Research

Working Paper

Valuing Consumption Services as Technology Transforms Accessibility: Evidence from Beijing

With Ying Chen, Paul Cheshire, and You-Sin Wang

Abstract: Home delivery reduced the value of cities as locations to access variety in durable consumption goods. Food delivery services (FDS) are doing the same for restaurants. Home-streaming of sports or home-delivered restaurant meals are close but not perfect substitutes for the live experiences. Here we investigate the impact of FDS in Beijing. Employing a Bartik IV strategy, we find that a one standard deviation increase in the number of FDS-accessible restaurants generates a 7.1% increase in property values. The premium is estimated as equivalent to half a top-quality school. FDS appears to be changing how cities deliver welfare from consumption services and so modifies urban land rents and housing attributes. Its value and that of restaurant variety increase with household size but seems to reduce the value of well-equipped kitchens.

Link: LSE CEP Discussion Paper No. 2031

Work-in-progress

Will Subsidy Enhance Regional Innovation? From the Aspect of Cheap Land Price

• Present in Conference on “Frontiers in Sustainable Development Studies,” Nov 2-3, 2024, Xiamen University