Underestimated impacts: the multi-dimensional roles of land finance in driving regional economic integration

Chaozheng Zhang, Danling Chen (), Xupeng Zhang, Xinhai Lu, Jiao Hou, Qingsong He, Jia Li, Yizhen Yin and Chenning Deng ()
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Chaozheng Zhang: Hunan Agricultural University
Danling Chen: Huazhong Agricultural University
Xupeng Zhang: China University of Geosciences
Xinhai Lu: Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Jiao Hou: Wuhan Polytechnic University
Qingsong He: Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Jia Li: Wuhan University
Yizhen Yin: Huazhong Agricultural University
Chenning Deng: Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2025, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Abstract Using the land finance system to alleviate fiscal constraints on government spending in regional development was a promising strategy that was widely adopted. Unfortunately, the drawbacks of this system for facilitating high-quality regional economic integration (REI) became increasingly apparent, attracting significant attention from the international academic community. Even so, promoting the transformation of land finance and optimizing the financial structure of local governments remained underexplored. This study used data from 108 cities located within China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2002 to 2020, employing baseline, spatial econometric, and machine learning models to investigate the role of land finance in urban-level REI. The results indicated that REI and land finance exhibited significant and similar evolutionary patterns across both spatial and temporal dimensions. Over time, the impact of land finance on REI shifted, showing a negative effect during the boom stage and a positive effect during the subsequent transitional stage. Additionally, the spatial diffusion effect of land finance on REI initially showed a positive trend, which later turned negative. Specifically, the positive spatial effect of the land transfer mode progressively intensified, while the negative spatial effect of the land investment mode gradually diminished. Furthermore, land finance exhibited nonlinear influences on urban sprawl within specific thresholds. The findings of this research provided significant policy implications for effectively supporting urban economic integration through precise governance of land finance.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1057/s41599-025-06026-w

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