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The Relationship Between Homeownership and Life Satisfaction in Germany
Abstract
The article investigates the relationship between life satisfaction and homeownership in Germany using, SOEP data from 1992 to 2009. While controlling for personal characteristics as well as various regional and dwelling attributes, ordered logit models support a marginal, though positive relationship. In addition, other household attributes such as the condition of the dwelling and the neighborhood area, exert a significant effect on life satisfaction. Further, the results confirm a significant interaction between homeownership and the condition of the dwelling as well as homeownership and the financial burden of the household. However, regression models with fixed effects also reveal, unobserved differences between homeowners and renters. --
... Given that people experience a sharp decline in income after retirement, homeownership can be an effective strategy for sustaining their standard of living (Costa-Font, 2013). For example, not only does outright ownership reduce regular housing costs, but people can also borrow against their home equity to finance their independent living (i.e., reverse mortgage) (Zumbro, 2014). Similarly, as a growing number of older adults in Korea face socioeconomic obstacles that threaten their standard of living (OECD, 2021), many older adults value homeownership as a primary source of welfare that can mitigate financial insecurity (Doling and Ronald, 2012;Ronald and Elsinga, 2012). ...
... Several theoretical frameworks offer insights into the relationship between homeownership and psychological well-being (Manturuk, 2012;Zumbro, 2014). First, according to Social Comparison Theory (Suls et al., 2002), homeownership is viewed as a significant life milestone that can instill a sense of accomplishment compared to others (Elsinga and Hoekstra, 2005;Macintyre et al., 1998). ...
... The majority of existing literature highlights the psychosocial and economic benefits of homeownership, primarily in high-income countries, including those in Europe and North America (Damiens and Schnor, 2022;Zumbro, 2014). However, this trend is also evident in countries like Korea, where Confucian familism underscores the significance of homeownership in strengthening family bonds and enhancing living standards (J. ...
This study aims to investigate whether time since homeownership is associated with life satisfaction in older adults, and this association varies between men and women. The study analyzed data from 3,460 older adults (2,025 older women and 1,435 older men) over seven waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) spanning 12 years between 2006 and 2018. Fixed effects models were employed to estimate within-person differences in life satisfaction trajectories in response to homeownership, while accounting for unobserved individual-level confounding factors. The preferred fixed effects estimates suggest that accounting for unobserved individual-level heterogeneity significantly attenuated the association between time since homeownership and life satisfaction in older adults, although the association remained statistically significant. Gender-specific analyses revealed that this attenuation pattern was only evident in older women and not in older men. The association for older men was statistically significant in fixed effects models: Since homeownership, the life satisfaction of older men has continued to rise (up to four or more consecutive waves). The findings of this study highlight the need for policies that promote stable homeownership among older adults, particularly by addressing gender-specific factors that may influence the long-term benefits of homeownership. Implementing such policies could enhance well-being and reduce disparities in life satisfaction during later life.
... More recent studies, such as Zumbro (2014) and Seiler Zimmermann & Wanzenried (2019), use longer panel datasets from Germany and Switzerland, respectively. Both find small but significant positive effects of homeownership on life satisfaction. ...
... Finally, we checked the validity of all the linear regression models for the cognitive satisfactions using the BUC estimator (Baetschmann et al., 2015(Baetschmann et al., , 2020, which interprets the 11-point Likert scale ordinally. Linear models have been used to check the plausibility of ordinal logit models and vice versa (Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Frijters, 2004;Frijters et al., 2004;Zumbro, 2014). Most of these studies conclude that the results of linear and logistic models are similar for the common 5-to 11-point Likert scales. ...
... This paper provides indicative evidence of a positive effect of homeownership on housing satisfaction and thereby supports previous research on these relationships (Clark & Diaz-Serrano, 2023;Diaz-Serrano, 2009;Zumbro, 2014). Moreover, the insignificant effect of ownership on life satisfaction stresses the importance of housing amenities examining the ownership-SWB topic. ...
This study investigates the relationship between homeownership and subjective well-being. Using long panel data from Germany, we find supporting evidence for greater life satisfaction among owners compared to renters only when omitting housing characteristics. This effect reduces by more than half when comparing only owners with a mortgage to renters. Examining a variety of domain satisfactions, we show that owners, regardless of debt, report greater housing satisfaction. In contrast, mortgage-holding owners are significantly less satisfied with their income compared to renters. Assuming an aggregation of domain satisfactions to life satisfaction, we argue that the negative effects of the (size of the) mortgage cancel out the positive effects of homeownership. Moreover, we find a significant negative association between indebted homeowners and emotional well-being regardless of controlling for housing amenities. Finally, we find lower subjective well-being indicators with increasing debt-to-income ratios. We conclude that the mortgage of a self-occupied home imposes a burden on life and income satisfaction as well as on emotional well-being.
... Housing has been described as the foundation of social care (Windle et al., 2006) and considered a significant determinant of health and wellbeing (Hu, 2013;Zumbro, 2014;Huang et al., 2015;Ren et al., 2018;Hu and Ye, 2020). The home environment is of tremendous significance to human beings, as the residential setting is where people typically spend most of their time and contact with the most important members of one's social network (Evans et al., 2003). ...
... Sociologists and economists have substantially discussed the effects of many social and economic factors on the subjective wellbeing of citizens (Shields and Price, 2005;Diego-Rosell et al., 2018). The real estate literature also pays considerable attention to the causes of subjective wellbeing (Cattaneo et al., 2009;Nakazato et al., 2011;Zhang et al., 2018;Zhang and Zhang, 2019; but focuses mainly on the influence of homeownership status (Hu, 2013;Zumbro, 2014;Cheng et al., 2016;Ren et al., 2018;Hu and Ye, 2020). Homelessness is unquestionably a housing problem (Wright and Rubin, 1991) and is even considered the most serious housing problem (Courtney et al., 2004). ...
... The literature on wellbeing uses terms such as happiness, life satisfaction and subjective wellbeing interchangeably (Diener et al., 2002). The general determinants of life satisfaction include household demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender and marital status) and socioeconomic characteristics (e.g., income and education), occupation and social status, opportunities and social mobility, welfare provision, government policy, social networks and family tradition, neighbourhood environment and housing tenure (Appleton and Song, 2008;Hu, 2013;Zumbro, 2014;Ma et al., 2017;Ren et al., 2018;Hu and Ye, 2020). Ma et al. (2017) developed a comprehensively analytical framework to examine the determinants of life satisfaction, including objective and subjective measures. ...
This study examines the effects of housing difficulties on life satisfaction. By using longitudinal data from the China Family Panel Studies survey, we find strong evidence that households who experience housing difficulties are less satisfied with their lives than those who do not after controlling for a wide range of household demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and county and year fixed effects. Our estimated results are robust to unobservable household characteristics, model misspecification and selection bias. We also provide explanations for the negative effects of housing difficulties on life satisfaction through which housing difficulties are detrimental to physical and psychological health. Life satisfaction remains negatively associated with housing difficulties even after controlling for health status.
... There are a multitude of studies on the determinants of depression and life satisfaction (for example, [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]). The literature suggests that psychological well-being is influenced by biological (e.g., genetic difference, hormones), psychological (e.g., personality, job stress, resilience), social (e.g., socio-economic status, social support), and behavioural (e.g., helpseeking behaviours, mood amplification) factors [1,[12][13][14][15]. ...
... The positive effects of homeownership on psychological well-being have been well documented. Scholars have agreed that homeowners tend to have better mental health compared to nonhomeowners [25][26][27] unless they experience mortgage burden or foreclosure [8,33,52,55] and locational disadvantages [56]. Prior studies have shown that homeownership offers, or indicates, material resources conducive to maintaining homeowners' good health. ...
... This study reaffirmed that homeownership is beneficial to psychological well-being, which has been consistently found in prior studies not only on China (e.g., [49,56,65]), but also on other countries (e.g., [8,27,33]). Given that housing is the largest household asset, our study underpins the social causation theory and asset effect theory, positing that high SES, particularly assets in the form of homeownership, is associated with better mental health [1,16,17,22,74]. ...
This study examines how depression and life satisfaction are associated with assets in the form of homeownership in China and whether their relationships differ between men and women, and between urban and rural areas. While the psychological benefits of homeownership are well-documented, how gender makes a difference in this relationship remains unclear. Given the dynamic housing market conditions characterized by the urban-rural divide and the notable gender gap in psychological well-being, China can provide a relevant context to address this knowledge gap. A series of linear regression analyses based on the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) data show that homeownership is positively associated with life satisfaction and negatively related to depression, and this relationship is driven by men. While the homeownership-life satisfaction relation does not differ between urban and rural areas, the negative association between homeownership and depression is seen only among rural residents. The gender difference could be explained by the salient role of the financial security obtained from homeownership, whereas the regional difference seems to be supported by the social comparison theory. This study contributes to the knowledge of how a biological determinant, i.e., gender, interacts with a social determinant, i.e., homeownership, to affect psychological well-being.
... Homeownership is one of the most important life events for individuals (Will & Renz, 2022). Not only does homeownership affect one's relationship with neighbors and the community, but it also contributes to household financial stability in part because people can plan various financial strategies, such as asset building and home equity, which in turn shapes economic security (Clark & Diaz-Serrano, 2021;Fafard St-Germain & Tarasuk, 2020;Zumbro, 2014). These aspects of homeownership encourage people to spend a large portion of their household budget on housing (Dunn, 2020). ...
... This also influences people's perceptions of their ability to cope with financial adversity (Hu, 2013). Second, homeowners can be more committed to improving their homes than renters because they are more likely to place a high value on housing that can perpetually improve quality of life (Zumbro, 2014). Their willingness to keep their home in good condition can be extended to participation in community activities (e.g., volunteering and community association meetings), which contributes to a sense of community belonging (Ghimire, 2021). ...
... Despite the well-documented link between homeownership and psychological well-being Zumbro, 2014), it is unclear whether (a) time to homeownership is associated with life satisfaction and (b) this relationship varies by housing affordability stress. This study addressed these knowledge gaps. ...
Although a growing body of research documents the association between homeownership and psychological well-being, it is unclear whether (a) time to homeownership is associated with life satisfaction and (b) housing affordability stress moderates the long-term psychological consequences of homeownership. The purpose of this study is to determine whether and how life satisfaction changes before and after homeownership, and whether this pattern differs depending on housing affordability stress. The data for this study came from 16497 adults who participated in 14 waves of the Korea Welfare Panel Study between 2007 and 2020 (132899 observations). Fixed effects regression models were used to estimate within-person trajectories of life satisfaction related to time to homeownership. To examine whether housing affordability stress mitigates psychological response to homeownership, this study included interaction effects between time to homeownership and housing affordability stress. Fixed effects estimates suggest that life satisfaction began to increase in the year preceding homeownership and reached its peak at the time of homeownership. This increased life satisfaction persisted through the third and subsequent years. The results of an interaction model revealed that the association between time to homeownership and life satisfaction exists only for those without housing affordability stress. Homeownership is a significant life event that can enhance psychological well-being. This study provides evidence of anticipatory and prolonged effects of homeownership. However, homeowners experiencing housing affordability stress may not reap the full psychological benefits.
... • Housing Tenure: It is believed that individuals who own their homes have higher status and personal success, which results in higher SWB (Zumbro, 2014). According to Kemeny (2001), housing is one of the most important factors affecting the well-being of individuals, as it is closely related to security and health. ...
... Similarly, Zheng et al. (2020) stated that in China, home ownership has a positive impact on SWB regardless of any financial constraints. Similar results were also presented by Herbers and Mulder (2017), Kemeny (2001) and Zumbro (2014). Since most of our sample is single, they likely live with their parents, as is common in Egyptian culture until marriage. ...
Purpose
This paper aims to study the relationship between consumerism and Subjective Well-being (SWB), exploring to what extent the acquisition of goods contributes to personal happiness and satisfaction. Additionally, it examines the influence of diverse factors like religiosity, marital status, education, age, gender and home ownership, shedding light on their roles in shaping SWB.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses survey data from a sample of the millennial segment in Egypt and employs regression analysis to examine the relationship between consumerism and subjective well-being. To ensure a robust analysis, the researchers categorized SWB into six different categories, and regression analysis was used to test its relation with consumerism and socioeconomic factors.
Findings
The analysis shows a consistent positive correlation between consumerism and SWB. Religiosity and marital status significantly impact SWB, while other socioeconomic factors showed mixed or insignificant effects. This highlights the complex link between materialism, societal values and happiness, suggesting policy opportunities to enhance millennial well-being.
Research limitations/implications
The findings raise ideas for sustainable consumption practices to enhance SWB, urging collaborative efforts from institutions and policymakers. The study contributes to understanding SWB through Sen’s Capability Approach, emphasizing the importance of freedoms and capabilities beyond material wealth. It provides empirical insights relevant to shaping policy, education and business practices toward enhancing holistic well-being.
Originality/value
Research in the field has rarely investigated the determinants of SWB, especially in a developing country like Egypt. This study has incorporated six different methods to estimate SWB.
... In Canada and elsewhere, owners tend to report higher housing satisfaction and overall life satisfaction than renters (Elsinga and Hoekstra 2005;Balestra and Sultan 2013;Zumbro 2014;Foye 2017;Fonberg and Schellenberg 2019;Brown et al. 2021). In 2021, nearly three-quarters of Canadian owners rated their dwelling satisfaction an 8 or higher on a 0-to-10 scale, compared with slightly over half of renters (Cheng 2023). ...
... The study contributes to the literature on the link between ownership and satisfaction in two main ways. Previous studies linking ownership to satisfaction have generally focused on overall life satisfaction (Zumbro 2014;Foye et al. 2018) or housing satisfaction (Elsinga and Hoekstra 2005;Balestra and Sultan 2013), with the latter combining both dwelling and neighbourhood satisfaction effects. However, few studies integrate dwelling, neighbourhood and overall life satisfaction into a unified empirical framework. ...
On average, individuals who own their dwelling report higher satisfaction with their dwelling, neighbourhood and life than renters. These differences may reflect a positive causal impact of ownership on satisfaction. However, these differences could also reflect compositional effects, such as differences in household, dwelling and neighbourhood characteristics. Using the 2021 Canadian Housing Survey, this study shows that these differences in satisfaction narrow substantially, or disappear entirely, upon controlling for compositional effects. For instance, the majority of the dwelling satisfaction gap between renters and owners could be attributed to owners being more likely to reside in single-detached dwellings, with more bedrooms, and fewer dwelling issues such as mould or pests. Similarly, the life satisfaction gap was largely tied to household composition differences such as owners being less likely to experience financial difficulties and other differences related to their health status, marital status and age. In other words, comparable individuals living in comparable dwellings and neighbourhoods report similar satisfaction levels. This finding suggests that the impact of ownership on satisfaction, if any, is relatively small. This finding does not rule out the possibility that ownership can provide other social or economic benefits.
... Crucially, the self-reported financial pressure might differ from objective assessments of such strain. Using the German Socio-Economic Panel Study, Zumbro (2014) demonstrated that homeownership was especially crucial for low-income households and that there is a strong relationship between homeownership and the state of the housing, as well as home ownership and household financial stress. Using EU-SILC data, Balestra and Sultan (2013) ...
... Reviews are based on marginal effect and marginal effect graphs. As the real and perceived housing cost burden increases, the probability of households experiencing serious economic difficulties increases (Zumbro, 2014). Looking at Table 3, the probability of experiencing serious material deprivation increases by 13 % as the actual housing cost burden increases. ...
The aim of this study is to contribute to the poverty literature in Turkey by associating the serious economic difficulties experienced by the tenants with the
burden of housing costs. Housing costs, which are an important expenditure item
for households, reduce non-housing expenditures such as health, education, food,
and clothing, and thus cause serious economic difficulties for households. The
empirical analysis relies on data derived from the TURKSTAT Income and Living
Conditions Survey (ILCS) micro data set for 2021. We limited our research to
tenants aged 15 and over who are in the respondent of the household. We first
worked with the probit model to understand the impact of actual and perceived
housing cost burdens on household economic difficulties. In the following part, We
worked with ordered probit models to determine the probability of households
being unable to pay their electricity and water bills, rent, interest-bearing debts, or
housing loans as planned in the last 12 months, and finally being unable to meet
their total expenditures with their total income. We acted with the hypothesis that
those responsible for households who have heating problems due to insulation are
unemployed (or not working), have health problems, are married, have a low
education level, and have a low income are traditionally included in the
disadvantaged categories. Our findings indicate that as housing expenses increase,
the probability of households experiencing severe economic difficulties also
increases. As housing costs rise, individuals are more likely to be unable to pay
their rent, energy, and water bills once or twice a year. The study revealed that the
cost of living imposed a greater economic burden on vulnerable groups such as
young people, individuals with health problems, parents of children under 6 years old, unemployed, women, low-educated, those living in substandard housing, and
married individuals.
... Ordered logit or ordered probit models allow researchers to account for the ordinal nature of SWB measures and estimate how the different variables affect the likelihood of moving from one satisfaction rating to another. 13 However, when analysing ordinal panel data, there is no standard method for estimating a fixed-effects ordered logit/probit panel-data model. 14 This is because, in general, and unlike in the linear case, there is no simple transformation of the data that will eliminate the individual effects. ...
... Examples in the applied literature of the application of ordered models to our specific SWB measure from the HILDA Survey includeBrown et al. (2014),Shields et al. (2009), andZumbro (2014). 14 For example, popular econometrics and statistical software package Stata provides only a random-effects specification for its ordered logit or ordered probit panel-data models(StataCorp, 2021).15 ...
In this paper panel data is used to estimate the relationship between geographic reference income and subjective wellbeing in Australia. Recent cross-sectional US-based studies suggest that the income of other people in a neighbourhood—geographic reference income—impacts on individual wellbeing but is mediated by geographic scale. On controlling for a household’s own income, subjective wellbeing is raised by neighbourhood income and lowered by region-wide income. However, these findings could be driven by the self-selection of innately happy or unhappy individuals into higher-income areas. This study’s methodology takes advantage of panel-data modelling to show that unobserved individual heterogeneity is in fact correlated with reference income, but on curbing its impacts through the inclusion of fixed-effects we find that there is still a positive relationship between reference income and subjective wellbeing at the neighbourhood level. However, we detect no relationship at the region-wide level. Additionally, the subjective wellbeing relationship is the same no matter an individual’s rank in the distribution of incomes within an area. The neighbourhood wellbeing relationship has implications for policies addressing residential segregation and social mixing.
... In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the relationship between the residential environment and inhabitants' well-being (Bond, et al., 2012;Dong & Qin, 2017;Ettema & Schekkerman, 2016;Li & Liu, 2018;Ma, et al., 2018;Maass, et al., 2016;Mouratidis, 2021;Tsai, 2015;Yin, et al., 2020). Several studies have reported that renters have lower levels of life satisfaction than homeowners and therefore advocate the promotion of homeownership (Herbers & Mulder, 2017;Zheng, et al., 2020;Zumbro, 2014). ...
... For instance, many studies have shown that residents living in larger housing have higher residential satisfaction (Chen, et al., 2013;Foye, 2017;Huang, et al., 2015), while indoor facilities were also found to be correlated with residential satisfaction (Li, et al., 2021;Wang, et al., 2019). Another well-studied predictor is homeownership, which has been found to contribute positively to residential satisfaction and life satisfaction in many previous studies (Diaz-Serrano, 2009;Hu, 2013;Jansen, 2014;Zumbro, 2014). Since our research objects are private renters, we use another concept termed sub-sector to capture the difference among private rented dwellings. ...
The recent revival of the private rented sector in many regions highlights the importance of understanding the well-being of private renters. While there is a consensus that private renters are less satisfied with their life than homeowners, little attention has been given to examining the life satisfaction of private renters from different sub-sectors, nor has the underlying mechanism linking residential environment and life satisfaction been thoroughly investigated. The present paper aims to address these gaps by examining the life satisfaction of private renters from different sub-sectors in Shenzhen, China. We propose a model, based on Amérigo and Aragones’ (1997) theoretical framework, that links residential environment, social exclusion, and life satisfaction. The model fits well with the data collected from 619 renters. The results showed that only 38% of the respondent private renters were satisfied with their life. Furthermore, we found urban village renters were significantly less satisfied with their life compared with renters living in commercial housing and Long-term Rented Apartments. Path analysis results suggest that some objective aspects of the residential environment, renters’ perceived social exclusion, and their residential satisfaction could explain a substantial proportion of the variances in life satisfaction while the influence of demographic variables was found to be insignificant. Perceived equal citizenship rights, perceived discrimination, and perceived reasonable rent were shown to have significant effects on life satisfaction. The paper concludes with a discussion on policy implications aimed at enhancing the life satisfaction of private renters.
... In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the relationship between the residential environment and inhabitants' well-being (Bond, et al., 2012;Dong & Qin, 2017;Ettema & Schekkerman, 2016;Li & Liu, 2018;Ma, et al., 2018;Maass, et al., 2016;Mouratidis, 2021;Tsai, 2015;Yin, et al., 2020). Several studies have reported that renters have lower levels of life satisfaction than homeowners and therefore advocate the promotion of homeownership (Herbers & Mulder, 2017;Zumbro, 2014). ...
... For instance, many studies have shown that residents living in larger housing have higher residential satisfaction Foye, 2017;, while indoor facilities were also found to be correlated with residential satisfaction . Another well-studied predictor is homeownership, which has been found to contribute positively to residential satisfaction and life satisfaction in many previous studies (Diaz-Serrano, 2009;Zumbro, 2014). Since our research objects are private renters, we use another concept termed sub-sector to capture the difference among private rented dwellings. ...
In recent years, the Private Rented Sector (PRS) has witnessed rapid growth across numerous jurisdictions, with Chinese metropolises notably standing out. Throughout the history of housing policy development in China, the PRS has been largely disregarded. It was not until 2015 that the government proposed the idea of “accelerating the development of the rental housing market” to achieve a “balanced development between home renting and purchasing”. However, the PRS in China is still in its immature stage, as evidenced by unstable rents and tenure, insufficient tenant rights, low levels of tenant satisfaction, minimal institutional landlord participation, and a lack of motivation among local governments to develop the PRS. This dissertation aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the PRS in metropolitan China and explore how to improve its functioning using Shenzhen as a case study. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected to examine the determinants of tenants’ intention to rent and residential satisfaction, the relationship between residential environment, social exclusion, and life satisfaction, the impact of landlords' management practices on tenants' housing experiences, and main challenges and solutions for a well-developed PRS. The results suggest that the PRS in Shenzhen is highly heterogeneous and comprised of several distinct sub-sectors. Housing policies should be tailored to each sub-sector's unique characteristics. The dissertation also reveals that the PRS is interconnected with other institutions such as the hukou system and education system. Therefore, a well-functioning PRS depends on the simultaneous reform of other sectors and institutions.
... The literature on the determinants of individuals' subjective wellbeing is extensive, and most studies have focused on individual and household demographic characteristics (e.g., age, gender, hukou status, marital status, household size, and health status) and socioeconomic characteristics (e.g., education, religious belief, culture, social network, discrimination, employment status, consumption, income, and wealth) (e.g., Arampatzi et al., 2018;Fernández et al., 2015;Foye, 2017;Hajdu & Hajdu, 2016;Keng & Wu, 2014;Vang et al., 2019;Wang et al., 2019;Zhang et al., 2017). A small but growing strand of research in recent years has attempted to explore the role of homeownership in affecting individuals' subjective wellbeing (Elsinga & Hoekstra, 2005;Hu, 2013;Hu & Ye, 2020;Ren et al., 2018;Zumbro, 2014). Overall, owning a home is found to be positively associated with one's subjective wellbeing. ...
... Many people, especially young citizens, choose to rent rather than own a home in large cities in China. The existing literature focuses on whether and how owning a home increases one's subjective wellbeing (Elsinga & Hoekstra, 2005;Hu, 2013;Hu & Ye, 2020;Ren et al., 2018;Zumbro, 2014), whereas less attention has been paid to the subjective wellbeing of renters. Using data from the HCDPS conducted by a Chinese university, this study attempts to explore the possible heterogeneity association between rental housing types and subjective wellbeing and investigate the specific mechanisms behind these effects. ...
Considerable attention has been paid to the role of homeownership in affecting individuals’ subjective wellbeing in previous literature. This study focuses on renters and examines the heterogeneity of the association between rental housing from different sources and individuals’ subjective wellbeing using data from a self-conducted survey on housing conditions, demand, and pressure in Chinese superstar cities (i.e., Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou). Our results suggest that security housing and work-unit housing are associated with higher levels of subjective wellbeing and that renters who live in urban village housing has lower levels of subjective wellbeing than their counterparts living in market housing. We offer explanations of the findings from the perspective of the differences in the community environment, housing conditions, living costs, and health status associated with different rental housing types.
... Many studies indicate that "residential satisfaction is much higher among homeowners than renters (Loo, 1986;Lu, 1999)" (Abdul Mohit et al., 2010). There is positive relationship between homeownership and life satisfaction (Zumbro, 2014). Findings by Balestra and Sultan (2013) indicates that homeownership seems to be one of Owner Satisfaction housing satisfaction's key drivers which agrees with the past literature. ...
... These results agree with Abdul Mohit et al (2010); Balestra and Sultan (2013) where the key indicator, determinant and driver of owner satisfaction is homeownership or tenure status. The results support the findings by Zumbro (2014) that there is a positive relationship between homeownership and life satisfaction of house owner. It shows that the housing policy of Malaysia to realize all the Malaysians particularly the low-income group, a guaranteed and an unobstructed entry to adequate and satisfactory housing needs, is on the right direction. ...
... Despite the increase in studies that examine the impact of temperature shocks, one understudied, yet critical facet, is the impact of increased temperature shocks on homeownership. Given the benefits of homeownership (e.g., Cairney, 2005;Rohe & Stegman, 1994;Roskruge et al., 2013;Zumbro, 2014), understanding the impact of temperature shocks on homeownership has important implications for policy. ...
Rising temperature and climate change impact individual and household economic decisions. While an established body of literature has examined the effects of temperature shocks on different outcomes, there is limited evidence on the relationship between temperature shocks and homeownership. We contribute to the literature by presenting evidence on the impact of temperature shocks on homeownership in Australia. We use longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey and satellite re-analysis temperature data over the period 2001 to 2019, and apply a fixed effect approach that addresses unobserved heterogeneity. We find that an increase in temperature shocks is associated with a decline in the probability of owning a home. We find this relationship to be more pronounced in urban than rural areas, and among individuals with a bachelor's degree. We also find the relationship to be persistent in recent years. Additionally, we find neighbourhood crime, social capital, neighbourhood satisfaction, life satisfaction and house prices to mediate the relationship between temperature shocks and homeownership.
... They show that assets and debts can have opposite effects on SWB and that different types of assets in households' portfolios can have differential effects. Empirical evidence, for example from the housing literature, suggests that homeowners are, on average, more satisfied with their lives (Zumbro, 2014) and have a better mental health status (Manturuk, 2012) than renters. In contrast, a study published by the British Office for National Statistics (2015) shows that property ownership (and private pension wealth) is not statistically significantly related to life satisfaction. ...
An individual's financial situation positively impacts her subjective well-being (SWB) according to the literature. However, most existing studies focus solely on income, neglecting other aspects of an individual's financial situation such as wealth. In this paper, we empirically examine the relationship between SWB, income, household wealth, and its components. Additionally, we explore the significance of one's wealth relative to others' for SWB. Our contribution expands the limited literature on absolute and relative wealth and SWB by utilizing unique microdata from a German wealth survey, the German Panel on Household Finances (PHF). Our findings indicate that both assets and debts, alongside income, are associated with an individual's SWB. In particular, a similar relative increase in financial assets is associated with a greater increase in SWB than the same percentage increase in real assets, and SWB decreases as the level of unsecured debt increases. Furthermore, individuals tend to experience decreased SWB when comparing themselves to others with more assets or less debt. Interestingly, we observe divergent effects of relative wealth on SWB among younger and older individuals. These results underscore the significance of considering wealth, in addition to income, when analyzing determinants of SWB.
... Owning a home is linked to higher life satisfaction (Hu, 2013) compared to renting (Rossi & Weber, 1996) Homeownership entails substantial sunk costs that encourage staying (Fischer et al., 2000); renters may be subject to higher levels of involuntary mobility (Baxter, 2017) Duration of residence Number of years Significant relationship with well-being (Zumbro, 2014) Longer duration of residence decreases likelihood of moving (Oldakowski & Roseman, 1986) Community participation No (reference); yes Social and community networks are linked to higher well-being (Baxter, 2017) Community ties encourage staying (Fredrickson et al., 1980) Relative socioeconomic advantage and disadvantage ...
Stayers are an important component of the internal migration system, yet despite their numerical significance, they are often treated as ancillary to movers in the migration literature. As a result, there is a conflict between the mobility-centric view of immobility as undesirable and developing narratives which recognise staying as an active and consciously made decision. We therefore need to rethink immobility conceptually and empirically to shed light on a numerically dominant component of the population that has largely been neglected. Using Australia as a case study, this paper examines whether being a stayer has a positive or negative association with life satisfaction, and whether this relationship varies by (1) preference for staying or leaving, (2) between cities and regional areas, and (3) before and during the onset of the pandemic. By first reconceptualising staying as an active process and distinguishing between voluntary and involuntary stayers, life satisfaction outcomes are examined using four migration preference-behaviour types: desired stayer, undesired stayer, desired mover and undesired mover. Drawing on nationally representative survey data and regression modelling, results reveal important differences in life satisfaction outcomes between individuals expressing a preference for staying or leaving. Findings highlight that while satisfaction of stayers generally declined, being an undesired stayer was associated with a significantly greater loss of life satisfaction compared to being a desired stayer. The magnitude of this association was greater for undesired stayers in regional areas and those surveyed during the pandemic. These results illuminate the varied characteristics and outcomes of stayers within the Australian migration system, demonstrate the importance of acknowledging preference in theorisations of (im) mobility and emphasise the value of adopting an immobility-focused perspective on internal migration.
... Tulokset vaihtelevat sen mukaan, mitä tekijöitä analyysissä on otettu huomioon. Osassa tutkimuksia on todettu, että omistusasumisella on positiivinen yhteys elämään tyytyväisyyteen, ja erityisesti näin on todettu olevan pienituloisimmilla (Rohe & Stegman 1994;Rohe & Basolo 1997;Zumbro 2014). Scott Garrettin ja Russell N. Jamesin (2013) tutkimuksessa havaittiin, että omistusasu-misella on myös lievä positiivinen yhteys taloudelliseen tyytyväisyyteen vuokralla asumiseen nähden, kun taloudelliseen tilanteeseen (esim. ...
Vanhuuseläkeläisten keskimääräinen varallisuus on noussut, kun suuret ikäluokat ovat jääneet eläkkeelle. Artikkelissa tarkastellaan suomalaisten 64-88-vuotiaiden vanhuuseläkeläisten bruttovarallisuuden ja mahdollisten velkojen yhteyttä heidän taloudelliseen tyytyväisyyteensä. Velalla havaitaan negatiivinen ja bruttovarallisuudella positiivinen yhteys taloudelliseen tyytyväisyyteen. Velka vaikuttaa heikentävän erityisesti pienituloisten taloudellista tyytyväisyyttä.
... Timo. (2014). 'The Relationship Between Homeownership and Life Satisfaction in Germany'. Housing Studies, 3, 319-338. ...
This essay explores the relationship between homeownership and human well-being after surveying the public homeownership policy in Singapore’s development in the last 35 years. Drawing primarily on existing papers in the fields of well-being and housing, it outlines the social impact of house ownership on both physical and mental health. Besides, selected elements like economy, society, ethnicity and employment are also considered to emphasize the associations with well-being. While relations are generally complicated, acceptable evidence exists to admit homeownership plays an important role in human well-being. Conclusions are drawn on the personal and theoretical aspects, highlighting the significance of cross-disciplinary collaboration in urban strategy. Further research is recommended to analyze how the homeownership improves the human condition, which could offer useful experiences to other countries.
... It is also a key correlate of numerous social, economic and health outcomes. Evidence suggests renters experience less favourable socioeconomic outcomes (Stick, Schellenberg and MacIsaac 2023), community belonging (Beaumont et al. 2021) and health outcomes (Mason et al. 2013;Clair et al. 2016), as well as lower reported life satisfaction (Zumbro 2014;Fonberg and Schellenberg 2019), on average, than owners. Also, there remains a lack of affordable housing among lower-income earners in Canada (CMHC 2023). ...
Rental costs often cannot be compared without accounting for differences across data sources, regions and dwellings (e.g., dwelling type, size and condition). Similarly, a failure to consider differences in terms of non-financial inclusions such as utilities, parking, appliances or air conditioning can undermine the validity of cost comparisons. Using the 2021 Canadian Housing Survey, this study explores the prevalence of such rental inclusions and their potential impact on rental costs. Results suggest wide-ranging variability by inclusion type, geography and dwelling characteristics. For respondents paying rent, common inclusions are water and other municipal services (71%); appliances (23% in Quebec, but 70% or more in other provinces); parking (53%); electricity (31%); and oil, gas and other fuels (26%). Rental inclusions are a valuable source of information to make rents comparable, such as in provincial cost comparisons. For example, the inclusion of air conditioning and appliances explains around 8% and 7%, respectively, of the difference in rental costs between Ontario and Quebec, while the inclusion of appliances accounts for around 11% of the difference in average rents between British Columbia and Quebec. Findings suggest future research on housing affordability and rental market pricing would benefit from factoring in rental inclusions to enhance the accuracy and validity of cost comparisons.
... In this study, the aspect of housing profiles such as location and neighbourhood status are associated with the households' mobility tendency,home ownership, housing choices. Majority of residents prefer homeownership as a means to indicate their landownership, property investment and locational advantages [17,18,16]. Residents living in their own houses rarely move. ...
Residential mobility refers to the movement of people from one residence to another within a given local area. It is distinguished from migration which involves moving from one labour market to another and from one housing market to another. Residential mobility is generally referred to as local move or an intra-metropolitan move. Such movement tendencies may be associated with residential stress caused by a mismatch between a household's residential needs and the characteristics of its current housing situation.The objective of this paper is to explore and evaluate the reasons for people's mobility from one residential house to another within the same environment aiming at understanding why it occurs in urban setting. In-depth interviews were conducted among heads of household to gather information regarding reasons for movement from one house to another. Then the data gathered were recorded, clustered and analysed using research question as a guide. The study reveals that limited space in a house, sharing of utilities in multi-family houses and conflicts which arise due to sharing are among the reasons for moving. Therefore the study recommends that construction of residential houses (by both public and private developers) should be guided to meet minimum requirement of household in terms of size and design.
... Because housing accounts for the majority of family property, women's bargaining power depends largely on their ownership of the marital residence (Menon et al., 2014). At the same time, because real estate is closely related to personal well-being (Anderson, 2018;Zumbro, 2013), the ownership of housing also affects women's welfare. The underlying reason is that property ownership impacts choices of husbands and wives to end a marriage (Brassiolo, 2016). ...
... Our results showed no direct effect of tenure on psychosocial wellbeingthe coefficients of tenure types are non-significant when other housing indicators are controlled for (Fig. 2, Table 5). This result is consistent with research in Germany and Australia Zumbro, 2014), showing that the observed benefits associated with homeownership are not intrinsic to housing tenure type, but are likely rooted in the affordances and contexts that accompany particular tenure types. ...
The loss of psychosocial well-being is an overlooked but monumental consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. These effects result not only from the pandemic itself but, in a secondary way, from the Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) made to curb the spread of disease. The unprecedented physical distancing and stay-at-home requirements and recommendations provide a unique window for housing researchers to better understand the mechanisms by which housing affects psychosocial well-being. This study draws on a survey conducted with over 2,000 residents of the neighbouring Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Alberta in 2021. We propose a new multi-dimensional model to examine the relationships between the Material, Economic, Affordances, Neighbourhood, and Stability (MEANS) aspects of housing and psychosocial well-being. Our analysis reveals the direct and indirect pathways by which deficiencies in each of these areas had negative effects on psychosocial well-being. Residential stability, housing affordances, and neighbourhood accessibility exert stronger direct impacts on psychosocial well-being than material and economic housing indicators (e.g. size of living space and tenure). Notably, we find no significant well-being differences between different homeowners and renters when we account for other housing MEANS. These findings have important implications for housing policy across pandemic and post-pandemic contexts, suggesting a need for research and policy focus on understanding housing and well-being in terms of non-material aspects, such as residential stability and affordances that housing provides.
... There are many criteria against which the successful functioning of housing markets can be bench-marked. One of them has traditionally been high rates of owneroccupationa useful proxy for many things, that has, historically, been associated with a health and well-being premium (Angel and Gregory, 2021;Foye et al., 2018;Munford et al., 2020;Zumbro, 2014). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to consider one test of a well-functioning housing system – its impact on wellbeing. Exploring one indicator of this, this study aims to track changes in mental and general health across a mix of tenure transitions and financial transactions in three jurisdictions: Australia, the UK and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
Using matched variables from three national panel surveys (Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia, British Household Panel Survey/Understanding Society and Panel Study of Income Dynamics) over 17 years (2000–2017) to capture the sweep of the most recent housing cycle, this study adopts a difference-in-difference random-effects model specification to estimate the mental and general health effects of tenure change and borrowing behaviours.
Findings
There is an enduring health premium associated with unmortgaged owner-occupation. Mortgage debt detracts from this, as does the prospect of dropping out of ownership and into renting. A previously observed post-exit recovery in mental health – a debt-relief effect – is not present in the longer run. In fact, in some circumstances, both mental and general health deficits are amplified, even among those who eventually regain homeownership. Though there are cross-country differences, the similarities across these financialised housing systems are more striking.
Practical implications
The well-being premium traditionally associated with owner occupation is under threat at the edges of the sector in all three jurisdictions. In this, there is cross-national convergence. There may therefore be scope to introduce policies to better support households at the edges of ownership that work across the board for debt-funded ownership-centred housing systems.
Originality/value
This paper extends the duration of a previous analysis of the impact of tenure transitions and financial transactions on well-being at the edges of ownership in the UK and Australia. The authors now track households over nearly two decades from the start of the millennium into a lengthy (post-global financial crisis) era of declining housing affordability. This study adds to the reach of the earlier study by adding a general health variable and a third jurisdiction, the USA.
... Education is measured by years of schooling ranging from 7 to 18. Marital status is first measured on a 5-point scale of 1 = married, 2 = single, 3 = widowed, 4 = divorced, and 5 = separated, and then recoded as a binary dummy variable with 1 = married and 0 otherwise. Because homeowners tend to have a higher level of life satisfaction than tenants [33,34], the household characteristics include homeownership as well as number of children, with homeownership being a binary variable equal to 1 if the respondent owns his/her dwelling (0 otherwise). ...
Background
Previous literature documents the direct and indirect economic costs of obesity, yet none has attempted to quantify the intangible costs of obesity. This study focuses on quantifying the intangible costs of one unit body mass index (BMI) increase and being overweight and obese in Germany.
Methods
By applying a life satisfaction-based compensation value analysis to 2002–2018 German Socio-Economic Panel Survey data for adults aged 18–65, the intangible costs of overweight and obesity are estimated. We apply individual income as a reference for estimating the value of the loss of subjective well-being due to overweight and obesity.
Results
The intangible costs of overweight and obesity in 2018 amount to 42,450 and 13,853 euros, respectively. A one unit increase in BMI induced a 2553 euros annual well-being loss in the overweight and obese relative to those of normal weight. When extrapolated to the entire country, this figure represents approximately 4.3 billion euros, an intangible cost of obesity similar in magnitude to the direct and indirect costs documented in other studies for Germany. These losses, our analysis reveals, have remained remarkably stable since 2002.
Conclusions
Our results underscore how existing research into obesity’s economic toll may underestimate its true costs, and they strongly imply that if obesity interventions took the intangible costs of obesity into account, the economic benefits would be considerably larger.
... Residential mobility in general, and housing tenure change in particular, are known to be associated with variations in subjective wellbeing and mental health (Diaz-Serrano, 2009;Morris et al., 2017Morris et al., , 2018Zumbro, 2014;. However, the literature on housing and health is dominated more by work on the impacts of tenure outcomes, than with the effects of housing transitions (which may or may not imply tenure change). ...
We examine the extent to which residential relocation within and between tenure types is associated with changes in mental health. We focus on four types of housing transition – rent-to-own, own-to-rent, own-to-own, and rent-to-rent – using Australian and UK panel data sets from 2001 to 2017. In both countries, transitions into homeownership and moves away from the mortgaged edges toward the unburdened mainstream of outright ownership are positively associated with mental health. On the other hand, shifts by mortgagors towards more precarious positions on the edges of ownership precipitate dips in mental health when there is exposure to high levels of payment and investment risks. Clearly, residential moves can both alleviate and introduce different kinds of risks that affect affordability. Moreover, tenure transitions have impacts on mental health beyond the impacts of payment and investment risks. However, we observe some cross-national differences in findings. In Australia, loss of homeownership has a negative impact on mental health that outweighs the mental health impacts of attaining ownership. In the UK, these findings are reversed. Acute housing affordability problems following moves in Australia, but not in the UK, are a significant driver of mental health outcomes. These differences have institutional explanations.
... That is, welleducated people are usually latecomers to housing market, although they have much stronger willingness to buy housing units. Since growing literature has found that homeownership and housing wealth accumulation have significantly positive impacts on people's overall happiness (Rossi and Weber, 1996;Hu, 2013;Zumbro, 2014;Tiefenbach and Kohlbacher, 2015;Cheng et al., 2016Cheng et al., , 2020Foye, 2017;Ren et al., 2018;Zhang and Zhang, 2019;Hu and Ye, 2020), in the context of rapid housing appreciation in Chinese cities over the last two decades; one the one hand, these latecomers have to spend more money and borrow more mortgage loans in owning housings. On the other hand, they have missed much economic wealth from housing appreciation. ...
This article aims to answer the question that whether higher education would lead to happier life in China and tries to provide some explanations from the perspective of housing asset. Using data from four waves of China Household Finance Survey (CHFS), we find that higher education on average is significantly negatively correlated with people's happiness in urban China. Higher education tends to prevent people from achieving “extremely happy” lives; instead, it is more likely to lead to “acceptable” lives. Based on the realities of housing market in urban China, we find that housing asset plays the mediating role in the relationship between higher education and happiness. Specifically, years of schooling could evidently compress the years of being homeowners; as a result, highly educated people generally have more unpaid housing debts and bear more housing purchase costs due to the soaring housing prices. Meanwhile, higher education has negative effect on people's happiness in cities with relatively high housing prices, while this effect is insignificant in cities with relatively low housing prices. Moreover, the market-oriented housing reform that launched in 1998 has negative impact on highly educated people's happiness, since it has dramatically boosted housing prices and essentially changed housing distribution system for urban employees. Besides, we also find that Ph.D graduates are the relatively unhappiest people compared to bachelors or masters. Obviously, our findings have important policy implications for Chinese government to understand and resolve the “education-happiness paradox.”
... Many studies use self-reported life satisfaction as a proxy measure for individual welfare to gauge the overall effects of home ownership on an individual level. In line with the belief that home ownership makes people happy, studies typically find a positive correlation between home ownership and subjective well-being (see, e.g., (Rossi & Weber, 1996) for the United States, (Stillman & Liang, 2010) for Australia; (Ruprah, 2010) for Latin America, (Hu, 2013) for urban China, (Zumbro, 2014), and (Clark & Diaz Serrano, 2020) for Germany, or (Seiler-Zimmermann & Wanzenried, 2019) for Switzerland). ...
The belief that home ownership makes people happy is probably one of the most widespread intuitive theories of happiness. However, whether it is accurate is an open question. Based on individual panel data, we explore whether home buyers systematically overestimate the life satisfaction associated with moving to their privately owned property. To identify potential prediction errors, we compare people’s forecasts of their life satisfaction in 5 years’ time with their current realizations. We find that home buyers for whom the purchase of the home is a main reason for moving, on average, systematically overestimate the long-term satisfaction gain of living in their dwelling. The misprediction therein is driven by home buyers who follow extrinsically-oriented life goals, highlighting biased beliefs regarding own preferences as a relevant mechanism in the prediction errors.
... For instance, Dong and Qin (2017) found that both the urban physical environment and socio-cultural environment are important factors for predicting the level of SWB. Consistent with abundant previous findings (Wang & Wang, 2016;Zumbro, 2013), this study showed that individual and household socioeconomic attributes such as gender, age, occupation, household income, hukou and housing tenure are also important factors affecting the SWB level of Chinese urban residents. More specifically, residents with relatively lower socioeconomic status, including residents with low-skilled occupation, low-income households, migrants and tenants, have a lower level of SWB. ...
Housing pressure is one of the most important factors affecting urban residents' quality of life and subjective well-being (SWB). However, few studies have examined the impact of housing pressure on people's SWB and whether housing pressure has heterogeneous effects on SWB in cities of different sizes and for different social groups is still under-researched. Using data from a large-scale social satisfaction survey of 115,000 respondents across 36 cities in China, this paper employs a multiple linear regression model to explore the combined impacts of both subjective and objective housing pressure on urban residents' SWB. It also examines the heterogeneity effects of housing pressure for different city sizes and housing tenure groups. The results show that individuals' subjective housing pressure is significantly and negatively associated with SWB, and its impact intensity is greater than most perceived living environment factors. As for objective housing pressure, only the housing rent-to-income ratio has a significant negative correlation with SWB. Dimensions of individuals' perceived quality of the living environment are also significant positive predictors for the SWB level of urban residents except for the urbanscape and portrait dimension. Housing pressure has heterogeneous effects on SWB in different city sizes and housing tenure groups.
Cette étude analyse les effets des caractéristiques du logement sur le bien-être à partir d’un échantillon d'un panel de quartes enquêtes-ménage en Suisse entre 2010 et 2016. Nous utilisons deux mesures du bien-être : le bien-être objectif capturé par la santé (le nombre de consultations chez le médecin au cours des 12 derniers mois) et une mesure subjective du bien-être capturée par la satisfaction générale par rapport à la vie.
Nous testons plusieurs modèles (POLS, BE, Within) pour la variable objective et pour la variable subjective, nous utilisons un modèle logit ordinal. Nos résultats montrent qu'en termes de bien-être objectif, des facteurs tels que l’état du logement, la taille du logement, la présence du chauffage ainsi que le type de logement (propriétaire ou locataire) affectent statistiquement le nombre de visites chez le médecin.
Nos résultats en termes de bien-être subjectif montrent qu’en plus de ces caractéristiques, des facteurs sociodémographiques tels que l’âge, le revenu, le niveau de revenu ou la région de résidence jouent également un rôle.
Pour valider ces résultats, nous avons effectué un test de robustesse en utilisant une autre variable subjective : l’état de santé. Les résultats sont globalement robustes. Nos résultats confirment que, pour évaluer de façon pertinente le bien-être, il est utile de prendre en compte à la fois les facteurs subjectifs et objectifs du bien-être.
Nothing in peoples’ lives can be evaluated separately from psychology. When it comes to buying a house, which is the most expensive purchase of life, the impact of psychology becomes more critical. This chapter focuses on psychological, sociological, and economic aspects of homebuying, including satisfaction, self-esteem, happiness, mental well-being, physical health, sense of identification, and more. An answer is also sought for the buying and renting dilemma, which is discussed from a financial perspective.
This paper presents a three-country analysis of the relationship between housing, indicators of social capital, and life satisfaction (a proxy for wellbeing) using cross-sectional data from national surveys in Australia, the UK and the US. Addressing a key policy debate we construct, for each jurisdiction, models of life satisfaction as a function of housing and social capital, with a view to better targeting policy interventions to achieve wellbeing outcomes. First, we show that the wellbeing premium associated with homeownership remains resilient despite housing market instability early in the 21st century. Second, we find that while social capital is an important independent positive influence on life satisfaction, its effect is weaker than that of housing tenure. Third, we include two measures of housing risk (repayment risk and investment risk). These position mortgagors on a continuum across the edges of owner-occupation, placing them closer to, or further from, the ‘ideal’ of outright ownership. The impact of these measures varies across the three countries, raising questions about the way life satisfaction at the edges of ownership may be shaped by institutional forces.
As two important dimensions of the quality of life, housing and health are inextricably linked. Using data from the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), this study explores the impact of housing tenure and intrahousehold homeownership structure on residents’ health in urban China. The results indicate that full owner-occupancy weakens residents’ health by compressing their time for rest and relaxation and squeezing household medical expenditure. Further analysis on the effects of attribution of full homeownership between couples finds that, compared with spouse-owned, self-owned or couple-owned improves residents’ health by lowering the possibility of sacrificing career for family, reducing labor hours and easing debt pressure. Importantly, couple-owned generates more health benefits than either self-owned or spouse-owned. In addition, the health effects of intrahousehold homeownership structure are greater among young adults, those with higher income than their spouses and those with strong awareness of gender equality. It is also worth noting that there are gender-based health differences in marriage due to the intrahousehold homeownership structure. These findings have implications for integrating social policies in the housing, health, and family domains.
This article examines the impact of homeownership on subjective well-being and how it varies by location, age and income in Australia. We apply panel data models with instrumental variables within a two-stage modelling framework and find that homeownership, particularly outright ownership, positively affects subjective well-being – as measured by life, financial, home and neighbourhood satisfaction – relative to renting. However, these effects are not homogeneous. Outright owners in major urban locations enjoy higher financial satisfaction but poorer neighbourhood satisfaction than their counterparts outside major urban locations. The subjective well-being gap between owners and renters widens as age increases within the age range of 30s to 60s. However, the presence of mortgage debt depresses the financial satisfaction associated with homeownership. Beyond age 50, the existence of a mortgage debt burden cancels any positive financial satisfaction effects that homeownership has relative to renting. As income increases, the positive effects of homeownership on subjective well-being diminishes in the domain of financial satisfaction This reflects greater diversification in high-income households’ asset portfolios compared to low-income households’ portfolios. We discuss the policy implications of these heterogeneous effects.
The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requires banks to grant low-income communities access to credit. Federal agencies monitor CRA activity and rate banks on compliance. As an economic development tool, the CRA supports private investment of public outcomes. This paper uses qualitative content analysis to examine bank and nonprofit comments regarding proposed CRA rule changes and bank shareholder reports through the lens of the realized publicness framework, to explore how banks express public values. This study finds that banks espouse public values, but that the context of those values is not aligned with community nonprofit values.
The worsening housing problems of young adults in many countries have become a worldwide problem. Researchers point to a number of factors that influence young people’s decisions to own or rent their own apartments or houses. The term generation of renters or the lost generation has appeared in the literature in relation to the young adult generation. This article offers insights into the housing preferences of young adults aged 18 to 45 in Poland, with a particular focus on the renter cohort. Conclusions are drawn about whether young adults who are already renting prefer to buy an apartment or house rather than maintain their status quo, and what determines their decisions in this regard. The study identifies a number of socioeconomic factors that influence the housing decisions of young renters in Poland. It addresses some of the problems and challenges of today’s housing market and, in particular, examines what leads young Polish renters to switch from renting to buying their first home or, alternatively, to live in a rented apartment for years (thus showing indifference to homeownership). Some of the reasons for the change in attitude toward this issue are highlighted. The study is quantitative in nature, relying on an online survey and a mediation analysis that is particularly well suited to explaining the relationship between many different variables. Of the eight hypotheses tested in the study (using mediation analysis), only three could be proven, namely that the amount of rent payments and other costs for economic reasons influences the willingness to buy an apartment or a house, and also that the length of the rental period has a negative influence on the willingness to buy a house. Finally, the mediation model provides evidence that the higher a young renter’s tolerance threshold for mortgage interest compared to “rent payments”, the more inclined they are to buy an apartment or house. The study suggests that the housing finance subsystem has some shortcomings as far as financing young people is concerned. Strategically, there are two complementary solutions that could be implemented: (1) a long-term home savings plan or program and (2) innovative housing loan options tailored to the financial situation of young people.
This chapter depicts the general features of the Spanish housing system and the role that alternative and intermediate housing tenures may play in facili- tating access to housing.
Urbanisation, housing affordability and an ageing population are key focus areas in major cities in Australia and worldwide. A lack of affordable housing is affecting a greater number of people, and particularly, a growing number of older populations. This paper draws inspiration from Power and Mee (Housing Studies, 35(3), 496, 2020) and asks: ‘is this a housing system that cares?’ The paper explores opportunities for care that emerge from practices of house-sharing and in particular house-sitting. Findings from semi-structured interviews with older house-sitters (aged 50 years and over) suggested house-sitting provides an affordable shelter for older people experiencing financial insecurity, thus has the potential to increase their capacity for care-related expenditure. Housing mobility, insecure tenure and a lack of a caring governance to manage the relationship between owners and sitters can however put older house-sitters in a vulnerable position, leading to negative impacts on their wellbeing. The research findings inform housing policy-makers and researchers about the growing practices of house-sitting among older people, and help grow and sustain a housing system that cares.
Question: How does personal wealth work out on ones happiness? Understanding of the effects of personal wealth on happiness is required for informed decision making in matters of saving and consumption. Method: In order to answer the question of how and to what extent personal wealth relates to happiness, we take stock of the available research findings on this issue, covering 198 findings observed in 123 studies. We use a new method of research synthesis in which research findings are described in a comparable format and entered in an online findings archive, the ’World Database of Happiness’, to which links are made from this text. This technique allows a condensed presentation of research findings while providing readers access to full details. Results: We found mostly positive relationships between assets and happiness, and negative relationships between debt and happiness. The few longitudinal studies suggest a causal effect of wealth on happiness. We found little difference across methods used and populations studied. Together, the available research findings imply that building wealth will typically add to happiness. However, the average effect sizes are small with an average of 0.11 for total assets and -0.21 for total debts.
According to the article, spirituality should accompany economic development as one of the primary criteria for improving disciplines on the behavioral etiquette of the people while cooperating in socio-economic activities. The article also examines spirituality as a factor in economic poverty reduction, the importance of establishing a market economy based on strong spiritual values, the impact of society on centuries-old spiritual traditions, and the impact of the "human-society-state" system.
1. Introduction 2. Causal and non-causal models 3. Microeconomic data structures 4. Linear models 5. ML and NLS estimation 6. GMM and systems estimation 7. Hypothesis tests 8. Specification tests and model selection 9. Semiparametric methods 10. Numerical optimization 11. Bootstrap methods 12. Simulation-based methods 13. Bayesian methods 14. Binary outcome models 15. Multinomial models 16. Tobit and selection models 17. Transition data: survival analysis 18. Mixture models and unobserved heterogeneity 19. Models of multiple hazards 20. Models of count data 21. Linear panel models: basics 22. Linear panel models: extensions 23. Nonlinear panel models 24. Stratified and clustered samples 25. Treatment evaluation 26. Measurement error models 27. Missing data and imputation A. Asymptotic theory B. Making pseudo-random draw.
This paper is a critical analysis of recent US policy to promote low-income homeownership. It examines the ideology and assumptions buttressing this policy, evidence on the effects of low-income homeownership and the viability of homeownership as a strategy for low-income families. Evidence suggests that the prospect for sustained growth in low-income homeownership may be limited. Research does not provide uniform support for it as a tool for asset accumulation, neighbourhood economic development or other social and political goals. Alleged effects of homeownership may be artefacts of self-selection and the conflation of homeownership with unobserved characteristics coincident with buying homes. What homeownership does and why are not well understood because of difficulties disentangling what homeownership means. The elevation of low-income homeownership to its current status has deflected political attention away from alternative policies for affordable housing.
Homeownership is encouraged by many governments because it is supposed to have a positive effect on both the individual and
society as a whole. Homeownership is assumed to be preferred over renting, because it provides greater security, more freedom,
financial advantage and therefore higher housing satisfaction. This theory has been developed and mainly tested in English-speaking
countries. A number of researchers, most notably from continental Europe, have criticized the perceived superiority of homeownership
and the effects that are ascribed to it by these theories. They state that, wherever there is a well-developed rental sector,
renting represents an adequate and acceptable alternative to homeownership. It can also be questioned whether the theory can
be confirmed for Southern Europe, where homeownership seems to be part of a family tradition and not a choice.
This paper uses the European Community Household Panel to test if homeowners are more satisfied with their housing situation
than tenants. The results indicate that homeowners in seven out of eight countries are more satisfied with their housing situation
than tenants. Only in Austria do homeowners and tenants display a similar level of housing satisfaction.
This paper investigates the patterns and determinants of life satisfaction in Germany following reunification. We implement a new fixed-effect estimator for ordinal life satisfaction in the German Socio-Economic Panel and find negative effects on life satisfaction from being recently fired, losing a spouse through either death or separation, and time spent in hospital, while we find strong positive effects from income and marriage. Using a new causal decomposition technique, we find that East Germans experienced a continued improvement in life satisfaction to which increased household incomes contributed around 12 percent. Most of the improvement is explained by better average circumstances, such as greater political freedom. For West Germans, we find little change in average life satisfaction over this period.
"In contrast to unemployment, the effect of non-participation and parttime employment on subjective well-being has much less frequently been the subject of economists' investigations. In Germany, many women with dependent children are involuntarily out of the labor force or in part-time employment because of family constraints (e.g., due to lack of available and appropriate childcare). Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) Study, this paper analyzes the impact of involuntary familyrelated non-participation and part-time employment on mothers' life satisfaction. Controlling for unobserved individual fixed effects, I find that both the pecuniary effects (foregone earnings) and the non-pecuniary effects (psychological costs) are significantly negative.
Compensating income variations reveal that the residual household income would have to be raised by 182 percent (157 percent/77 percent) in order to just offset the negative effect of not being able to work because of family constraints (of being in short/long part-time employment). Moreover, in terms of overall happiness among mothers, non-participation is revealed to be a more serious problem than unemployment.
The paper conjectures that the high unemployment of the Western economies has been produced by the decline of the private house-rental market and the rise of home-ownership. Evidence is provided for the developed nations, the states of the USA, and the regions of the UK, Italy, France and Sweden. Although its calculations should be viewed as tentative, the paper's results imply that a 10 percentage point rise in the owner-occupation rate is associated with an increase of approximately 2 percentage points in the unemployment rate. This would be sufficient to explain a significant part of the rise in joblessness in the industrialized countries.
Subjective well-being (SWB), people's emotional and cognitive evaluations of their lives, includes what lay people call happiness, peace, fulfillment, and life satisfaction. Personality dispositions such as extraversion, neuroticism, and self-esteem can markedly influence levels of SWB. Although personality can explain a significant amount of the variability in SWB, life circumstances also influence long-term levels. Cultural variables explain differences in mean levels of SWB and appear to be due to objective factors such as wealth, to norms dictating appropriate feelings and how important SWB is considered to be, and to the relative approach versus avoidance tendencies of societies. Culture can also moderate which variables most influence SWB. Although it is challenging to assess SWB across societies, the measures have some degree of cross-cultural validity. Although nations can be evaluated by their levels of SWB, there are still many open questions in this area.
Oswald hypothesizes that regions and countries with high homeownership rates will experience higher natural rates of unemployment and that rising homeownership in OECD countries since the 1960s provides a key explanation for the rise in the natural rate of unemployment over the same time period. Recent tests of the Oswald thesis have found the opposite. This study differs from earlier ones both by considering different states of ownership (degrees of leverage) and types of tenancy (private, public, and rent-free) and by examining data from Australia, rather than the U.S. We demonstrate that the recent anti-Oswald results are the result of (1) highly leveraged owners having a greater incentive to remain employed and to become reemployed more rapidly that outright owners and (2) those paying below-market rents having a lower incentive to avoid unemployment or become reemployed than those paying market rents. The only positive Oswald result is that females who are outright owners have significantly slower exits from unemployment. Overall, homeownership does not increase unemployment. Finally, in line with expectations but in contrast to some earlier studies, our results indicate a significant impact of the predicted replacement ratio (unemployment benefits to wage if reemployed) on unemployment behavior. Persons with a higher predicted ratio are significantly more likely to become unemployed, and unemployed females with a higher predicted replacement ratio have longer unemployment spells than those with lower predicted ratios.
This paper considers the effect of rental externality and protection of tenants on housing quality. Rental externality means that the quality of renter-occupied housing is lower than that of owner-occupied housing, because asymmetrical information prevents the proper functioning of the rental contract, which obliges a tenant to repair completely the housing. Protection of tenants can also reduce the quality of the accommodation, because the protection can cause a decrease in profitability for the landlord and overutilization of the dwelling by tenants. Using the ordered logit model and the panel logit model with Garman Socio-Economic Panel, I obtained the empirical results that support theoretical predictions, although the quality of rental housing in Germany is relatively good.
This paper investigates the patterns and determinants of life satisfaction in Germany following reunification. We implement a new fixed-effect estimator for ordinal life satisfaction in the German Socio-Economic Panel and find negative effects on life satisfaction from being recently fired, losing a spouse through either death or separation, and time spent in hospital, while we find strong positive effects from income and marriage. Using a new causal decomposition technique, we find that East Germans experienced a continued improvement in life satisfaction to which increased household incomes contributed around 12 percent. Most of the improvement is explained by better average circumstances, such as greater political freedom. For West Germans, we find little change in average life satisfaction over this period.
Claims that homeownership is beneficial to both owners and society have not been examined empirically. This article explores evidence from the General Social Survey and the National Survey of Families and Households, supple-mented by data from the American National Election Studies and several small but highly relevant researches, to determine whether owners and renters differ in a variety of ways. Strong differences in demographics were found. Small differences were found in some respects: Owners tended to be higher in life satisfaction and self-esteem and more likely to be members of community improvement groups. On a wide variety of social issues—from political partisanship to ethnocentric views—owners and renters were essentially alike. Thus, it appears that the claims for some social and individual benefits from homeownership are supported, but only weakly. Recognizing that the exploratory analyses pre-sented are not definitive, several strategies for more definitive future research are recommended.
Supporters of subsidized home-ownership programs have made claims concerning the benefits of home ownership. Home owners are said to be more involved in social and political affairs, including neighboring and participation in community organizations. The authors test these claims using longitudinal data collected on groups of low-income home buyers and low-income renters in Baltimore. The results indicate that home buyers are less likely to neighbor and are more likely to participate in neighborhood and block associations but not other community organizations. Home buyers who perceived more neighborhood problems or who emphasized economic reasons for buying were no more likely to participate in social and political affairs.
A variety of public, private and non-profit organizations have developed programs to assist low-income families purchase homes. These programs are often justified on the grounds that homeownership has a number of social and-psychological benefits. On the individual level, homeowners are said to enjoy higher social status and self-esteem, increased sense of control, and higher levels of life satisfaction. On the societal level, homeowners are said to have higher rates of participation in voluntary organizations and local social interaction. The longitudinal research described in this article assesses the validity of these claims by comparing changes in self esteem, perceived control, life satisfaction and social interaction between a group of low-income home buyers and a demographically similar group of continuing renters. The results show that home ownership has a positive and significant impact on both the life satisfaction and participation in neighborhood and block association meetings. Home ownership, however, was not found to significantly affect self-esteem, perceived control or informal social interaction in the local area.
This paper argues that institutional conditions in the form of the extent and form of democracy have systematic and sizeable effects on individual well-being, in addition to demographic and economic factors. Using recent interview data from 6,000 residents of Switzerland, we show that individuals are cet. par. happier, the better developed the institutions of direct democracy are in their area of residence. This also applies to a second institution, the degree of government decentralisation (federalism). Finally, we are able to support some of the earlier results for other countries and periods with new data also based on a survey with a large sample size. In particular, we find that the unemployed are to a great extent less happy than employed persons, and that a higher household income level only raises happiness to a small extent
This report analyzes General Social Survey data from 1972 through 1989 on the personal happiness of married and never-married individuals. Earlier studies (Glenn and Weaver, 1988) had reported a significant decrease in the difference between these two categories, with the "advantage" of the married progressively declining from 1972 through 1986. This article shows that the process reversed somewhat during the latter part of the 1980s, with the effect of marriage on happiness returning to fairly typical levels in 1987 and 1988 after several years of relatively minimal differences in the early part of the decade. However, the difference diminished once again in 1989. The analysis shows that never-married males and younger never-married females were happier in the late 1980s than in the 1970s, and that younger married women were somewhat less happy in the late 1980s than in the 1970s. These trends, however, are generally weaker than earlier evidence suggested.
The central focus of this paper is the notion that the home can provide a locale in which people can work at attaining a sense of ontological security in a world that at times is experienced as threatening and uncontrollable. The paper builds on and develops the ideas of Giddens and Saunders on ontological security and seeks to break down and operationalise the concept and explore it through a set of empirical data drawn from interviews with a group of older New Zealand home owners. The extent to which home and home life meets the conditions for the maintenance of ontological security is assessed through an exploration of home as the site of constancy in the social and material environment; home as a spatial context in which the day to day routines of human existence are performed; home as a site free from the surveillance that is part of the contemporary world which allows for a sense of control that is missing in other locales; and home as a secure base around which identities are constructed. The paper also argues that meanings of home are context specific and thus the data need to be seen in relation to New Zealanders’ long standing pre-occupation with land and home ownership. The paper concludes by speculating on how meanings of home may be changing.
A wide variety of research has been developed around the estimation of economic depreciation rates on single-family houses. One aspect that has not been fully investigated in the literature has been the effects of tenure status on depreciation in housing. Tenants face different incentives than owner-occupants with respect to care for property, and we know little about landlord response to this difference and landlord behavior in general. This paper examines the extent to which the type of occupancy—tenant versus owner-occupant—influences the net (of maintenance) depreciation of single-family houses. The paper finds that tenant-occupied single-family dwellings depreciate faster than owner-occupied units, holding all else constant.
While many countries have implemented various incentives to promote home- ownership, this paper investigates the literature on the relationship between this residential status and the labour market performances. Since the rather nega- tive original contribution by Oswald (1996), the literature has been extending the analyses to more precise measures of labor markets performances, to more subtle descriptions of residential status and to more sophisticated econometric techniques on individual data. Overall, the Oswald’s hypothesis finds little support.
This paper uses a unique data set with housing consumption, well-being measures and time use patterns to explore the implications of homeownership. After controlling for income, housing quality and health, female homeowners are not better off than renters by a variety of measures, both global and situational. Instead, they derive significantly more pain from their house and home – comparable to the unadjusted increase from a doubling in home value. Differences in financial security, health, self-esteem, perceived control, stress level cannot account for the well-being results. One potential mechanism is time use differences: female homeowners tend to spend less time on enjoyable activities, such as active leisure.
Life satisfaction in Germany has decreased since 2001 in contrast to increasing material prosperity. This paper provides evidence that publicly and privately provided social security measures contribute to the explanation of this development. The analysis is based on survey data of the Socio-Economic Panel for the period from 1992-2007 and is conducted by an Ordered Logit Model and an OLS Model with individual fixed effects. The results offer suggestions for economic policy as they indicate that public and private social spending matters. Concerns about job security and the respondents' financial situation clearly reduce life satisfaction. Evidence is provided that perceived social security strongly depends on net household income and employment which are at the same time the basis for public social spending and private insurance against risks. Copyright 2010 die Autoren. Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik 2010 Verein für Socialpolitik.
This paper investigates the relative maintenance levels of owner-and renter-occupied housing by examining their short- and long-run appreciation rates. We modify the standard repeat-sales estimation procedure to test whether owner-occupied housing appreciates faster than renter-occupied housing. This procedure holds constant all structural factors, except for aging; hence, appreciation is estimated net of physical depreciation (i.e., routine aging, deficient and deferred maintenance). We find only weak evidence to support the notion that long-term rates of appreciation (and maintenance levels) are substantially different between owner- and renter-occupied housing.
The relationship between subjective well-being and age is equivocal. This issue is addressed by two studies. In the first, a cross-sectional design with over 1000 participants revealed a positive association between well-being and age, with age as the most significant predictor of well-being and age, with age as the most significant predictor of well-being using multiple regression analysis. A longitudinal study found less stability in well-being than has been found in the past. Differential age experiences and access to available resources may help to explain the results.
We develop two search-theoretic models emphasizing firm entry to examine the Oswald hypothesis, the idea that homeownership is linked to inferior labor market outcomes, and compare their predictions to three extant theories. The five models have surprisingly different predictions about the labor market at both the aggregate and micro levels. Using a suitable instrumental variable strategy, we estimate both micro and aggregate level regression models of wages and unemployment and compare the estimates to those predictions. We find that while homeowners are less likely to be unemployed, they also have lower wages, all else equal, compared to renters. In addition, higher regional homeownership rates are associated with a greater probability of individual worker unemployment and higher wages. The outcome of a horserace between our new search-theoretic models is mixed—the wage-posting model predicts observed unemployment impacts while a bargaining variant does a better job explaining observed wages and aggregate labor market outcomes. Overall, we conclude that firm behavior is important for understanding the labor market impacts of homeownership. Because this is the case, regional homeownership rates are not good instruments for individual tenure choice in empirical work. And while individual homeowners may have inferior labor market outcomes as compared to renters, from the viewpoint of society, higher homeownership rates may result in greater job creation and overall production, among other benefits.
This paper considers the tax treatment of housing and the issue of savings for retirement in the context of a simplified model that still allows key aspects of the household context to be realistically represented. A model is developed in which both housing and financial assets can be used as vehicles for household saving. Individuals face perfect capital markets and choose between owner-occupied and rented accommodations. For the model developed, it is shown that the tax advantage of owner-occupied housing is not fully removed even if imputed rents are subject to income taxation. However, deferred income taxation for both housing and savings in the form of financial assets would result in an equal treatment of tenants and owner-occupiers.
Im Fokus dieses Beitrags steht die empirische Untersuchung der Wohnsituation privater Haushalte in West- und Ostdeutschland seit dem Fall der Mauer 1989. Auf Basis der bev�lkerungsrepr�sentativen und zeitlich konsistent gemessenen Mikrodaten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) l�sst sich belegen, dass die aus der DDR-Wohnungswirtschaft resultierenden signifikanten Unterschiede gegen�ber der Situation auf dem westdeutschen Wohnungsmarkt sowohl bei objektiven Indikatoren (z.B. Wohnfl�chenversorgung, Qualit�t der bewohnten Geb�ude, Mietentwicklung) als auch bez�glich deren subjektiver Bewertung bis zum Jahr 2008 stark reduziert wurden. Nach den teilweise sehr markanten Ver�nderungen bis Mitte / Ende der 90er Jahre hat sich das Tempo der Anpassung je nach Indikator reduziert und die weiteren Anpassungen sind teilweise nur noch graduell. W�hrend am aktuellen Rand gemessene Indikatoren zur Einsch�tzung von Wohnumwelt, Geb�udequalit�t, Wohnraumunterversorgung und Mietbelastung auf grosso modo gleichartige Lebensbedingungen in Ost und West hinweisen, bestehen gleichwohl noch Unterschiede insbesondere in der Eigent�merquote. Bez�glich Niveau und Struktur der Korrelate von Wohnzufriedenheit gibt es inzwischen ebenfalls eine weitgehende �bereinstimmung.
The conventional wisdom that homeownership is very risky ignores the fact that the alternative, renting, is also risky. Owning a house provides a hedge against fluctuations in housing costs, but in turn introduces asset price risk. In a simple model of tenure choice with endogenous house prices, we show that the net risk of owning declines with a household's expected horizon in its house and with the correlation in housing costs in future locations. Empirically, we find that both house prices, relative to rents, and the probability of homeownership increase with net rent risk. © 2005 MIT Press
This paper considers two tenure modes--owner- and renter-occupied housing--and models the effect of the rental externality and tenure security on single-family housing quality. We show that both rental externality and tenure security reduce renter-occupied housing quality when the user's utilization, which reduces the quality of the accommodation, and the owner's maintenance, which raises quality, are substitutes. Using single-family housing data in Japan, we obtain empirical results that are consistent with theoretical predictions. These results indicate that conventional wisdom--that the quality of renter-occupied housing is lower than that of owner-occupied housing--is supported for single-family housing in Japan.
We investigate the determinants of housing satisfaction in twelve EU countries. To do so, we use panel data covering the period 1994-2001, which allows us to control for individual heterogeneity. We carry out separate estimates on the determinants of housing satisfaction for homeowners and for renters and observe that: i) the tenure status is critical in determining the level of housing satisfaction; ii) housing satisfaction acts as trigger event of housing mobility, and; iii) dissatisfied renters are more likely to move than their homeowners counterparts. Our results also allow us to conclude that self-reported housing satisfaction is a meaningful variable able to explain individual’s objective economic behavior, since it is able to anticipate movements in the households’ demand for housing.
Psychologists and sociologists usually interpret happiness scores as cardinal and comparable across respondents, and thus run OLS regressions on happiness and changes in happiness. Economists usually assume only ordinality and have mainly used ordered latent response models, thereby not taking satisfactory account of fixed individual traits. We address this problem by developing a conditional estimator for the fixed-effect ordered logit model. We find that assuming ordinality or cardinality of happiness scores makes little difference, whilst allowing for fixed-effects does change results substantially. We call for more research into the determinants of the personality traits making up these fixed-effects. Copyright 2004 Royal Economic Society.
This paper reviews the literature that describes the micro-level economic and social consequences of homeownership. We adopt an interdisciplinary approach and include studies from economics, sociology, geography, political science, psychology, and other disciplines. Our focus is on the set of consequences of homeownership in developed countries. Our list of potential outcomes of homeownership includes the impact on household wealth and portfolio choice, mobility, labor force participation, urban structure and segregation, home maintenance, political and social activities, health, demographics, self-esteem, and child outcomes. There is substantial evidence that homeownership has important effects on some household behaviors and outcomes. However, we find that much of the past 30-year's literature on consequences of homeowning is deficient from a theoretical or econometric perspective. We suggest solutions and identify research gaps present in the literature.
The German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) is an interdisciplinary longitudinal study of private households for the representative analysis and interpretation of social and economic behavior in the Federal Republic of Germany. As a longitudinal survey, the GSOEP primarily aims to collect information on stability and changes over time at the micro level of individuals, households and families. Because the survey period is sufficiently long, due to the design of the GSOEP, the data can also be used for analyzing intergenerational relationships. The GSOEP is an element of the statistical infrastructure born by the scientific community in compliance with international standards.
Attempts to define the determinants of tenure choice in the housing market. Two basic approaches are identified - the first looks at factors affecting the choice of a single consumer, and the second is to solve for theoretical market equilibrium, dividing everyone into renters or owners. Analyzes the economic differences between renting and owning, and identifies unattractive externalities associated with the former, and investment assets of the latter. Finally, examines tax impacts on choice and shows variations in housing consumption with capital market imperfections.-L.Martin
Asset appreciation, timing of purchases and sales, and returns to low-income homeownership
- E S Belsky
- M Duda
Belsky, E. S. & Duda, M. (2002) Asset appreciation, timing of purchases and sales, and returns to low-income homeownership, in: N. P. Retsinas & E. S. Belsky (Eds) Low-Income Homeownership: Examining the Unexamined Goal, pp. 208– 238 (
Meanings of property and homeownership consumption in divergent socio-economic conditions
- R Ronald
Ronald, R. (2006) Meanings of property and homeownership consumption in divergent socio-economic conditions, in: J. Doling & M. Elsinga (Eds) Homeownership: Getting in, Getting out, Getting from-Part 2
Theory of Homes and Jobs (University of Warwick, mimeo)
- A Oswald
Oswald, A. (1997) Theory of Homes and Jobs (University of Warwick, mimeo).
Wohnen in Deutschland nach dem Mauerfall: Eine Analyse für die Jahre
- J R Frick
- S Grimm
J.R. Frick and S. Grimm. Wohnen in Deutschland nach dem Mauerfall: Eine Analyse für
die Jahre 1990 bis 2008 auf Basis der Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP).
Life satisfaction is the dependent variable Robust standard errors in parantheses.* p <0.10, ** p<0.05, *** p<0.01. All models contain year dummies
Coefficients from OLS fixed effects estimations. Life satisfaction is the dependent variable. Robust standard errors
in parantheses.* p <0.10, ** p<0.05, *** p<0.01. All models contain year dummies. Source: GSOEP 1992-2009,
own calculations.. a Data for the years 2003 and 2004 is missing.
A conjecture on the explanation for high unemployment in the industrialised nations: Part 1
- A Oswald
A. Oswald. A conjecture on the explanation for high unemployment in the industrialised
nations: Part 1. Warwick Economic Research Papers, 1996. ISSN 0083-7350.