Abstract

This study investigates how homeownership affects people’s civic behaviors in Hong Kong. Drawing on three waves of data from the Hong Kong Panel Study of Social Dynamics (HKPSSD), I show that compared with renters, homeowners are more likely to engage in a wide range of civic activities, such as charity, volunteer activities and voting. To deal with the selection into homeowners, I exploit the consequences of lucky draws in the social experiment “Home Ownership Scheme” as an instrumental variable and find the results persist. Further analysis demonstrates that the effects of homeownership mainly exist in groups with older age and lower socioeconomic status. These findings contribute to understanding the linkage between homeownership and vibrant civil society, bearing significant implications for policy to promote homeownership in Chinese metropolises.