Regional Heterogeneity in China’s Rural Collectively Owned Commercialized Land Market: An Empirical Analysis from 2015–2020

The ongoing collectively owned commercialized construction land market (CCCLM), established in China in 2015, calls for a deeper understanding of the market’s performance so as to promote integrated urban-rural development. This study provides an empirical analysis of the regional heterogeneity of CCCLM, based on 4595 collectively owned commercialized construction land (CCCL) transaction cases around the country from 2015 to 2020. The marketization degree measured with a weighted average approach indicates that the marketization level of CCCL is low, and typical pilots have a significant demonstration effect. The results show that pilot areas in the east have more active CCCL transactions, with higher quantities, areas, and transaction values of CCCL compared with central and western regions. However, most pilot areas use villagers’ self-governance organizations or mixed subjects as the implementation players, and trade CCCL by negotiation or listed conveyance. It turns out that the value of CCCL cannot be better realized in such a market environment because of its low degree of specialization and marketization. This study presents comprehensive empirical evidence for promoting the construction of the rural land market in China and in other transition economies worldwide