Effects of residential push-pull on tenants' intention to relocate from larger megacities: Evidence from a Beijing, China survey

Tenants' residential relocation always presents diverse space-temporal tendencies and is highly influenced by institutional, socio-economic, and subjective factors in China. This paper aims to construct a relocation intention (RI) model and estimate the effects of its push-pull factors, including the household's registration system (hukou), homeownership status, and residential dissatisfaction. The empirical research relies on a questionnaire survey of 2,187 tenants conducted in 2019 in Beijing, China. Our findings confirm that non-local hukou status significantly pushes female and unmarried tenants to relocate, and non-local homeownership noticeably pulls male and married tenants' relocation. These two factors also significantly influence the RI of tenants without higher education experience. For tenants younger than 35, non-local hukou status shows a strong pushing force, but non-local homeownership does not present notable differences by age. Additionally, residential dissatisfaction significantly pushes tenants' RI and shows a moderating effect in non-local homeownership. Moreover, for tenants who have an explicit relocation intention, non-local hukou status plays a vital role in shortening their stay duration before relocation.