Homeownership Determinants for Chinese Americans: Assimilation, Ethnic Concentration, and Nativity

Painter, Gary; Yang, Lihong; Yu, Zhou

doi:10.2139/ssrn.409540

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Homeownership Determinants for Chinese Americans: Assimilation, Ethnic Concentration, and Nativity

Lusk Center Working Paper No. 2003-1001

33 Pages Posted: 30 May 2003

See all articles by Gary Painter

Gary Painter

University of Southern California - Sol Price School of Public Policy

Zhou Yu

Department of Family and Consumer Studies

Date Written: February 13, 2003

Abstract

Traditional assimilation theory suggests immigrant adaptation into society as a function of catching up to the status of the host society. Recent Chinese immigrants, rather than climbing socioeconomic ladders over time, may have achieved a socioeconomic status comparable to that of native-born whites soon after arrival, as measured by their homeownership rates Painter et al. (forthcoming). The characteristics of Chinese communities in this analysis more closely fit the description of ethnic communities described in Logan et al. (2002) than ethnic enclaves Borjas (2000).

Chinese homeownership rates adjusted by socioeconomic and housing market characteristics are on average 18 percentage points higher than those of native white households. The results of this study find that none of this gap can be explained by the English proficiency of households. On the other hand, the cultural influence of homeowning peers may have partially contributed to the higher homeownership of Chinese households. Finally, we find that there is great diversity among Chinese subgroups with respect to their likelihood of owning a home, but very little diversity with respect to the education and income level of Chinese households.

Keywords: Chinese, Homeownership, Assimilation, Ethnic Concentration, Nativity

JEL Classification: R21

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Painter, Gary and Yang, Lihong and Yu, Zhou, Homeownership Determinants for Chinese Americans: Assimilation, Ethnic Concentration, and Nativity (February 13, 2003). Lusk Center Working Paper No. 2003-1001, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=409540 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.409540