IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jhouse/v33y2016icp34-58.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Housing price appreciation, investment opportunity, and firm innovation: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Rong, Zhao
  • Wang, Wenchun
  • Gong, Qiang

Abstract

The impact of housing price appreciation on firm innovation may be negative. Housing price appreciation generates real estate investment opportunities with high returns, making manufacturing firms more likely to diversify into the real estate industry. With limited resources, once investing in real estate development, these firms will invest less in innovation. By examining manufacturing firms in China for the period 1999–2007, we provide evidence by finding that housing price appreciation negatively influenced manufacturing firms’ innovation propensities. Additionally, we further explore the underlying mechanism by examining the likelihood of listed firms’ diversification into the real estate industry, and how the diversification influenced their patenting. Consistent with the investment opportunity hypothesis, we find that (1) housing price appreciation stimulated firms to enter the real estate industry, and a firm's invention patenting was negatively influenced subsequent to its real estate diversification; (2) the negative effect was more pronounced where housing price growth rates were higher.

Suggested Citation

  • Rong, Zhao & Wang, Wenchun & Gong, Qiang, 2016. "Housing price appreciation, investment opportunity, and firm innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 34-58.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhouse:v:33:y:2016:i:c:p:34-58
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhe.2016.04.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1051137716300675
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jhe.2016.04.002?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. Lu, Jiangyong & Tao, Zhigang, 2009. "Trends and determinants of China's industrial agglomeration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 167-180, March.
    2. Philippe Aghion & John Van Reenen & Luigi Zingales, 2013. "Innovation and Institutional Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(1), pages 277-304, February.
    3. Thomas Chaney & David Sraer & David Thesmar, 2012. "The Collateral Channel: How Real Estate Shocks Affect Corporate Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2381-2409, October.
    4. Hongbin Cai & J. Vernon Henderson & Qinghua Zhang, 2013. "China's land market auctions: evidence of corruption?," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 44(3), pages 488-521, September.
    5. Acharya, Viral V. & Almeida, Heitor & Campello, Murillo, 2007. "Is cash negative debt? A hedging perspective on corporate financial policies," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 16(4), pages 515-554, October.
    6. Holz, Carsten A. & Lin, Yi-min, 2001. "The 1997-1998 break in industrial statistics: Facts and appraisal," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 303-316.
    7. Miao, Jianjun & Wang, Pengfei, 2014. "Sectoral bubbles, misallocation, and endogenous growth," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 153-163.
    8. Marianne Bertrand & Erzo F. P. Luttmer & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2000. "Network Effects and Welfare Cultures," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 1019-1055.
    9. repec:bla:jfinan:v:59:y:2004:i:4:p:1777-1804 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Douglas J. Miller, 2004. "Firms' technological resources and the performance effects of diversification: a longitudinal study," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(11), pages 1097-1119, November.
    11. 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.
    12. Hongbin Cai & Qiao Liu, 2009. "Competition and Corporate Tax Avoidance: Evidence from Chinese Industrial Firms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 119(537), pages 764-795, April.
    13. Bronwyn H. Hall, 1992. "Investment and Research and Development at the Firm Level: Does the Source of Financing Matter?," NBER Working Papers 4096, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    15. Andrea L. Eisfeldt & Adriano A. Rampini, 2009. "Leasing, Ability to Repossess, and Debt Capacity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(4), pages 1621-1657, April.
    16. Seru, Amit, 2014. "Firm boundaries matter: Evidence from conglomerates and R&D activity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(2), pages 381-405.
    17. Leland, Hayne E & Pyle, David H, 1977. "Informational Asymmetries, Financial Structure, and Financial Intermediation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(2), pages 371-387, May.
    18. Jefferson, Gary & Hu, Albert G. Z. & Guan, Xiaojing & Yu, Xiaoyun, 2003. "Ownership, performance, and innovation in China's large- and medium-size industrial enterprise sector," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 89-113.
    19. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    20. Brandt, Loren & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes & Zhang, Yifan, 2012. "Creative accounting or creative destruction? Firm-level productivity growth in Chinese manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 339-351.
    21. Hall, Bronwyn H. & Lerner, Josh, 2010. "The Financing of R&D and Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 609-639, Elsevier.
    22. Songtao Wang & Su Han Chan & Bohua Xu, 2012. "The Estimation and Determinants of the Price Elasticity of Housing Supply: Evidence from China," Journal of Real Estate Research, American Real Estate Society, vol. 34(3), pages 311-344.
    23. Wu, Jing & Gyourko, Joseph & Deng, Yongheng, 2015. "Real estate collateral value and investment: The case of China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 43-53.
    24. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Tian, Xuan & Xu, Yan, 2014. "Financial development and innovation: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 116-135.
    25. Arthur Grimes & Andrew Aitken, 2010. "Housing Supply, Land Costs and Price Adjustment," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 325-353, June.
    26. Oliver Hart & John Moore, 1994. "A Theory of Debt Based on the Inalienability of Human Capital," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(4), pages 841-879.
    27. Gan, Jie, 2007. "Collateral, debt capacity, and corporate investment: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(3), pages 709-734, September.
    28. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/75koqefued8i7pihbrl9u84p4u is not listed on IDEAS
    29. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    30. Barro, Robert J, 1976. "The Loan Market, Collateral, and Rates of Interest," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 8(4), pages 439-456, November.
    31. George A. Akerlof, 1970. "The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 84(3), pages 488-500.
    32. Moulton, Brent R, 1990. "An Illustration of a Pitfall in Estimating the Effects of Aggregate Variables on Micro Unit," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 334-338, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Huang, Jialin & Rong, Zhao, 2017. "Housing boom, real estate diversification, and capital structure: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 74-95.
    2. Chen, Pu & Wang, Chunyang & Liu, Yangyan, 2015. "Real estate prices and firm borrowings: Micro evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 296-308.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/75koqefued8i7pihbrl9u84p4u is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Einar C. Kjenstad & Anil Kumar, 2022. "The effect of real estate prices on peer firms," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1022-1053, December.
    5. Thomas Chaney & David Sraer & David Thesmar, 2012. "The Collateral Channel: How Real Estate Shocks Affect Corporate Investment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2381-2409, October.
    6. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/75koqefued8i7pihbrl9u84p4u is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Wu, Jing & Gyourko, Joseph & Deng, Yongheng, 2015. "Real estate collateral value and investment: The case of China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 43-53.
    8. Mao, Yifei, 2021. "Managing innovation: The role of collateral," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1).
    9. Cheol Eun & Lingling Wang & Tim Zhang, 2022. "House Price Growth Synchronization and Business Cycle Alignment," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 675-710, November.
    10. Alimov, Azizjon, 2016. "Product market effects of real estate collateral," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 75-92.
    11. Nuri Ersahin & Rustom M. Irani, 2015. "Collateral Values and Corporate Employment," Working Papers 15-30, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    12. Nuri Ersahin & Rustom M. Irani, 2015. "Collateral Values and Corporate Employment," Working Papers 15-30r, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    13. Jie Deng & Jingjing Yang, 2020. "The effect of corporate real estate ownership on R&D innovation: credit relief vs. resource replacement in China," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 34(1), pages 44-62, May.
    14. Li, Tongxia & Lu, Chun & Chen, Zhihua, 2023. "The unintended consequence of collateral-based financing: Evidence from corporate cost behavior," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    15. Beladi, Hamid & Deng, Jie & Hu, May, 2021. "Cross-border investment and corporate innovation: Evidence from the Chinese market," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    16. Jing Wu & Joseph Gyourko & Yongheng Deng, 2013. "Is There Evidence of a Real Estate Collateral Channel Effect on Listed Firm Investment in China?," NBER Working Papers 18762, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Wu, Yan & Heerink, Nico & Yu, Linhui, 2020. "Real estate boom and resource misallocation in manufacturing industries: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    18. Liu, Guanchun & Liu, Yuanyuan & Ye, Yongwei & Zhang, Chengsi, 2021. "Collateral menus and corporate employment: Evidence from China's Property Law," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 686-709.
    19. Weng, Qian & Söderbom, Måns, 2018. "Is R&D cash flow sensitive? Evidence from Chinese industrial firms," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 77-95.
    20. Qianhui Yu & Yanying Chen & Feng Helen Liang, 2021. "Housing Market Speculation and Firm Productivity: Evidence from China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 29(5), pages 148-174, September.
    21. Tao Chen & Jarrad Harford & Chen Lin, 2017. "Financial Flexibility and Corporate Cash PolicyAbstract: Debt capacity creates financial flexibility and collateral-based debt capacity is the least sensitive to cash flow shocks. Using variation in r," Working Papers 052017, Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research.
    22. Rong, Zhao & Zhang, Fuxin & Chen, Shi, 2023. "Short-term loans and Firms' high-quality innovation: Evidence from the access to patent-backed loans in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing price appreciation; Firm innovation; Diversification; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • P20 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - General
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General

    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:jhouse:v:33:y:2016:i:c:p:34-58. 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/622881 .

    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.