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Balancing act: Economic incentives, administrative restrictions, and urban land expansion in China

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  • Feng, Juan
  • Lichtenberg, Erik
  • Ding, Chengri
Abstract
We examine how the system of “federalism, Chinese style” functions in the context of land allocation. China's land laws give provision of land a central role in local officials' growth promotion strategies. Requisitions of farmland by local authorities have engendered significant rural unrest. In response, the central government has attempted to re-establish control over the pace of urban land expansion by enacting regulations limiting conversion of rural land to urban uses. We derive theoretically the conditions under which non-compliance with such regulations is optimal. An econometric investigation shows that legal restrictions on farmland conversion had little or no effect on rates of farmland loss but did limit urban spatial growth. Our econometric evidence is consistent with limited enforcement of those legal limits on farmland conversion.

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  • Feng, Juan & Lichtenberg, Erik & Ding, Chengri, 2015. "Balancing act: Economic incentives, administrative restrictions, and urban land expansion in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 184-197.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:36:y:2015:i:c:p:184-197
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2015.09.004
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    4. Tang, Peng & Feng, Yue & Li, Min & Zhang, Yanyan, 2021. "Can the performance evaluation change from central government suppress illegal land use in local governments? A new interpretation of Chinese decentralisation," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    5. Liping Shan & Chuyi Zhang & Tianxiao Zhou & Yuzhe Wu & Liang Zhang & Jiaming Shan, 2024. "Fixability–Flexibility Relations in Sustainable Territorial Spatial Planning in China: A Review from the Food–Energy–Water Nexus Perspective," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, February.
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    7. Zhanzhong Tang & Zengxiang Zhang & Lijun Zuo & Xiao Wang & Shunguang Hu & Zijuan Zhu, 2020. "Spatial Econometric Analysis of the Relationship between Urban Land and Regional Economic Development in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Coordinated Development Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-21, October.
    8. Zhi Wang & Qinghua Zhang & Li-An Zhou, 2020. "Career Incentives of City Leaders and Urban Spatial Expansion in China," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(5), pages 897-911, December.
    9. Wei Tang & Tiancai Zhou & Jian Sun & Yurui Li & Weipeng Li, 2017. "Accelerated Urban Expansion in Lhasa City and the Implications for Sustainable Development in a Plateau City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-19, August.
    10. Wang, Jian & Wu, Qun & Yan, Siqi & Guo, Guancheng & Peng, Shangui, 2020. "China’s local governments breaking the land use planning quota: A strategic interaction perspective," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Decentralization; Dynamic balance policy; Fiscal federalism; Land allocation; Farmland preservation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • P35 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Public Finance
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment

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