Land allocation and industrial agglomeration: Evidence from the 2007 reform in China
中文摘要
本文通过考察中国2007年的工业用地市场改革，强调了土地配置机制在促进产业集聚中的关键作用。通过在土地出让过程中引入透明度，改革促使更多买方竞争土地（土地出让价格上升可证），使地方政府能够将土地配置给最合适的使用者。利用包含初始地方产业结构、新工业企业设立及工业用地交易信息的综合数据集，实证分析发现，该改革显著增加了与地方专业化方向一致的产业中新企业的进入，尤其是在更严格执行改革的地区。具有大量未实现集聚经济或高度本地化溢出效应的产业经历了放大的效应。运作良好的资本市场进一步增强了土地市场改革的影响。支持性证据表明，改革对经济增长具有正向效应（夜间灯光亮度变化可证），潜在途径可能是提高当地企业的全要素生产率。
Abstract
This paper highlights the crucial role of land allocation mechanisms in fostering industrial agglomeration by examining China's 2007 industrial land market reform. By introducing transparency into the land-selling process, the reform facilitated more buyers to compete for land (as evidenced by increased land sale prices), enabling local governments to allocate land to the most suitable users. Utilizing comprehensive data sets that include information on initial local industrial structure, new industrial establishments, and industrial land transactions, the empirical analysis finds that the reform significantly increased the entry of firms from industries aligned with local specialization, particularly in regions that implemented the reform more strictly. Industries characterized by substantial unrealized agglomeration economies or highly localized spillover effects experienced amplified effects. A well-functioning capital market further enhanced the land market reform's impact. Supporting evidence demonstrates the reform's positive effect on economic growth (as evidenced by changes in nighttime luminosity), potentially through increasing local firms' TFP.