The Welfare Cost of Hong Kong's Public Housing Programme

fu Lai yu, Si Ming LI

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Public housing is an important source of accommodation in Hong Kong. Subsidies to public housing are tied to the consumption of housing services. Consumer's consumption pattern will therefore be distorted, and a welfare loss incurred as compared to an equivalent cash transfer. This paper seeks to measure the extent to which tenants' benefit from public housing subsidies. A measure of net tenant benefit is used, which is based upon the Marshallian consumer surplus concept. The results indicate that Hong Kong's public housing programme has had a significant impact upon households' consumption patterns, and that the welfare loss is relatively low.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)133-140
Number of pages8
JournalUrban Studies
Volume22
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 1985

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
  • Urban Studies

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