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Housing prices and investment: an assessment of China's inland-favoring land supply policies

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  • Libin Han
  • Ming Lu

Abstract

Since 2003, China's central government has allocated more construction land-use quotas to inland provinces than elsewhere in an attempt to balance the growth gap between its coastal and inland regions. Here, firm-level data from 2001 to 2007 were used to determine how this change in land policy has affected firms' investments and housing prices. Results have shown that cities in which land-use quotas decreased experienced faster housing price growth than the cities in which land-use quotas increased after 2003. This sharp change in policy also highlighted two major channels of the effects of housing prices on investment by firms. The results show that higher housing prices increased firms' investment by providing a source of more valuable collateral, while crowding out fixed capital investment. The net effect of housing prices on investment is negative and limiting economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Libin Han & Ming Lu, 2017. "Housing prices and investment: an assessment of China's inland-favoring land supply policies," Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 106-121, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rjapxx:v:22:y:2017:i:1:p:106-121
    DOI: 10.1080/13547860.2016.1261452
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    4. Wen, Le & Ali, Abdelrahman & Zhou, Zhipeng, 2026. "Rising housing rents and migrants' marriage formation: Evidence from China," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    5. Chaozheng Zhang & Danling Chen & Xupeng Zhang & Xinhai Lu & Jiao Hou & Qingsong He & Jia Li & Yizhen Yin & Chenning Deng, 2025. "Underestimated impacts: the multi-dimensional roles of land finance in driving regional economic integration," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, December.
    6. Chen, Qiuyu & Feng, Ling & Li, Zhiyuan & Lin, Ching-Yi, 2021. "Housing prices and trade surpluses in China: An inter-temporal approach," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    7. Jiang, Xin & Xu, Jinhua, 2024. "Decentralization of land development approval and economic impacts: A study on China's urban construction land reform," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PB).
    8. He Xiao, 2023. "Institutional investors' corporate site visits and corporate investment efficiency," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 23(2), pages 359-392, June.
    9. Fu, Shihe & Xu, Xiaocong & Zhang, Junfu, 2021. "Land conversion across cities in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    10. Fang, Min & Huang, Zibin, 2022. "Migration, housing constraints, and inequality: A quantitative analysis of China," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Wenbin Huang, 2022. "Government Land Regulations and Housing Supply Elasticity in Urban China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 30(4), pages 122-148, July.
    12. Binkai Chen & Ming Lu & Christopher Timmins & Kuanhu Xiang, 2019. "Spatial Misallocation: Evaluating Place-Based Policies Using a Natural Experiment in China," NBER Working Papers 26148, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Du, Lizhao & Wei, Mianjin & Zhang, Shaoxin & Pan, Junyu, 2023. "Unveiling the policy intervention effects of natural resource regulation on firm-level pollution emissions: Evidence from China's restrained land supply," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PA).

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