Can urban low-carbon transformation affect the prices of its industrial land? An empirical study based on spatial regression discontinuity

Shibo Zeng, Yaxin Zhang and Gui Jin

Land Use Policy, 2025, vol. 148, issue C

Abstract: Although the effects of the low-carbon city pilot policy (LCCP) have been extensively studied in recent years, there is a paucity of literature discussing its impact on industrial land prices. To support China's pursuit of dual carbon goals and accelerate the construction of low-carbon cities, this study utilizes micro-level land transaction data and employs spatial regression discontinuity to elucidate the micro-mechanisms underlying LCCP's influence on local industrial land prices. Our findings reveal that LCCP significantly elevates industrial land prices in pilot cities. Specifically, under a local linear benchmark regression with a 10 km bandwidth, the average treatment effect of LCCP on industrial land prices amounts to 15.1 %, translating into an annual growth rate of up to 2.16 %. This phenomenon arises because LCCP restricts the leeway of local governments in enforcing environmental regulations, particularly when environmental indicators are integral to official performance evaluations. Consequently, local officials are incentivized to pursue political advancement by tightening industrial land transfer policies, thereby raising prices and mitigating pollution consequences associated with the 'land-driven development' paradigm. This study offers a novel perspective on the nexus between environmental regulation and government land transfer behavior, while also serving as a valuable reference for integrating low-carbon development principles into land use policy reforms and advancing China's dual carbon goals.

Keywords: Low-carbon city pilot policy; Industrial land prices; Spatial regression discontinuity; Environmental regulation; Land-driven development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837724003661
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:148:y:2025:i:c:s0264837724003661

DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2024.107413

Access Statistics for this article

Land Use Policy is currently edited by Jaap Zevenbergen

More articles in Land Use Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Joice Jiang ().