In this article, we examine the effect of mandatory disclosure of corporate social responsibility on firm's investment behavior. Our analysis exploits China's 2008 mandatory requirement that firms disclose their corporate social responsibility activities. Using difference-indifference design, the study finds that firms that were made to report their corporate social responsibility experience a decrease in the level of investment, but the firm investment efficiency improved, especially on alleviating over-investments. These findings suggest that mandatory CSR disclosure alters firm investment behavior and the implementation of such a disclosure requirement may need the government support.

Gentrification is a widespread urban phenomenon across the post-industrial world. However, rural gentrification has been explored insufficiently in the context of China's unprecedented urbanization. By reviewing the redevelopment processes in Zengcuoan village, Xiamen City, China, this study empirically reveals that the socio-spatial transformation of this village has been mainly led by artists and villagers based on institutional arrangements of land ownership. Rural gentrification, which involves refurbishing houses and public spaces, has played a key role in social life and the engagement between indigenous villagers and artists. As active rent-seekers, indigenous villagers contribute to gentrification in a combined effect with China's rural land property rights. Contrary to Western findings, villagers in China act as landlords who benefit from rural gentrification, which in turn causes grassroots artists or young people to move out because of the increasing rent or property prices. This paper attempted to enrich the extant understanding of rural Chinese gentrification and broaden the analytics of gentrification studies of the institutional arrangements from a land-ownership perspective. Contributing to the literature on rural gentrification, this study highlights the excessive commercialization of rent-seeking as the trigger of gentrification.

Tourism plays a key role in sustaining economic development. Previous research has established the connections between tourism and urban growth, as well as the influence of tourism on population and social structure, and the impact of tourism on the landscape. Fewer studies have been conducted on the impact of tourism on the process of rural development change, especially how rural spatial transformation and local community development are driven through tourism. This paper investigates the link between tourism and rural spatial development in China, using in-depth interviews. The research demonstrates that the ambiguity of collective land ownership in China is a key factor in the process of village development. The transformation of villages from “production space” to “consumption space” is driven by tourism based on the land institution arrangement. It is hoped that this research will contribute to a deeper understanding that tourism should be valued in the future as part of the village development process, especially when tourism plays a long-term role in promoting village development.

Urban regeneration is an important strategic choice in promoting urban development globally. Existing research on urban regeneration mainly focuses on the community’s economic benefits. However, less research concentrates on how community participation contributes to the sustainable development of communities. The aim of this study is to explore the community regeneration approach in the context of urban regeneration in a typical village community in China. This study finds that participatory planning, which is mainly characterized by public participation, can be an effective way of communication and cooperation. The collaborative workshops provide a participatory platform for stakeholders and promote sustainable community development. Therefore, traditional planning approaches may need to be changed. The contribution of this article is to develop a collaborative planning approach for sustainable community development, which can serve as a reference for community governance in China and other developing countries.

The existing literature explains well how dual urbanization promotes land development and spatial expansion in China, but few studies have examined the emergence of state-led and village-led land development by measuring the urban expansion ratio from the perspective of institutional arrangements. To fill this gap, this study examines the spatial pattern and evolution of urban expansion and then explains the institutional dynamics in evolving different spatial forms of land development in Guangzhou. Among the findings of our research, two important points merit special attention. First, this study examines the emergence of collective-led and state-led development in Chinese cities from the perspective of institutions with the support of empirical evidence from Guangzhou. Herein, urban expansion intensity (UEI) was used to improve urban expansion as an evaluation index of urbanization speed. Second, the present study developed a theoretical framework based on land property rights from an institutional perspective to explain the two forms of land development in the dynamic urbanization process. From a broader theoretical perspective, diverse spatial forms of land development in Chinese cities contribute to the understanding of urban land expansion based on an institutional approach. The policy implication of this study is that the speed of urban expansion will gradually slow with the advancement of new urbanization, and growth in collective land in the urban area will gradually decrease. Land redevelopment policies and regulations should be taken into account for collective land in urban areas, which is necessary for sustainable urban development in China.