An Institutional Analysis of the Chinese Land Conversion Process

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dc.contributor.advisorNelson, Robert Hen_US
dc.contributor.authorMa, Jianboen_US
dc.contributor.departmentPublic Policyen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2009-07-02T05:35:38Z
dc.date.available2009-07-02T05:35:38Z
dc.date.issued2009en_US
dc.description.abstractFormally, China has a highly centralized system to control the conversion of farmland to non-farming uses. Its rigidity and other problems, however, have led to a large informal and decentralized market that serves to accommodate the demand for developable land. This dissertation, based on a case study in a county on China's eastern coast, finds that the informal land market has played an essential role in promoting local economic growth, improving the financial situations of local governments and villages, and benefiting some low-income people. As far as economic efficiency is concerned, the Chinese land system functions reasonably well given the existing institutional arrangements, though at high transaction costs. However, the land conversion process, governed largely by the law of the jungle, is highly unfair because it favors the powerful, the bold and the wealthy. The recent piecemeal policies by China's national government to fix the system have produced few positive or even negative effects. The dissertation concludes that the success of future attempts to improve the land conversion system hinges on the willingness and capability of the national government to change the rules of the game in a fundamental way.en_US
dc.format.extent13191635 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/9122
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledPolitical Science, Public Administrationen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledEconomics, Generalen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledUrban and Regional Planningen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledCentral Planningen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledChinaen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledEfficiency and Equity of Land Useen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledInformal Marketen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledRural to Urban Land Conversionen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledTransaction Costen_US
dc.titleAn Institutional Analysis of the Chinese Land Conversion Processen_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US

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