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Land conversion across cities in China

Author

Listed:
  • Fu, Shihe
  • Xu, Xiaocong
  • Zhang, Junfu

Abstract

The Chinese government has been using annual quotas to control the amount of farmland that can be converted for urban uses. Using an analysis sample of more than 1.5 million land-lease transactions during 2007–2016, we document facts on land conversion for urban development in China. We present evidence that land conversion quotas have been increasingly misallocated across cities in that a growing share of land conversion is occurring in less productive cities. A city-level production function is estimated for counterfactual analysis. Based on estimated parameters, we assess the economic losses from misallocation of land conversion quotas across cities in China and calculate the potential gains from reallocating land quotas to cities where urban land is more productive.

Suggested Citation

  • Fu, Shihe & Xu, Xiaocong & Zhang, Junfu, 2021. "Land conversion across cities in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:87:y:2021:i:c:s016604622100003x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2021.103643
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Land conversion; Land quota; Misallocation; Urbanization; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R13 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General Equilibrium and Welfare Economic Analysis of Regional Economies
    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • R52 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Land Use and Other Regulations
    • R58 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Regional Government Analysis - - - Regional Development Planning and Policy

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