The Korean Journal of Economic Studies
Is the Government Selling State-owned Land for a Reasonable Price Compared to its Market Value?
Jiyoon Oh (Korea Development Institute)Year 2022Vol. 70No. 1
Abstract
In this study, the government’s state-owned land price is compared to the market price. This analysis makes use of two data sets. To begin, all data on the sale of state-owned land are collected from KPFIS (Korea Public Finance Information Service). Second, MOLIT (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport) data on private land transactions are integrated with the initial data. The methodology used is fixed effect regression, in which variation in land value due to location is controlled by varying the magnitude of geographical categories. The government’s sale price of state-owned land was approximately 18–23% less than the market price. The pricing differential between the public and private sectors was linked to the contract method used to sell state-owned land. There was no statistically significant difference in the price of state-owned land sold via competitive contracts vs the private pricing, but state-owned land sold under private contracts was much cheaper than in the private sector. The study indicates that it is required to reduce exemption restrictions for state-owned real estate transactions, such as private contracts, in order to improve the efficiency of state-owned real estate sales.