travel mode choice of residents and its carbon mitigation potential," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 486-493.
    15. Daquan Huang & Xiaoqing Yang & Zhen Liu & Xingshuo Zhao & Fanhao Kong, 2018. "The Dynamic Impacts of Employment Subcenters on Residential Land Price in Transitional China: An Examination of the Beijing Metropolitan Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, March.
    16. Sun, Chuanwang & Zhang, Wenyue & Luo, Yuan & Xu, Yonghong, 2019. "The improvement and substitution effect of transportation infrastructure on air quality: An empirical evidence from China's rail transit construction," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 949-957.
    17. Basso, Leonardo J. & Montero, Juan-Pablo & Sepúlveda, Felipe, 2021. "A practical approach for curbing congestion and air pollution: Driving restrictions with toll and vintage exemptions," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 330-352.
    18. Liu, Zhiyong & Li, Ruimin & Wang, Xiaokun (Cara) & Shang, Pan, 2020. "Noncompliance behavior against vehicle restriction policy: A case study of Langfang, China," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 1020-1033.
    19. Yang Jiang & Pericles Zegras & Dongquan He & Qizhi Mao, 2015. "Does energy follow form? The case of household travel in Jinan, China," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 20(5), pages 701-718, June.
    20. Siqi Zheng & Weizeng Sun & Jianfeng Wu & Matthew E. Kahn, 2015. "The Birth of Edge Cities in China: Measuring the Spillover Effects of Industrial Parks," NBER Working Papers 21378, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    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:49:y:2018:i:c:p:114-140. 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.