A+BE: Architecture and the Built Environment (Nov 2015)
Who cares? Individual differences in the determinants of residential satisfaction
Abstract
Residential satisfaction is a key variable in understanding residential mobility. Many researchers have studied the individual level and neighbourhood level determinants of satisfaction, however, very few have studied which neighbourhood characteristics will affect satisfaction for whom. In this paper, a series of ordered logit models is estimated, explaining satisfaction from neighbourhood characteristics, personal characteristics and interactions. These interaction effects test whether neighbourhood characteristics have similar effects on all individuals, or whether individual characteristics affect the size and direction of these effects. Ethnic minorities are found to be less affected than natives by the share of ethnic minorities in the neighbourhood, because they prefer to live close to their own ethnic group. Satisfaction is found to be more dependent on neighbourhood characteristics for owner-occupiers and households with children than for other households. However, the impact of the neighbourhood ethnic composition on satisfaction does not differ with tenure or household type.
