(iPoster) Local Variations of Housing Price Surge and Electoral Consequences in Korea

• In Event: Poster Session: Public Policy & Urban and Local Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Urban and Local Politics

Abstract

In recent decades, scholars studying political economy of housing have emphasized the role of housing in the voters’ political behavior. As the largest component of household wealth, housing and its economic characteristics significantly influence voters’ political decision-making processes. In this paper, I suggest particular local economic consequences of the electoral fortune of local politicians. The political connection to housing prices and its implications for the electoral landscape has received relatively limited scholarly attention. Local variations in housing price changes are to a certain extent determined by external factors beyond the economic value of housing itself. Public goods, infrastructure, and community-level characteristics can generate political consequences.

The implications of changes in household wealth are critical, particularly when considering that many democratic and advanced countries have recently experienced a significant surge in housing prices over the past decade. The change in housing prices is influenced by economic conditions at both the national and local levels. Housing prices are tied to various factors, including economic conditions affecting housing supply, the regional redistribution of public goods such as infrastructure, environmental regulations like greenbelt policies, zoning regions with different land-use purposes, and broader national and local policies.

By emphasizing the local disparities of the change, this paper tries to ask a novel question of the politics of housing. I suggest that the change in local housing prices should be understood as a local economic indicator, and the relative change of the indicator serves as a tool to discern the political competency of local politicians. By connecting theories of economic voting and benchmarking voting, the analysis suggests that changes in housing prices play a significant indicative role for voters, with varying consequences across different regions.

Author

• Chanwoong Yoon, University of Washington