Arbeitspapier

Housing Policies in China: Issues and Options

This article consists in three parts. The first part deals with theory. We evaluate the pros and cons of government involvement in urban housing and of renting versus ownership. In the second part, we summarize the different housing policies that have been implemented in the United States, Europe, and Asia. We draw some conclusions. In particular, we show that there is a tradeoff between encouraging home ownership and social housing since countries that have favor the former have neglected the latter (like Japan, Spain, etc.). In the third part, we use the theory and the international policy parts to address housing policy issues in China. One of the main concerns in Chinese cities is the raise of poverty mainly by “illegal” migrants (who are Chinese rural residents) living in “urban villages”. We propose two steps to fight against poverty in Chinese cities. The first one is to require that the Chinese government recognizes these “illegal” migrants by helping them becoming “legal”. The second step is to encourage social housing that directly or indirectly subsidizes housing for the poor. In that case, to fight against poverty, one can either implement place-targeted policies (like the enterprise zone programs in the US and Europe and/or housing projects in the US, UK, or France) or people-targeted policies (like the MTO programs in the US). We also discuss other issues related to poverty. In particular, we suggest that the government could also try to keep migrants in rural areas by attracting firms there and/or introduce a microfinance system that helps them become entrepreneur.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: IFN Working Paper ; No. 824

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General
Economywide Country Studies: Asia including Middle East
Thema
Urban villages
Social housing
Poverty
Place-targeted policies
People-targeted policies
China
Wohnungspolitik
Soziale Wohnungspolitik
Armutspolitik
Städtische Armut
Binnenwanderung
Stadt
China

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Zenou, Yves
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)
(wo)
Stockholm
(wann)
2010

Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:44 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
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Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Zenou, Yves
  • Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN)

Entstanden

  • 2010

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