IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chieco/v78y2023ics1043951x23000275.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How revolving-door recruitment makes firms stand out in land market: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Lu, Shenghua
  • Wang, Hui

Abstract

The fact that firms seek political connections through revolving-door recruitment is widely acknowledged around the world. Using an original database including the information of listed firms' board members and parcel-level land transaction records, this paper documents how revolving-door recruitment makes firms stand out in China's land market. We show that firms with revolving-door recruitment receive special deals in land transactions, which are simultaneously reflected in the quantity and price of land. Specifically, connected firms buy more parcels and larger areas of land in the primary land market. Due to the particularity of industrial land, price discounts are only identified for commercial and residential land, while not for industrial land. Measuring economic activity by night light intensity, we find no evidence that land transaction under the influence of political connections has a negative impact on economic activity on land. Our research advances the understanding that the state-business relationship is an essential factor in resource allocation in an emerging market with government intervention.

Suggested Citation

  • Lu, Shenghua & Wang, Hui, 2023. "How revolving-door recruitment makes firms stand out in land market: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:78:y:2023:i:c:s1043951x23000275
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2023.101942
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X23000275
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chieco.2023.101942?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Guanchun & Hu, May & Cheng, Chen, 2021. "The information transfer effects of political connections on mitigating policy uncertainty: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    2. Lian, Hongping & Li, Hui & Ko, Kilkon, 2019. "Market-led transactions and illegal land use: Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 12-20.
    3. Piotroski, Joseph D. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2014. "Politicians and the IPO decision: The impact of impending political promotions on IPO activity in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 111-136.
    4. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    5. Cull, Robert & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2005. "Institutions, ownership, and finance: the determinants of profit reinvestment among Chinese firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 117-146, July.
    6. Shenghua Lu & Hui Wang, 2022. "Limited Decentralization: Understand China’s Land System from the Perspective of Central-Local Relation," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, April.
    7. Cai, Hongbin & Wang, Zhi & Zhang, Qinghua, 2017. "To build above the limit? Implementation of land use regulations in urban China," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 223-233.
    8. Asim Ijaz Khwaja & Atif Mian, 2011. "Rent Seeking and Corruption in Financial Markets," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 3(1), pages 579-600, September.
    9. Wang, Lihong, 2015. "Protection or expropriation: Politically connected independent directors in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 92-106.
    10. Chang-Tai Hsieh & Peter J. Klenow, 2009. "Misallocation and Manufacturing TFP in China and India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1403-1448.
    11. Liu, Qigui & Tang, Jinghua & Tian, Gary Gang, 2013. "Does political capital create value in the IPO market? Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 395-413.
    12. Michael J. Cooper & Huseyin Gulen & Alexei V. Ovtchinnikov, 2010. "Corporate Political Contributions and Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(2), pages 687-724, April.
    13. Eitan Goldman & Jörg Rocholl & Jongil So, 2013. "Politically Connected Boards of Directors and The Allocation of Procurement Contracts," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 17(5), pages 1617-1648.
    14. Sebastian Galiani & Ernesto Schargrodsky, 2011. "Land Property Rights and Resource Allocation," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(S4), pages 329-345.
    15. Shenoy, Ajay, 2017. "Market failures and misallocation," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 65-80.
    16. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Benjamin Moll, 2010. "Why Does Misallocation Persist?," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(1), pages 189-206, January.
    17. Pham, Anh Viet, 2019. "Political risk and cost of equity: The mediating role of political connections," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 64-87.
    18. Hongbin Li & Lingsheng Meng & Junsen Zhang, 2006. "Why Do Entrepreneurs Enter Politics? Evidence from China," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 559-578, July.
    19. Guojun He & Shaoda Wang & Bing Zhang, 2020. "Watering Down Environmental Regulation in China," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(4), pages 2135-2185.
    20. Jordi Blanes i Vidal & Mirko Draca & Christian Fons-Rosen, 2012. "Revolving Door Lobbyists," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(7), pages 3731-3748, December.
    21. Chen, Ting & Kung, J.K.-S., 2016. "Do land revenue windfalls create a political resource curse? Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 86-106.
    22. Lu, Xin-hai & Jiang, Xu & Gong, Meng-qi, 2020. "How land transfer marketization influence on green total factor productivity from the approach of industrial structure? Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    23. Qizhi Tao & Yicheng Sun & Yingjun Zhu & Xiaolin Yang, 2017. "Political Connections and Government Subsidies: Evidence from Financially Distressed Firms in China," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(8), pages 1854-1868, August.
    24. Fisman, Raymond & Svensson, Jakob, 2007. "Are corruption and taxation really harmful to growth? Firm level evidence," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 63-75, May.
    25. Li, Xiao-Lin & Li, Jingya & Wang, Jia & Si, Deng-Kui, 2021. "Trade policy uncertainty, political connection and government subsidy: Evidence from Chinese energy firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    26. Han, Li & Kung, James Kai-Sing, 2015. "Fiscal incentives and policy choices of local governments: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 89-104.
    27. Kong, Dongmin & Tao, Yunqing & Wang, Yanan, 2020. "China's anti-corruption campaign and firm productivity: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    28. Wei, Chunyan & Hu, Shiyang & Chen, Feng, 2020. "Do political connection disruptions increase labor costs in a government-dominated market? Evidence from publicly listed companies in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    29. Wang, Siliang & Tan, Shukui & Yang, Shengfu & Lin, Qiaowen & Zhang, Lu, 2019. "Urban-biased land development policy and the urban-rural income gap: Evidence from Hubei Province, China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    30. Lãœ, Xiaobo & Landry, Pierre F., 2014. "Show Me the Money: Interjurisdiction Political Competition and Fiscal Extraction in China," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 108(3), pages 706-722, August.
    31. Shu, Cheng & Xie, Hualin & Jiang, Jinfa & Chen, Qianru, 2018. "Is Urban Land Development Driven by Economic Development or Fiscal Revenue Stimuli in China?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 107-115.
    32. Démurger, Sylvie & Li, Shi & Yang, Juan, 2012. "Earnings differentials between the public and private sectors in China: Exploring changes for urban local residents in the 2000s," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 138-153.
    33. Li, Hongbin & Meng, Lingsheng & Wang, Qian & Zhou, Li-An, 2008. "Political connections, financing and firm performance: Evidence from Chinese private firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 283-299, October.
    34. Zhang, Huiming & Huang, Jiying & Wu, Kai & Wang, Shouyang & Nygaard, Christian & Qiu, Yueming, 2022. "Do political connections affect corporate poverty alleviation decisions? Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    35. Yuan, Feng & Wei, Yehua Dennis & Xiao, Weiye, 2019. "Land marketization, fiscal decentralization, and the dynamics of urban land prices in transitional China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    36. Wu, Shuping & Yang, Zan, 2020. "Informal government preferences and asymmetric land allocation in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    37. Chen, Yunling & Liu, Ming & Su, Jun, 2013. "Greasing the wheels of bank lending: Evidence from private firms in China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 2533-2545.
    38. J. Vernon Henderson & Adam Storeygard & David N. Weil, 2012. "Measuring Economic Growth from Outer Space," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(2), pages 994-1028, April.
    39. Jieming Zhu, 1999. "Local Growth Coalition: The Context and Implications of China’s Gradualist Urban Land Reforms," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(3), pages 534-548, September.
    40. David D. Li, 1998. "Changing Incentives of the Chinese Bureaucracy," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 130, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    41. Hung, Chi-Hsiou D. & Jiang, Yuxiang & Liu, Frank Hong & Tu, Hong & Wang, Senyu, 2017. "Bank political connections and performance in China," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 57-69.
    42. Amon Chizema & Xiaohui Liu & Jiangyong Lu & Lan Gao, 2015. "Politically connected boards and top executive pay in Chinese listed firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(6), pages 890-906, June.
    43. Mara Faccio, 2006. "Politically Connected Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 369-386, March.
    44. Li, David D, 1998. "Changing Incentives of the Chinese Bureaucracy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(2), pages 393-397, May.
    45. David Schoenherr, 2019. "Political Connections and Allocative Distortions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 74(2), pages 543-586, April.
    46. Yongwei Nian & Chunyang Wang, 2023. "Go with the Politician," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 467-496, May.
    47. Pi‐Han Tsai & Yongzheng Liu & Xin Liu, 2021. "Collusion, political connection, and tax avoidance in China," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 417-441, August.
    48. Takao Kato & Cheryl Long, 2006. "Executive Turnover and Firm Performance in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 363-367, May.
    49. Reinikka, Ritva & Svensson, Jakob, 2006. "Using Micro-Surveys to Measure and Explain Corruption," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 359-370, February.
    50. Lu, Shenghua & Wang, Hui, 2020. "Local economic structure, regional competition and the formation of industrial land price in China: Combining evidence from process tracing with quantitative results," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wei, Chunyan & Hu, Shiyang & Chen, Feng, 2020. "Do political connection disruptions increase labor costs in a government-dominated market? Evidence from publicly listed companies in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Yuping Deng & Yanrui Wu & Helian Xu, 2020. "Political Connections and Firm Pollution Behaviour: An Empirical Study," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 75(4), pages 867-898, April.
    3. Zhang, Huiming & Huang, Jiying & Wu, Kai & Wang, Shouyang & Nygaard, Christian & Qiu, Yueming, 2022. "Do political connections affect corporate poverty alleviation decisions? Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Jia, Ning & Mao, Xinshu & Yuan, Rongli, 2019. "Political connections and directors' and officers' liability insurance – Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 353-372.
    5. Ting Ren & Youzhi Xiao & Xinguo Yu & Hongyan Yang & Jianmei Ge, 2020. "Resignation of officials as independent directors and firm performance," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-21, December.
    6. Yi, Shangkun & Wang, Jian & Wang, Xiaoting & Feng, Hongrui, 2022. "CEO political connection and stock sentiment beta: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    7. Florackis, Chris & Fu, Xi & Wang, Jingjing, 2023. "Political connections, environmental violations and punishment: Evidence from heavily polluting firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    8. Michelson, Noam, 2023. "The revolving door of former civil servants and firm value: A comprehensive approach," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Wang, Fangjun & Xu, Luying & Zhang, Junrui & Shu, Wei, 2018. "Political connections, internal control and firm value: Evidence from China's anti-corruption campaign," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 53-67.
    10. Quoc-Anh Do & Yen-Teik Lee & Bang Dang Nguyen, 2013. "Political Connections and Firm Value: Evidence from the Regression Discontinuity Design of Close Gubernatorial Elections," Working Papers hal-03460972, HAL.
    11. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/65rged1j6o9gl9jvp8a09o3eue is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Maggie Xiaoyang Chen, 2013. "The Matching Of Heterogeneous Firms And Politicians," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(2), pages 1502-1522, April.
    13. Jackowicz, Krzysztof & Kozłowski, Łukasz & Podgórski, Błażej & Winkler-Drews, Tadeusz, 2020. "Do political connections shield from negative shocks? Evidence from rating changes in advanced emerging economies," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    14. Quoc-Anh Do & Yen-Teik Lee & Bang Dang Nguyen, 2013. "Political Connections and Firm Value: Evidence from the Regression Discontinuity Design of Close Gubernatorial Elections," Working Papers hal-03460972, HAL.
    15. Zhang, Yi & Liu, Chun & Wang, Ting, 2020. "Direct or indirect? The impact of political connections on export mode of Chinese private enterprises," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    16. Firth, Michael & Gong, Stephen X. & Shan, Liwei, 2013. "Cost of government and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 136-152.
    17. Haitian Lu & Hongbo Pan & Chenying Zhang, 2015. "Political Connectedness and Court Outcomes: Evidence from Chinese Corporate Lawsuits," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(4).
    18. Ren, Haohan & Zhao, Xiaofeng, 2020. "Anticorruption, political connections, and corporate cash policy: Evidence from politician downfalls in China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    19. Li, Mingsheng & Liu, Desheng & Peng, Hongfeng & Zhang, Luxiu, 2022. "Political connection and its impact on equity market," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    20. Nnadi, Modestus I. & Sorwar, Ghulam & Eskandari, Rasol & Chizema, Amon, 2021. "Political connections and seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    21. Barraza, Santiago & Rossi, Martín A & Ruzzier, Christian A, 2022. "Sleeping with the enemy: The perils of having the government on(the)board," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 641-651.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:78:y:2023:i:c:s1043951x23000275. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chieco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.