IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecanpo/v77y2023icp824-842.html

The impact of the Low-Carbon City Pilots programme on industrial land transfer by local governments in China

Author

Listed:
  • Lan, Jing
  • Li, Qiuming
  • Zheng, Yuqing
  • Liu, Zhen

Abstract

Local governments have played an important role in China’s economic development over the past 30 years. They are often driven by economic and political interests. They have relied on the fact that they hold a monopoly on the supply of land to transfer industrial land at low prices or by agreement in order to attract investment. This has had serious environmental repercussions. As the problem of climate change becomes more and more serious, central government has promulgated a large number of environmental regulation policies in recent years. But the way in which local governments (as policy implementers) respond to central government by changing their behaviour vis-à-vis the transfer of industrial land is still inadequate. This study takes the Low-Carbon City Pilots (LCCP) programme as a starting point, collecting industrial land transfer data on more than 280 Chinese cities from 2008 to 2018 and using a multi-period difference-in-differences model to study how environmental regulation affects the industrial land transfer behaviour of local governments. The results show that the LCCP programme has significantly reduced the scale of industrial land transfers by local government. This trend is mainly reflected in a reduction in the number of transfers; meanwhile, any reduction in the area of industrial land transfers is concentrated in cities with low levels of land finance and innovative cities. The study finds that local governments in different cities have different incentives for undertaking environmental protection, based on their endowment characteristics; there is also a difference in their preferred policy tools: reducing competition to attract investment, enhancing environmental supervision or increasing investment in science and education. This study offers fresh insights into environmental regulation and economic development, and provides a reference for how to achieve industrial upgrading and sustainable development through government guidance, under the central and local ‘principal–agent’ relationship.

Suggested Citation

  • Lan, Jing & Li, Qiuming & Zheng, Yuqing & Liu, Zhen, 2023. "The impact of the Low-Carbon City Pilots programme on industrial land transfer by local governments in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 824-842.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecanpo:v:77:y:2023:i:c:p:824-842
    DOI: 10.1016/j.eap.2023.01.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0313592623000036
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.eap.2023.01.003?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hendrik Wolff, 2014. "Keep Your Clunker in the Suburb: Low‐emission Zones and Adoption of Green Vehicles," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(578), pages 481-512, August.
    2. Wolff, Hendrik, 2014. "Keep Your Clunker in the Suburb: Low Emission Zones and Adoption of Green Vehicles," IZA Discussion Papers 8180, IZA Network @ LISER.
    3. Shaojian Chen & Hui Mao & Junqin Sun, 2022. "Low-Carbon City Construction and Corporate Carbon Reduction Performance: Evidence From a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 125-143, September.
    4. Yufei Wang & Qijiao Song & Jijiang He & Ye Qi, 2015. "Developing low-carbon cities through pilots," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(sup1), pages 81-103, December.
    5. Zengming Wu & Mengnan Zhu, 2022. "More air pollution control, less industrial land leasing? Empirical evidence from microland transactions," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 647-658, April.
    6. Zhou, Mengling & Wang, Bing & Chen, Zhongfei, 2020. "Has the anti-corruption campaign decreased air pollution in China?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    8. Petri Böckerman & Pekka Ilmakunnas, 2009. "Unemployment and self‐assessed health: evidence from panel data," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(2), pages 161-179, February.
    9. 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).
    10. Gene M. Grossman & Alan B. Krueger, 1991. "Environmental Impacts of a North American Free Trade Agreement," NBER Working Papers 3914, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Han, Wenjing & Zhang, Xiaoling & Zheng, Xian, 2020. "Land use regulation and urban land value: Evidence from China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    12. Wen Wang & Fangzhi Ye, 2016. "The Political Economy of Land Finance in China," Public Budgeting & Finance, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 91-110, June.
    13. 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.
    14. Yu, Yantuan & Zhang, Ning, 2021. "Low-carbon city pilot and carbon emission efficiency: Quasi-experimental evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    15. Gehrsitz, Markus, 2017. "The effect of low emission zones on air pollution and infant health," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 121-144.
    16. Thorsten Beck & Ross Levine & Alexey Levkov, 2010. "Big Bad Banks? The Winners and Losers from Bank Deregulation in the United States," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(5), pages 1637-1667, October.
    17. Giovanni Cerulli, 2022. "Econometric Evaluation of Socio-Economic Programs," Advanced Studies in Theoretical and Applied Econometrics, Springer, edition 2, number 978-3-662-65945-8, July-Dece.
    18. Yoshikawa, Hiroshi & Ohtaka, Fumio, 1989. "An analysis of female labor supply, housing demand and the saving rate in Japan," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 997-1023, May.
    19. Jingbo Cui & Junjie Zhang & Yang Zheng, 2018. "Carbon Pricing Induces Innovation: Evidence from China's Regional Carbon Market Pilots," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 108, pages 453-457, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yaning Song & Chong Zhuo & Yuyang Deng, 2025. "Does the Low-Carbon City Pilot Promote Household Energy Transition in China?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-25, March.
    2. Bai, Caiquan & Xie, Dongshui & Zhang, Yuwei, 2024. "Industrial land transfer and enterprise pollution emissions: Evidence from China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 181-194.
    3. Yu, Yang & Feng, Lina, 2025. "Local official turnover, business environment, and innovation and entrepreneurship," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    4. Mao Zheng & Xiaoguang Li & Zhilong Qin & Muhammad Tayyab Sohail, 2023. "Examining the Impact of Fiscal Resources on Anti-Poverty Expenditure: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-17, March.
    5. Chen, Hongwen & Dian, Jie & Fan, Sihan & Fang, Ying, 2025. "The effect of low-carbon city pilot policy on public health: An empirical analysis of adult health in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 2043-2062.
    6. Suling Deng & Lu Zhang, 2025. "Urban land supply strategies and carbon emissions in China: from the perspective of land-based fiscal revenue and land-based investment," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, December.
    7. Wan, Min & Wei, Dedai & Yu, Chenming, 2025. "Low-carbon pilot cities and financialization of listed companies: Inhibitory effects and policy analysis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Song Wang & Yuyao Cao & Yifan Wang & Chaoquan Wang, 2024. "The Impact of Innovative and Low-Carbon Pilot Cities on Green Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-27, August.
    9. Yi Ren & Fei Yang & Kang Liu & Tian Liang & Lihua Wang, 2026. "The effects of low-carbon city pilot policy on urban land green use efficiency: evidence from 284 cities in China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 521-547, January.
    10. Xinyue Wang & Kegao Yan & Yang Shi & Han Hu & Shanjun Mao, 2025. "The Nonlinear Impact of Economic Growth Pressure on Urban Land Green Utilization Efficiency—Empirical Research from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-29, March.
    11. Sun, Hongliang & Chen, Jie & Wu, Yanbo & Wu, Youmeng, 2025. "Land use tournaments and urban green total factor productivity: Evidence from the reform in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 794-811.
    12. Ran, Rong & Hua, Lei & Xiao, Junfu & Ma, Li & Pang, Mingyue & Ni, Zhengxing, 2023. "Can poverty alleviation policy enhance ecosystem service value? Evidence from poverty-stricken regions in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1509-1525.
    13. Lin, Boqiang & Xie, Jiawen, 2023. "Superior administration’s environmental inspections and local polluters’ rent seeking: A perspective of multilevel principal–agent relationships," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 805-819.

    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. Hongfeng Zhang & Lu Huang & Yan Zhu & Hongyun Si & Xu He, 2021. "Does Low-Carbon City Construction Improve Total Factor Productivity? Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(22), pages 1-21, November.
    2. Jian Song & Jing Wang & Zhe Chen, 2022. "How Low-Carbon Pilots Affect Chinese Urban Energy Efficiency: An Explanation from Technological Progress," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-30, November.
    3. Ping Guo & Jin Li & Jinsong Kuang & Yifei Zhu & Renrui Xiao & Donghao Duan & Baocong Huang, 2022. "Low-Carbon Governance, Fiscal Decentralization and Sulfur Dioxide Emissions: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment with Chinese Heavy Pollution Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-24, March.
    4. Zeng, Shibo & Zhang, Yaxin & Jin, Gui, 2025. "Can urban low-carbon transformation affect the prices of its industrial land? An empirical study based on spatial regression discontinuity," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    5. Wang, Chang’an & Liu, Xiaoqian & Li, Han & Yang, Cunyi, 2023. "Analyzing the impact of low-carbon city pilot policy on enterprises' labor demand: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    6. Xu, Aiting & Zhu, Yuhan & Wang, Wenpu, 2023. "Micro green technology innovation effects of green finance pilot policy—From the perspectives of action points and green value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    7. Xu, Lan & Yang, Jun & Cheng, Jixin & Dong, Hanghang, 2022. "How has China's low-carbon city pilot policy influenced its CO2 abatement costs? Analysis from the perspective of the shadow price," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    8. Jingbo Liu & Haoyuan Feng & Kun Wang, 2022. "The Low-Carbon City Pilot Policy and Urban Land Use Efficiency: A Policy Assessment from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-18, April.
    9. Gao, Yihong & Gao, Jiayan, 2023. "Low-carbon transformation and corporate cash holdings," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    10. Shen, Yu & Sun, Wenkai, 2023. "The effect of low-carbon city pilot on energy consumption behavior: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(PA).
    11. Qiansheng Gong & Xi Tang & Xiangyu Wang, 2022. "Can Low-Carbon Pilot City Policies Effectively Promote High-Quality Urban Economic Development?—Quasi-Natural Experiments Based on 227 Cities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-18, November.
    12. Wang, Zhenzhen & Zhou, Feite & Zhong, Junhao, 2024. "Can China's low-carbon city pilot policy facilitate carbon neutrality? Evidence from a machine learning approach," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 756-773.
    13. Weijia Zhuo, 2023. "Environmental regulation and corporate sustainability: Evidence from green innovation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(4), pages 1723-1737, July.
    14. Xianxian Fan & Yunlei Zhou & Qiang Xie, 2025. "Assessment on the synergistic effect of pollution and carbon reductions in low-carbon city pilot policy: based on effectiveness and efficiency perspectives," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 27(6), pages 12945-12969, June.
    15. Gao, Xing & Lai, Xinjie & Tang, Xuan & Li, Yue, 2024. "Does environmental regulation affect corporate environmental awareness? A quasi-natural experiment based on low-carbon city pilot policy," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 1164-1184.
    16. Isaksen, Elisabeth T. & Johansen, Bjørn G., 2025. "Congestion pricing with electric vehicle exemptions: Car-ownership effects and other behavioral adjustments," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    17. Cong, Yingnan & Hou, Yufei & Ji, Yuan & Cai, Xiaojing, 2026. "Does innovation-driven policy optimize urban energy consumption? Evidence from China’s innovation-driven city pilot policies," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    18. Isaksen, Elisabeth & Johansen, Bjørn G., 2021. "Congestion pricing, air pollution, and individual-level behavioural responses," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 111493, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    19. Jinchao Huang & Shuang Meng & Jiajie Yu, 2023. "The Effects of the Low-Carbon Pilot City Program on Green Innovation: Evidence from China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(8), pages 1-26, August.
    20. Brehm, Johannes & Pestel, Nico & Schaffner, Sandra & Schmitz, Laura, 2025. "From Low Emission Zone to academic track: Environmental policy effects on educational achievement in elementary school," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ecanpo:v:77:y:2023:i:c:p:824-842. 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.journals.elsevier.com/economic-analysis-and-policy .

    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.