Land misallocation and economic performance: evidence from China

We study the causes and consequences of land misallocation based on matched Chinese firm-level data and land transaction data during 1998–2016. We employ a land misallocation index and identify significant land misallocation in China. We find that price distortion and political incentives are associated with land misallocation. Land misallocation has important implications for economic performance. We quantify the relationship between land misallocation and productivity and find that a one standard deviation decrease in land misallocation is associated with a 14.51% decrease in labour productivity and a 10.76% reduction in total factor productivity.