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Mandatory savings, credit access and home ownership: The case of the housing provident fund

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  • Yilan Xu

Abstract

Several Asian countries have established savings and loan programs called housing provident funds, which comprise of a voluntary or mandatory savings account and eligibility for discounted mortgage loans. This study evaluates the impact of a mandatory housing provident fund in China on home ownership using the China Health and Nutrition Survey from 1989 to 2009. The empirical results indicate that households enrolled in the program were more likely to own a home since the housing provident fund loans became available in 1998, and such difference was fully explained by the length of the enrolment history which was related to the housing provident fund loan benefits by program design. The success of the housing provident fund was in part attributable to its program designs that feature behavioural economics theories, such as automatic enrolment, mental accounting, and self-discipline. The empirical findings have implications for designing effective housing policies to promote home ownership.

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  • Yilan Xu, 2017. "Mandatory savings, credit access and home ownership: The case of the housing provident fund," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 54(15), pages 3446-3463, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:54:y:2017:i:15:p:3446-3463
    DOI: 10.1177/0042098016676158
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    Cited by:

    1. Somerville, Tsur & Wang, Long & Yang, Yang, 2020. "Using purchase restrictions to cool housing markets: A within-market analysis," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    2. Mengkai Chen & Yidong Wu & Guiwen Liu & Xianzhu Wang, 2020. "City economic development, housing availability, and migrants' settlement intentions: Evidence from China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 1239-1258, September.
    3. Xiang Zhang & Yanhuang Zheng & Chuanhao Tian, 2021. "Who Benefits from the Housing Provident Fund System in China? An Analysis of the Internal Rate of Return for Typical Employees with Different Incomes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, April.
    4. Hongyan Chen & Jinping Song & Huaxiong Jiang, 2023. "Inequity in Housing Welfare: Assessing the Inter-City Performance of China’s Housing Provident Fund Program," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-17, March.
    5. Chen, Mengkai & Liu, Tong & Wang, Xianzhu, 2024. "The effect of the housing provident fund on housing affordability in Urban China: A quantitative analysis," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 1-11.

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