IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/empfin/v60y2021icp39-55.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Housing returns, precautionary savings and consumption: Micro evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Pan, Xuefeng
  • Wu, Weixing

Abstract

We investigate how changes in home prices affect consumption in China via a wealth channel. Examining a panel of 7955 households via fixed effects and instrumental variable methods, we find a marginal propensity to consume out of housing wealth (home-price MPC) that is concentrated on goods consumed for pleasure rather than necessity. This trend is driven by the value of second homes rather than that of primary residences, suggesting a wealth channel. We further examine whether returns on housing investment, including rental income and home appreciation, fund the wealth channel; however, we find little supporting evidence. In contrast, a reduction in health risk increases the home-price MPC, but a reduction in income risk that also relieves precautionary saving motives does not. Our results are robust to alternative data, common-factor progress, expenditure shocks and bequest motives. We contribute by examining second homes, which carry little of the dual nature of housing that primary residences do, to identify a controversial wealth channel, and by studying the relative effects of health and income risks on the wealth channel.

Suggested Citation

  • Pan, Xuefeng & Wu, Weixing, 2021. "Housing returns, precautionary savings and consumption: Micro evidence from China," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 39-55.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:60:y:2021:i:c:p:39-55
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2020.10.006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927539820300682
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jempfin.2020.10.006?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. Kimball, Miles S, 1990. "Precautionary Saving in the Small and in the Large," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 58(1), pages 53-73, January.
    2. Christopher D. Carroll & Misuzu Otsuka & Jiri Slacalek, 2011. "How Large Are Housing and Financial Wealth Effects? A New Approach," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 43(1), pages 55-79, February.
    3. Case Karl E. & Quigley John M. & Shiller Robert J., 2005. "Comparing Wealth Effects: The Stock Market versus the Housing Market," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-34, May.
    4. Alan Greenspan & James Kennedy, 2008. "Sources and uses of equity extracted from homes," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 24(1), pages 120-144, spring.
    5. Anthony A. Defusco, 2018. "Homeowner Borrowing and Housing Collateral: New Evidence from Expiring Price Controls," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(2), pages 523-573, April.
    6. Todd Sinai & Nicholas S. Souleles, 2005. "Owner-Occupied Housing as a Hedge Against Rent Risk," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 763-789.
    7. Campbell, John Y. & Cocco, Joao F., 2007. "How do house prices affect consumption? Evidence from micro data," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(3), pages 591-621, April.
    8. Annamaria Lusardi & Olivia S. Mitchell, 2014. "The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 52(1), pages 5-44, March.
    9. Atif Mian & Kamalesh Rao & Amir Sufi, 2013. "Household Balance Sheets, Consumption, and the Economic Slump," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 128(4), pages 1687-1726.
    10. Atif Mian & Amir Sufi, 2011. "House Prices, Home Equity-Based Borrowing, and the US Household Leverage Crisis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(5), pages 2132-2156, August.
    11. Carroll, Christopher D & Kimball, Miles S, 1996. "On the Concavity of the Consumption Function," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(4), pages 981-992, July.
    12. Christopher D. Carroll, 1997. "Buffer-Stock Saving and the Life Cycle/Permanent Income Hypothesis," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(1), pages 1-55.
    13. Daniel Cooper, 2013. "House Price Fluctuations: The Role of Housing Wealth as Borrowing Collateral," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(4), pages 1183-1197, October.
    14. Neil Bhutta & Benjamin J. Keys, 2016. "Interest Rates and Equity Extraction during the Housing Boom," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(7), pages 1742-1774, July.
    15. Orazio P. Attanasio & Laura Blow & Robert Hamilton & Andrew Leicester, 2009. "Booms and Busts: Consumption, House Prices and Expectations," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 76(301), pages 20-50, February.
    16. Aditya Aladangady, 2017. "Housing Wealth and Consumption: Evidence from Geographically-Linked Microdata," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(11), pages 3415-3446, November.
    17. Jie Gan, 2010. "Housing Wealth and Consumption Growth: Evidence from a Large Panel of Households," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(6), pages 2229-2267, June.
    18. Bhatia, Kul & Mitchell, Chris, 2016. "Household-specific housing capital gains and consumption: Evidence from Canadian microdata," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 19-33.
    19. Yongheng Deng & Joseph Gyourko & Jing Wu, 2012. "Land and House Price Measurement in China," NBER Working Papers 18403, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Sumit Agarwal & Wenlan Qian, 2017. "Access to Home Equity and Consumption: Evidence from a Policy Experiment," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(1), pages 40-52, March.
    21. Arthur Kennickell & Annamaria Lusardi, 2004. "Disentangling the Importance of the Precautionary Saving Mode," NBER Working Papers 10888, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Martin Browning & Mette Gørtz & Søren Leth‐Petersen, 2013. "Housing Wealth and Consumption: A Micro Panel Study," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 0, pages 401-428, 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. Xiaoqin Sun & Yuhai Su & Honglei Liu & Chengyou Li, 2022. "The Impact of House Price on Urban Household Consumption: Micro Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-20, October.
    2. Zhe Song & Chen Hao, 2022. "Housing price and criminal crime in China: direct and indirect influence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(40), pages 4647-4663, August.
    3. Qiu, Hua & Sha, Yezhou & Zhang, Yixing, 2024. "Energy affordability and subjective well-being in China: Causal inference, heterogeneity, and the mediating role of disaster risk," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(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. Mairead Roiste & Apostolos Fasianos & Robert Kirkby & Fang Yao, 2021. "Are Housing Wealth Effects Asymmetric in Booms and Busts?," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 62(4), pages 578-628, May.
    2. Adam M Guren & Alisdair McKay & Emi Nakamura & Jón Steinsson, 2021. "Housing Wealth Effects: The Long View," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(2), pages 669-707.
    3. Lu Zhang, 2019. "Do house prices matter for household consumption?," CPB Discussion Paper 396.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    4. Khorunzhina, Natalia, 2021. "Intratemporal nonseparability between housing and nondurable consumption: Evidence from reinvestment in housing stock," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 658-670.
    5. Khorunzhina, Natalia, 2018. "Intratemporal Substitution between Housing and Nondurable Consumption: Evidence from Reinvestment in Housing Stock," MPRA Paper 88667, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Lu Zhang, 2019. "Do house prices matter for household consumption?," CPB Discussion Paper 396, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    7. Li, Cheng & Zhang, Ying, 2021. "How does housing wealth affect household consumption? Evidence from macro-data with special implications for China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Waxman, Andrew & Liang, Yuanning & Li, Shanjun & Barwick, Panle Jia & Zhao, Meng, 2020. "Tightening belts to buy a home: Consumption responses to rising housing prices in urban China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    9. Suari-Andreu, Eduard, 2021. "Housing and household consumption: An investigation of the wealth and collateral effects," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    10. Lee, Seungyoon, 2023. "House prices, homeownership, and household consumption: Evidence from household panel data in Korea," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    11. L. Arrondel & P. Lamarche & F. Savignac, 2015. "Wealth Effects on Consumption across the Wealth Distribution: Empirical Evidence," Working papers 552, Banque de France.
    12. Xiaoqin Sun & Yuhai Su & Honglei Liu & Chengyou Li, 2022. "The Impact of House Price on Urban Household Consumption: Micro Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-20, October.
    13. Piazzesi, M. & Schneider, M., 2016. "Housing and Macroeconomics," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1547-1640, Elsevier.
    14. 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.
    15. Choi, Jung Hyun & Zhu, Linna, 2022. "Has the effect of housing wealth on household consumption been overestimated? New evidence on magnitude and allocation," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    16. Bertrand Garbinti & Pierre Lamarche & Fredérique Savignac, 2024. "Wealth Heterogeneity and the Marginal Propensity to Consume out of Wealth," Working Papers 2022-02, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    17. Garbinti, Bertrand & Lamarche, Pierre & Savignac, Frédérique & Lecanu, Charlélie, 2020. "Wealth effect on consumption during the sovereign debt crisis: households heterogeneity in the euro area," Working Paper Series 2357, European Central Bank.
    18. Kessel, Dany & Tyrefors, Björn & Vestman, Roine, 2018. "The Housing Wealth Effect: Quasi-Experimental Evidence," Working Paper Series 361, Sveriges Riksbank (Central Bank of Sweden).
    19. Stephen G. Dimmock & William C. Gerken & Tyson Van Alfen, 2021. "Real Estate Shocks and Financial Advisor Misconduct," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(6), pages 3309-3346, December.
    20. Kartashova, Katya & Tomlin, Ben, 2017. "House prices, consumption and the role of non-Mortgage debt," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 121-134.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Home price; Consumption; Housing return; Precautionary saving;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • D14 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Saving; Personal Finance
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • R31 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Housing Supply and Markets

    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:empfin:v:60:y:2021:i:c:p:39-55. 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/jempfin .

    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.