The impact of land resource mismatch and land marketization on pollution emissions of industrial enterprises in China

Local governments' strategy of increasing the land supply by selling industrial land at low prices causes industrial land in China to be priced substantially below the market value. Whether under planned or market allocation, urban land is an important part of China's market-oriented economic reform. However, direct empirical research on the impact of industrial land transfer on environmental pollution is still lacking. Based on matched data, this study investigates the impact of land resource mismatch and land marketization on the pollution emissions of Chinese enterprises. Pollution emissions refer to the emission intensity of industrial enterprises' major pollutants, such as industrial water, industrial waste gas and sulfur dioxide, and it is calculated by the comprehensive index method. The impact of land resource mismatch and land marketization on the pollution emissions of Chinese enterprises is investigated using a panel fixed effect model, subsample regression, the instrumental variable method and a mediating effect model. The benchmark analysis shows that land resource mismatch increases pollution emissions. The influence mechanism analysis shows that land resource mismatch may increase the pollution emissions of enterprises by causing overinvestment and low productivity. In addition, the expanded analysis shows that China's land marketization can reduce the intensity of and have a long-term impact on the pollution emissions of enterprises. This paper provides a theoretical and scientific basis for correcting the mismatch of land resources and promoting the reform of land marketization in China.