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Housing wealth, fertility and children's health in China: A regression discontinuity design

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  • Ang, Geer
  • Tan, Ya
  • Zhai, Yingjia
  • Zhang, Fan
  • Zhang, Qinghua

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of housing wealth on fertility outcomes through a regression discontinuity design based on a 2006 Chinese housing-market policy. Our analysis reveals that the positive impact of this policy on housing wealth significantly enhances the likelihood of fertility by 7.3 %. Our result implies that a 1 % increase in housing wealth can raise the fertility rate by 0.18 %. Furthermore, we observe that children born subsequent to the positive housing wealth shock exhibit improved health, not only at birth but also over the long term. Lastly, we present suggestive evidence suggesting that both parental pre-birth time allocation and parental health may help explain the documented positive effects of housing wealth on fertility rates.

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  • Ang, Geer & Tan, Ya & Zhai, Yingjia & Zhang, Fan & Zhang, Qinghua, 2024. "Housing wealth, fertility and children's health in China: A regression discontinuity design," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:97:y:2024:i:c:s0167629624000602
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2024.102915
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing wealth; Fertility; Time allocation; Health;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R21 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Housing Demand

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