Does the “National Civilized City” increase land revenue? An empirical inquiry into China’s Prefecture-level cities

With the continuous development of urbanization in China, land revenue has become one of the main sources of revenue for local governments and played a significant role in economic development. Existing research has discussed the causes of land revenue or land finance from multiple perspectives. However, little is known about how political incentives such as top-down evaluations and commendations of city branding affect local land income. Based on the quasi experiment of obtaining the branding title of “National Civilized City,” this study employs staggered difference-in-differences to analyze the impact of the “National Civilized City” on local land revenue. Meanwhile, using a series of empirical analyses to ensure the robustness of the results. The empirical findings indicate that obtaining the “National Civilized City” branding will significantly increase local land revenue. The “National Civilized City” branding’s influence on land revenue will be moderated by real estate investment and social consumption. Specifically, when the amount of real estate investment and social consumption is higher, it will significantly enhance the impact of “National Civilized City” on local land revenue; when the real estate investment and social consumption at low level, it will significantly reduce the impact of “National Civilized City” on local land revenue.