Work

Decomposing Variations in Quality of Life Through Amenities: Evidence From Korean Cities

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: ABSTRACT We estimate the quality of life (QOL) across Korean cities and decompose the cross‐sectional and temporal variations in QOL through amenities. Using administrative housing transaction data, a city's revealed‐preference QOL is estimated from its cost of living relative to its wage level. Seoul, the biggest city in Korea, had a significantly high QOL in 2019, and its QOL continuously increased from 2015 to 2019. Based on a hedonic framework, households are willing to pay more for denser, more educated, and warmer cities. Decomposing QOL using amenities chosen by LASSO, we find that a large portion of the cross‐sectional variation in QOL across cities is attributable to human‐made amenities. We also show that most temporal variation in QOL can be accounted for by amenities, particularly their increasing value.

Source: Journal of Regional Science

DOI: 10.1111/jors.70027

Author: Heepyung Cho

Institution: Korea University

Language: English

Topic: Regional Economics and Spatial Analysis

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,730