The persistence of power despite the changing meaning of homeownership: An age-period-cohort analysis of urban housing tenure in China, 1989-2011

Using nine successive waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) data set, this study employs hierarchical age-period-cohort logistic models (HAPC) to analyse temporal patterns of urban homeownership from 1989 to 2011. With the changing meaning of homeownership due to housing reforms, the strong period increases in homeownership track policy changes and the most dramatic increase occurs mainly in the era of housing privatisation rather than housing commodification. The temporal analyses also offer insights into housing stratification from redistribution to markets. The positive effect of education on homeownership is explained by period increases in homeownership, whereas working in state sectors has persistently attached to preferred housing-tenure choice before and after the housing reforms. Moreover, the significant cohort effect lends support to strengthened temporal inequalities in the reform era. These findings not only provide a dynamic understanding of housing stratification in (post)socialist societies, but call for the need to incorporate temporal dimensions into urban studies, especially those on a society experiencing rapid social and institutional changes.