Thesis title: Busting the ‘Princelings’: The Campaign Against Corruption in China's Primary Land Market (Chen T, Kung K S., The Quarterly Journal of Economics (2019), 185-226.)

Time: Friday, March 22, 2019 12:00-13:30

Location: Room 610, Mingde Main Building

Speaker: Liu Xin, PhD student of Renmin University of China, 2018

Abstract: Using data on over a million land transactions during 2004–2016 where local governments are the sole seller, we find that firms linked to members of China’s supreme political elites—the Politburo—obtained a price discount ranging from 55.4% to 59.9% compared with those without the same connections. These firms also purchased slightly more land. In return, the provincial party secretaries who provided the discount to these 'princeling' firms are 23.4% more likely to be promoted to positions of national leadership. To curb corruption, spatially matched sample (e.g., within a 500-meter radius), we find a reduction in corruption of between 42.6% and 31.5% in the provinces either targeted by the central inspection teams or whose party secretary was replaced by one appointed by Xi. Accordingly, this crackdown on corruption has also significantly reduced the promotional prospects of those local officials who rely on supplying a discount to get ahead.

Moderator: Associate Professor Liu Xiaolu

The Finance Literature Seminar is sponsored by the Department of Finance, School of Finance and Finance, Renmin University of China. The graduate students of the Department of Finance analyze the classic or frontier literature of finance, and form theoretical thoughts and systematic views on hot issues in the field of finance. The main topics of the seminar include: government behavior, fiscal system, tax system and macro economy.