This study investigates trends in housing inequality in China before and after the housing reform based on a set of repeated cross-sectional data in years 1988, 1995 and 2002, and a national representative sample from year 2005, focusing specifically on economic determinants (i.e., income) and institutional determinants (i.e., ex-communist elite) in affecting housing space. Both temporal and regional results reveal that preceding redistributive system of housing has been partially replaced by market-oriented mechanisms, with the role of household economic capacities strengthened while the role of sectors hierarchy weakened. However, two findings contradict the marketization trends: (1) economic factors exerted a larger effect on housings in more developed regions at the early period of...[ Read more ]

This study investigates trends in housing inequality in China before and after the housing reform based on a set of repeated cross-sectional data in years 1988, 1995 and 2002, and a national representative sample from year 2005, focusing specifically on economic determinants (i.e., income) and institutional determinants (i.e., ex-communist elite) in affecting housing space. Both temporal and regional results reveal that preceding redistributive system of housing has been partially replaced by market-oriented mechanisms, with the role of household economic capacities strengthened while the role of sectors hierarchy weakened. However, two findings contradict the marketization trends: (1) economic factors exerted a larger effect on housings in more developed regions at the early period of reform, but with the reform deepening, the effect underwent a faster growth in less developed regions; (2) Instead of experiencing a continuing decline, the advantage of redistributive elite (i.e., officials and professionals) first declined during the early period of reform but then sprang back after that. The findings are interpreted in light of the historical context of the housing reform.