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Do housing regulations affect child development? Evidence and mechanisms

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  • Li, Han
  • Li, Jiangyi
  • Lu, Yi
  • Xie, Huihua

Abstract

This study analyzes the effects of housing policies on child development. By exploiting the policy-induced discontinuity in house size in China, we find that favorable housing policies significantly reduce children’s cognitive skills, lessen their beliefs in an internal locus of control, and decrease their self-esteem but have little impact on their physical health or depression symptoms. The heterogeneous analyses show that children at a critical stage of skill formation, girls and children with longer exposure respond more strongly to housing policies. Furthermore, our mechanism decomposition shows that parenting skills play a large role in the effect of housing wealth on child development.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Han & Li, Jiangyi & Lu, Yi & Xie, Huihua, 2023. "Do housing regulations affect child development? Evidence and mechanisms," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:227:y:2023:i:c:s0047272723001779
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2023.104995
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Housing policies; Child development; Regression discontinuity design; Cognitive and noncognitive skills;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R28 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Household Analysis - - - Government Policy
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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