The uneven geography of real estate investment by Chinese state-owned and private enterprises in the U.S. : local market conditions, migration and ethnic networks

  • Lisha HE (Speaker)

Activity: Talks or PresentationsPublic Lecture

Description

Since the 2010s, foreign direct investment in real estate (FDIRE) by Mainland Chinese firms has emerged as a major force within global real estate markets, challenging Western investors’ traditional dominance. It is unclear, however, whether Mainland Chinese FDIRE is fueled by the same motivations as those for investors from advanced economies, which to date have represented both the primary investors and main objects of study. One major difference may be that Mainland Chinese investment originates in an institutional environment that comprises strong state intervention and social networks important for fostering business and ethnic ties. To uncover the potentially unique determinants and heterogeneity of Chinese corporate real estate investors, we build and analyze a state-level panel dataset of Mainland Chinese FDIRE by state-owned (SOEs) and private enterprises (PEs) in the U.S. from 2010-2017. Our empirical results reveal the importance of Chinese migrants in promoting Mainland Chinese real estate investment, especially by PEs. We also demonstrate that PEs depend more on Chinese overseas communities than SOEs, perhaps because they are less able to count on government support to overcome investment barriers. Finally, we find that the spatial effects on Mainland Chinese FDIRE are insignificant at the state-level.
Period12 Oct 2021
Event titleECON Brownbag Seminars
Event typeSeminar
OrganiserDepartment of Economics
LocationHong Kong, Hong KongShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInstitutional