Place‐Based Land Policy and Spatial Misallocation: Theory and Evidence From China
研究中国向欠发达地区倾斜分配城市用地指标的政策，发现该政策降低了东部生产率，导致全国产出损失1.8%，且欠发达地区工人收入减少1.6%，区域转移支付是更优的减贫手段。
ABSTRACT We investigate a land policy in China that allocated more urban land quotas to underdeveloped regions to reduce regional gaps. Empirically, the policy decreased productivity in eastern areas relative to the inland. A spatial equilibrium model with migration, land quota constraints, and agglomeration shows the policy distorts labor and production across regions, causing substantial output losses. Though regional gaps narrowed, workers from underdeveloped areas migrated less and earned less. Without the policy, national output would have been 1.8% higher, and workers in underdeveloped areas would have earned 1.6% more in 2010. Regional transfers offer a less distortionary alternative for reducing inequality.