The Rule of Law, Anti-corruption and Land Expropriation: Evidence from China

China has undergone rapid urbanisation over the past four decades. Research has seemed to suggest that urbanisation has resulted in land expropriation. As local officials began to take rural land for urban development, revenues from land leases became an important source of income for local public budgets. Despite its significant contribution to public budgets, land grabbing in China has started to decrease since Xi Jinping took power in the fall 2012. With this as a starting premise, this article argues that Xi's corruption crackdown has impacted upon local officials' incentives for land expropriation. It also highlights the Chinese regime's advocacy of the rule of law in accounting for the variations in the intensity of the corruption crackdown.