Chinese land complex: Hometown ties and corporate land acquisition

Recent research highlights the significance of hometown ties in the fields of sociology and economics. Using unique, manually-collected microdata of corporate land transactions from China, this study focuses on the hometown ties between municipal officials and corporate executives and investigates their impact on corporate land acquisition outcomes. The results indicate that hometown ties between municipal officials and corporate executives positively influence the likelihood of corporate land acquisition, while concurrently reducing the acquisition cost. Mechanism analyses confirm that the municipal officials have notable control over corporate land allocation. Furthermore, the influence of hometown ties on land acquisition outcomes is primarily facilitated by the private-information and benefit-exchange channels. Heterogeneity analysis at the firm and land type levels are also explored. This study not only deepens the theorectial understanding of hometown ties, but also augments the literature on land resource misallocation from an informal institutional standpoint. Additionally, it offers fresh perspectives to the wider discourse on political connection research. •Hometown ties between municipal officials and corporate executives increase corporate land acquisition likelihood and reduce cost.•Hometown ties more strongly affect corporate land acquisition in regions with greater government intervention and weaker oversight.•Firm’s hometown ties influence land acquisition mainly via private information and benefit-exchange channels.