Housing demolition and life satisfaction in China: perspectives from household economic behaviors

Using the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this paper estimates the effect of housing demolition on life satisfaction. This paper not only estimates the impact of housing demolition on overall life satisfaction but also explores how housing demolition affects life satisfaction over time. Our results show that housing demolition has a positive impact on overall life satisfaction. We also find that the positive effect on life satisfaction is primarily driven by young people, females, better-educated people, and people living in urban areas. However, the positive impact on life satisfaction weakens and becomes insignificant over time. We explore possible underlying mechanisms and find that housing demolition improves life satisfaction by increasing total income, transfer income, housing-related consumption, and durable-goods consumption. This paper may provide evidence for relevant departments to make polices aimed at improving the quality of life and life satisfaction.