The contribution of cultivated land occupation by construction to China’s economic growth

Abstract

The paper applies Cobb-Douglas Production Function and Solow-Swan Model to constructing the calculation model of the contribution rate of cultivated land occupation by construction (CLOC) to China’s economic growth, and analyzes the contribution change of CLOC to China’s economic growth qualitatively and quantitatively. The main conclusions are as follows: 1) From 1989 to 2007, the contribution rates of capital, labor, and CLOC to China’s economic growth were 45.76%, 8.47%, and 6.19% respectively. 2) From the period 1989–1996 to the period 1997–2007 the contribution rate of CLOC to China’s economic growth increased from 5.40% to 5.87%. The degree of contribution was enhanced significantly. 3) The contribution of CLOC to China’s economic growth had a spatial distribution characteristic that the contribution rate of eastern coastal regions was the highest, that of central regions came second, and that of western regions the lowest. The paper indicates that in order to enhance the contribution of CLOC to China’s economic growth, some relevant economic and administrative measures might be taken, and land might be used intensively and economically to increase land economic density. The cost of promoting gross domestic product (GDP) growth might be reduced as much as possible to achieve higher GDP growth and lower land resource consumption.