David Emanuel Andersson

Where Do Home Buyers Pay Most for Relative Transit Accessibility? Hong Kong, Taipei and Kaohsiung Compared

The three cities of Hong Kong, Taipei and Kaohsiung all feature state-of-the-art transit systems, but transit commuting rates are markedly different, ranging from less than 10 per cent in Kaohsiung to about 90 per cent in Hong Kong. This paper looks at the effect of transit station accessibility on housing prices in these three cities, which are all located on the south-eastern edge of the Greater China region. The key finding is that accessibility impacts stand in an inverse relationship to the size and popularity of the transit system. The results illustrate how intraregional variability in overall transit accessibility declines with increases in the spatial coverage of transit systems. The price premium for housing near transit stations is therefore greatest in Kaohsiung and smallest in Hong Kong, with Taipei exhibiting intermediate levels. Conversely, average land values are highest in Hong Kong and lowest in Kaohsiung.

Official and Subjective Hotel Attributes Compared: Online Hotel Rates in Shanghai

ABSTRACT A number of valued attributes determine the room rates that hotels charge. These attributes include not only room quality characteristics, but also access to various shared hotel facilities, service quality and access to amenities beyond the hotel itself. Using Box–Cox-transformed and pre-specified hedonic price functions, this paper reports estimated implicit prices for hotel room attributes in Shanghai. Internet-based hotel rates are regressed against official star ratings, consumer feedback scores and objective attributes, as reported by a global online travel agency. Most attributes are significant in all functional specifications; consumer perceptions—particularly subjective location attractiveness and an index of all-attribute ratings—explain much of the variability within a given star-rating of the hotel. Online ratings are at the same time imperfect substitutes and imperfect complements for official star ratings. The results imply that online ratings are as important in Chinese hotel markets as they are in the most advanced regions of the world.