Following the Money: Corruption, Conflict, and the Winners and Losers of Suburban Land Acquisition in China

Abstract

Land acquisition in suburban China is not merely the administrative means through which land is transferred from collectively owned rural land to state-owned urban land it is also a process of unlawful profit grabbing by rent-seeking stakeholders. This licentiousness has been the source of intense controversy in recent years, becoming a major source of social unrest in contemporary China. Although standards of compensation are legally governed by strict policies, these standards are rarely followed as prescribed. As a result, we know very little about how revenue from land acquisition is shared in practice. This is because, as a contentious political issue rife with corrupt practices, accura..