nep-cna New Economics Papers
on China
Issue of 2012‒10‒06
two papers chosen by
Zheng Fang
Ohio State University

  1. Housing prices and the high Chinese saving rate puzzle By Xin Wang; Yi Wen
  2. Access to Public Schools and the Education of Migrant Children in China By Chen, Yuanyuan; Feng, Shuaizhang

  1. By: Xin Wang; Yi Wen
    Abstract: China’s over 25% aggregate household saving rate is one of the highest in the world. One popular view attributes the high saving rate to fast-rising housing prices in China. However, cross-sectional data do not show a significant relationship between housing prices and household saving rates. This article uses a simple consumption-saving model to explain why rising housing prices per se cannot explain China’s high household saving rate. Although borrowing constraints and demographic changes can translate housing prices to the aggregate saving rate, quantitative simulations of our model using Chinese time-series data on household income, housing prices, and demographics indicate that rising mortgage costs can increase the aggregate saving rate by at most 2 to 4 percentage points in the best down-payment structure.
    Keywords: China - Economic conditions ; Housing - China ; Saving and investment - China
    Date: 2012
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2012-038&r=cna
  2. By: Chen, Yuanyuan (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics); Feng, Shuaizhang (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics)
    Abstract: A significant proportion of migrant children in China are not able to attend public schools for lack of local household registration (HuKou), and turn to privately-operated migrant schools. This paper examines the consequences of such a partially involuntary school choice, using survey data and standardized test scores from field work conducted in Shanghai. We find that migrant students who are unable to enroll in public schools perform significantly worse than their more fortunate counterparts in both Chinese and Mathematics. We also use parental satisfaction and parental assessment of school quality as alternative measures of the educational outcome and find similar results. Our study suggests that access to public schools is the key factor determining the quality of education that migrant children receive.
    Keywords: education of migrant children, migrant school, standardized test score
    JEL: I28 J15 O15
    Date: 2012–09
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6853&r=cna

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