Vehicle ownership, sustainable mobility and well-being in rural China

Mobility deficits are a long-standing issue in rural transportation. Along with infrastructure development, the increasing car ownership in China’s rural populations is seen as supplementary to public transport in its countryside. Does private car possession hold a key to happiness in Chinese rural communities? By using data from the China Household Finance Survey (2017), we examine how a variety of factors, particularly car ownership, affects rural dwellers’ subjective well-being. Robust evidence is found that there is a direct, positive, and statistically significant impact of vehicle ownership on rural happiness, even after we address the mediating effect of income and the endogeneity concern. The dual nature of vehicle ownership is discussed, based on which we make policy suggestions on how to manage transportation resources and promote sustainable mobility in rural areas.