Share:


How do housing prices affect a city's innovation capacity? The case of China

    Yemin Ding Affiliation
    ; Lee Chin Affiliation
    ; Fangyan Li Affiliation
    ; Peidong Deng Affiliation
    ; Shufeng Cong Affiliation

Abstract

Using panel data from 269 Chinese cities, this study examined the impact of housing prices (HP) on cities’ innovation capacity (IC) in China. Firstly, a fixed effect model was used to analyze the effect of HP on cities’ IC in China, revealing that HP positively impacts cities’ IC. Next, several robustness tests were conducted to verify the finding’s reliability. Thirdly, the analysis empirically tested mediating mechanisms between HP and cities’ IC in China. The results show that, on the one hand, higher HP can improve cities’ IC by attracting talents and stimulating the growth of local fiscal revenue. On the other, increasing HP can inhibit cities’ IC in China by attracting funds into the real estate market and impeding residents’ consumption ability. Finally, the heterogeneous nature of the HP–IC link in China was further explored. This study’s results provide recommendations for the government of China on how to promote cities’ innovation performance.


First published online 24 August 2023

Keyword : housing prices, innovation, fixed effect, mechanism analysis, heterogeneity analysis, China

How to Cite
Ding, Y., Chin, L., Li, F., Deng, P., & Cong, S. (2023). How do housing prices affect a city’s innovation capacity? The case of China. Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 29(5), 1382–1404. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2023.18899
Published in Issue
Sep 19, 2023
Abstract Views
824
PDF Downloads
670
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Abelson, P., Joyeux, R., Milunovich, G., & Chung, D. (2005). Explaining house prices in Australia: 1970–2003. Economic Record, 81, S96–S103. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4932.2005.00243.x

Aghion, P., Alesina, A. F., & Trebbi, F. (2007). Democracy, technology, and growth (Working Paper No. 13180). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w13180

Aghion, P., Reenen, J. V., & Zingales, L. (2013). Innovation and institutional ownership. American Economic Review, 103(1), 277–304. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.103.1.277

Antonelli, C. (2003). The economics of innovation, new technologies and structural change. Routledge.

Arellano, M., & Bond, S. R. (1991). Some tests of specification for panel data: Monte Carlo evidence and an application to employment equations. Review of Economic Studies, 58(2), 277–297. https://doi.org/10.2307/2297968

Attanasio, O. P., Blow, L., Hamilton, R., & Leicester, A. (2009). Booms and busts: Consumption, house prices and expectations. Economica, 76(301), 20–50. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0335.2008.00708.x

Autor, D., Dorn, D., Hanson, G. H., Pisano, G., & Shu, P. (2016). Foreign competition and domestic innovation: Evidence from Us patents (Working Paper No. 22879). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w22879

Ayres, R. U., Turton, H., & Casten, T. (2007). Energy efficiency, sustainability and economic growth. Energy, 32, 634–648. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2006.06.005

Bianchi, N., & Giorcelli, M. (2020). Scientific education and innovation: From technical diplomas to university STEM degrees. Journal of the European Economic Association, 18(5), 2608–2646. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvz049

Boettke, P. J., & Marciano, A. (2017). The distance between Buchanan’s “An Economic Theory of Clubs” and Tiebout’s “A Pure Theory of Local Public Expenditures”. New insights based on an unpublished manuscript. The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, 24(2), 205–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/09672567.2016.1168464

Cai, S., Wang, H., & Zhou, X. (2021). Do city size and population density influence regional innovation output evidence from China?. Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing, 2021, 3582053. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/3582053

Caragliu, A., & Del Bo, C. F. (2019). Smart innovative cities: The impact of Smart City policies on city’s innovation. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 142, 373–383. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.07.022

Castellion, G., & Markham, S. K. (2013). Perspective: New product failure rates: Influence of argumentum ad populum and self-interest. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 30(5), 976–979. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5885.2012.01009.x

Chaney, T., Sraer, D., & Thesmar, D. (2012). The collateral channel: How real estate shocks affect corporate investment. American Economic Review, 102(6), 2381–2409. https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.102.6.2381

Chang, X., Fu, K., Low, A., & Zhang, W. (2015). Non-executive employee stock options and corporate innovation. Journal of Financial Economics, 115(1), 168–188. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2014.09.002

Cornaggia, J., & Li, J.Y. (2019). The value of access to finance: Evidence from M&As. Journal of Financial Economics, 131(1), 232–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2018.09.003

Davidov, E., & Semyonov, M. (2017). Attitudes toward immigrants in European societies. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 58(5), 359–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020715217732183

Ding, Y., Chin, L., Li, F., & Deng, P. (2022a). How does government efficiency affect health outcomes? The empirical evidence from 156 countries. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(15), 9436. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19159436

Ding, Y., Chin, L., Lu, M., & Deng, P. (2022b). Do high housing prices crowd out young professionals?- Micro-evidence from China. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2022.2142832

Ding, Y., Lee, C., & Lu, M. (2022c). Does market sentiment push up China’s housing prices? An empirical study based on the data of 45 mainstream cities in China. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10901-022-09985-7

Farre-Mensa, J., Hegde, D., & Ljungqvist, A. (2020). What is a patent worth? Evidence from the US patent “lottery”. The Journal of Finance, 75(2), 639–682. https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.12867

Fisher, I. (1930). The theory of interest. MacMillan.

Fung, H. G., Huang, A. G., Liu, Q., & Shen, M. X. (2006). The development of the real estate industry in China. Chinese Economy, 39(1), 84–102. https://doi.org/10.2753/CES1097-1475390104

Gan, J. (2007). Collateral, debt capacity, and corporate investment: Evidence from a natural experiment. Journal of Financial Economics, 85(3), 709–734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2006.06.007

Grossman, G. & Helpman, E. (1995). Technology and Trade. In G. Grossman & K. Rogoff (Eds.), Handbook of international economics 3 (pp. 1279–1337). Elsevier. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1573-4404(05)80005-X

Gu, H., Meng, X., Shen, T., & Wen, L. (2020). China’s highly educated talents in 2015: Patterns, determinants and spatial spillover effect. Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy, 13(3), 631–648. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12061-019-09322-6

Heijster, J. (2020). Imagining modernization: The symbolic embrace of GDP in China. Chinese Political Science Review, 5(1), 50–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41111-019-00132-2

Henderson, V., Kuncoro, A., & Turner, M. (1995). Industrial development in cities. Journal of Political Economy, 103(5), 1067–1090. https://doi.org/10.1086/262013

Howell, A. (2020). Industry relatedness, FDI liberalization and the indigenous innovation process in China. Regional Studies, 54(2), 229–243. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2019.1623871

Hsieh-Sheng, C. (2011). The relationship between technology industrial cluster and innovation in Taiwan. Asia Pacific Management Review, 16(3), 277–288.

Huang, Y., Qian, L., Tyfield, D., & Soopramanien, D. (2021). On the heterogeneity in consumer preferences for electric vehicles across generations and cities in China. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 167, 120687. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120687

Iammarino, S., & McCann, P. (2006). The structure and evolution of industrial clusters: Transactions, technology and knowledge spillovers. Research Policy, 35(7), 1018–1036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2006.05.004

Jalles, J. T. (2010). How to measure innovation? New evidence of the technology-growth linkage. Research in Economics, 64(2), 81–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rie.2009.10.007

Landry, C. (2001). The creative city: A toolkit for urban innovators. Community Development Journal, 36(2), 165–167. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/36.2.165

Li, L., & Zhang, X. (2020). Spatial evolution and critical factors of urban innovation: Evidence from Shanghai, China. Sustainability, 12(3), 938. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12030938

Li, W., & Zheng, M. (2016). Is it substantive innovation or strategic innovation?- Impact of Macroeconomic Policies on Micro-enterprises’ Innovation. Economic Research Journal, 51(4), 60–73 (in Chinese).

Liang, S., Zhao, J., He, S., Xu, Q., & Ma, X. (2019). Spatial econometric analysis of carbon emission intensity in Chinese provinces from the perspective of innovation-driven. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26(14), 13878–13895. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04131-3

Lin, X., Ren, T., Wu, H., & Xiao, Y. (2021). Housing price, talent movement, and innovation output: Evidence from Chinese cities. Review of Development Economics, 25(1), 76–103. https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12705

Lind, J. T., & Mehlum, H. (2010). With or without U? The appropriate test for a U-shaped relationship. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 72(1), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0084.2009.00569.x

Liu, D., & Liu, W. (2016). Trade openness and manufacturing industry’s innovation performance based on the perspective of positive and negative list. Science & Technology Progress and Policy, 33(23), 57–61 (in Chinese).

Louise, S. (1995). Housing prices and the savings of renters. Journal of Urban Economics, 38(1), 94–125. https://doi.org/10.1006/juec.1995.1024

Luo, J., & Cheng, K. (2013). The influence of FDI on energy efficiency of China: An empirical analysis based on DEA method. Applied Mechanics and Materials, 291, 1217–1220. https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.291-294.1217

Ning, L., Wang, F., & Li, J. (2016). Urban innovation, regional externalities of foreign direct investment and industrial agglomeration: Evidence from Chinese cities. Research Policy, 45(4), 830–843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2016.01.014

Sanchez-Gonzalez, G., & Herrera, L. (2015). User cooperation effects on firm’s innovation outputs. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences-Revue Canadienne Des Sciences de L Administration, 32(2), 86–101. https://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1319

Schneider, P. (2005). International trade, economic growth and intellectual property rights: A panel data study of developed and developing countries. Journal of Development Economics, 78(2), 529–547. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdeveco.2004.09.001

Shi, J., Wang, Y., &Wu, W. (2016). The crowding-out effect of real estate markets on corporate innovation: Evidence from China (Working Paper). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2720314

Simms, A., & Nichols, T. (2014). Social loafing: A review of the literature. Journal of Management and Practice, 15(1), 58.

Solow, R.M. (1957). Technical change and the aggregate production function. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 39(3), 312–320. https://doi.org/10.2307/1926047

Tian, X., & Wang, J. (2018). Research on spatial correlation in regional innovation spillover in China based on patents. Sustainability, 10(9), 3090. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093090

Wen, H., & Goodman, A.C. (2013). Relationship between urban land price and housing price: Evidence from 21 provincial capitals in China. Habitat International, 40, 9–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2013.01.004

Wen, J., Deng, P., Zhang, Q., & Chang, C. (2021). Is higher government efficiency bringing about higher innovation? Technological and Economic Development of Economy, 27(3), 626–655. https://doi.org/10.3846/tede.2021.14269

Wen, J., Feng, G., Chang, C., & Feng, Z. (2018). Stock liquidity and enterprise innovation: New evidence from China. The European Journal of Finance, 24(9), 683–713. https://doi.org/10.1080/1351847X.2017.1347573

Wong, W. L., Chin, L., & Koong, S. S. (2019). Housing prices in Peninsular Malaysia: Supported by income, foreign inflow or speculation? International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, 12(2), 424–441. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-01-2018-0001

Wong, W. L., Law, S. H., Said, R. & Chin, L. (2015), Consumption and housing wealth: A Malaysian case that demonstrates a negative relationship. International Journal of Economics and Management, 9(S), 163–180.

Yang, R., & Bao, J. (2019). Can agglomeration of productive services effectively promote urban innovation?. Modern Economic Research, (4), 80–87 (in Chinese). https://doi.org/10.13891/j.cnki.mer.2019.04.011

Yang, Z., & Pan, Y. (2020a). Are cities losing their vitality? Exploring human capital in Chinese cities. Habitat International, 96, 102104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2019.102104

Yang, Z., & Pan, Y. (2020b). Human capital, housing prices, and regional economic development: Will “vying for talent” through policy succeed?. Cities, 98, 102577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.102577

Yao, L., Li, J., & Li, J. (2020). Urban innovation and intercity patent collaboration: A network analysis of China’s national innovation system. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 160, 120185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120185

Yicai Research Institute. (2017). China’s urban and industrial innovation report 2017 was released. Retrieved December 15, 2021, from https://www.iqiyi.com/v_19rrf0zbu0.html

Yu, L., & Cai, Y. (2021). Do rising housing prices restrict city’s innovation vitality? Evidence from 288 cities in China. Economic Analysis and Policy, 72, 276–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eap.2021.08.012

Zhang, H., & Liu, Y. (2017). Economic growth and international trade effect on fiscal revenue empirical research in China area. Journal of Finance and Accounting, 5(3), 96–101. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfa.20170503.12

Zhang, J., Gao, K., & Lu, W. (2020). Human capital accumulation, innovation and economic growth. Dongyue Tribune, 41(11), 39–48 (in Chinese). https://doi.org/10.15981/j.cnki.dongyueluncong.2020.11.004