Can the marketization of urban land transfer improve energy efficiency?

Local government intervention in land resource allocation can lead to the misallocation of land resources and serious pollutant emissions. As an important market-oriented economic reform in China, the marketization of urban land transfer (MULT) might have the potential to contribute to improving resource allocation efficiency by curbing local government intervention. Therefore, this study aims to provide empirical evidence on the impact of MULT on energy efficiency. We improve the MULT evaluation method to test the mechanism through which MULT affects energy efficiency. The results show that, first, the proportion of land sold by allocation and listing methods, which is characterized by a low degree of marketization, has rapidly increased in recent years, lowering the overall level of MULT. Second, MULT has a direct and significant positive impact on improving energy ef-ficiency. Third, the mechanism analysis indicates that MULT helps enhance energy efficiency by advancing in-dustrial structure optimization and technological progress. Moreover, the heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that the impact of MULT on improving energy efficiency differs significantly in different reform stages and between central and peripheral cities. This study sheds light on the importance of land resource allocation in improving energy efficiency and thus has practical policy implications for promoting low-carbon energy tran-sition in emerging countries.

Automated summary

Local government intervention in land resource allocation can lead to misallocation of land resources and pollution. This study examines the impact of the marketization of urban land transfer (MULT) on energy efficiency in China. The findings reveal that MULT has a significant positive effect on improving energy efficiency by promoting industrial structure optimization and technological progress. The study also highlights the heterogeneity of the impact of MULT on energy efficiency across different reform stages and between central and peripheral cities.