Land property rights and rural enterprise growth: Evidence from land titling reform in China

Di Bu and Yin Liao

Journal of Development Economics, 2022, vol. 157, issue C

Abstract: We exploit a large-scale land titling reform in China that clearly entitles rural households to land rights by issuing uniform land use certificates and study how this impacted entrepreneurship in rural areas. We find that the reform significantly increases business creation in rural areas without decreasing the quality of new entrants or incumbent businesses. It also spurs entrepreneurship among professional and large farmers and attracts more urban residents to start new businesses in rural areas. Additional analysis provides evidence that increased land and labor availability and productivity, and improved social trust may serve as the mechanisms underlying these effects. Altogether, these results reveal that well-defined land property rights have enabled more enterprise growth in rural areas.

Keywords: Land property rights; Enterprise; Collateral; Labor mobility; Social trust (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J15 L26 M13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (30)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:157:y:2022:i:c:s0304387822000281

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2022.102853

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