City/Real Estate/Sustainability

(Notes: For all papers, in Economics and general-interest journals, authors share equal contributions and are listed alphabetically.)

Working Papers

[1] Sea Level Rise Risks, Adaptation Strategies, and Real Estate Prices in Singapore, with Sumit Agarwal, Yu Qin, and Tien Foo Sing, Accepted, Journal of Public Economics.

—— Media coverage: The government's response to climate risk slowed down the decline in housing prices in high-risk areas (本地研究:政府应对气候风险高危区屋价下滑放缓), Lianhe Zaobao, 2022. [Link]

This study exploits the Singapore government’s disclosure of sea level rise (SLR) areas within the country and its adaptation strategies valued at 100 billion Singapore dollars. We find that public housing prices dropped by 5.6% and 2.1% two years after the shock in the SLR areas without and with adaptation measures, respectively, compared to those in non-SLR areas. Freehold properties benefit more from adaptation strategies than leasehold properties. We also calibrate the long-term discount rates before and after the shock as 2.61% and 2.19% in SLR areas and 2.57% and 2.12% in SLR areas with adaptation, respectively. 

[2] Initial Property Offering: Underpricing and Learning in the Presale Housing Market, Revision Requested, Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics.

Utilizing a transaction-level dataset of presale private properties in Singapore over 20 years (2000-2020), this paper investigates the property price dynamics following a project launch. I show that for a newly launched residential project, presale prices increase by approximately 1% every 100 days from the launch date, indicating an IPO underpricing price pattern. By matching transaction data with developer information, I demonstrate that developers tend to underprice their first two presale projects, and then adjust pricing strategies in subsequent projects by learning from experience and adjacent peers. This study discloses developers’ underpricing and learning behavior in the presale housing market. 

[3] Rooted in the Land: Clanship and Land Market in China, with Wentian Diao.

This paper examines the relationship between kin-based institutions and the state in the modern Chinese economy, exploring how clans may manipulate or influence local governments. Using data from China’s primary land market and a nationwide genealogy dataset, we employ spatial matching to estimate clans’ causal impacts on land parcel prices, which are a crucial source of fiscal revenue for local government. We find that firms linked to local clans obtained 1.3%-3.0% lower prices than those without clanship connections. We show that clan firms get lower prices through collusion with bidders, a process facilitated by local government officials. This patron-client relationship can lead to a decline in economic growth at the county level, while China’s anti-corruption campaign transforms the economic impact from negative to positive.

[4] Aid, Coup D'état, and Conflict: Evidence from Myanmar.

This study analyzes the aid-politics-conflict nexus by empirically examining aid-related conflict occurrence after the 2021 military coup d'état in Myanmar. By combining aid and conflict data, I construct a village-year-month panel covering over 13,000 villages. Using the Difference-in-Differences design, I find that the military coup triggered 1.2 percentage points (140% in terms of the pre-coup level) higher aid-related conflicts, especially anti-authoritarian movements. The aid-politics-conflict relationship can be explained by relative deprivation and ideologically winning hearts and minds. This study adds to the longstanding debate on aid and conflicts in the context of intense political turmoil.

[5] Quantifying the Association between Micro-Level Urban Heat and Property Prices, with Wenlan Qian, Chao Yuan, and Liqing Zhang.

This study investigates the association between micro-level urban heat and property prices, utilizing the UHI intensity based on sky view factor, air temperature increment due to anthropogenic heat, and transaction-level public housing transactions in Singapore. We disclose that a 1-degree Celsius (℃) increase in ambient temperature is associated with a 1.5% discount in resale public housing prices. We also show that higher wind permeability, higher relative floor level, and more precipitation, which are mitigation strategies to heat stress, can mitigate the association between ambient temperature and property prices in the public housing sector. This study provides a new perspective on household financial behavior and social well-being across housing market segments in the context of urban warming. 

Publications

[1] Disamenities of Living Close to Transit Tracks: Evidence from Singapore, with Mi Diao, Qiang Li, and Tien Foo Sing, Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2023.

[2] Association Between a State-Level Fat Tax and Fast Food Purchases, corresponding author, with Sumit Agarwal and Pulak Ghosh, JAMA Network Open, 2023.

[3] Tracking industry pollution sources and health risks in China, with Tien Foo Sing and Wenwen Wang, Scientific Reports, 2023.

[4] Assessment of Online Food Ordering and Delivery in Singapore During the COVID-19 Pandemic, corresponding author, with Sumit Agarwal, Peiying Huang, Chenxi Luo, and Yu Qin, JAMA Network Open, 2021.