My House, My Rules: Birth Regions and the Placement of Chinese Infrastructure Projects in Protected Areas

Specifically, we investigate the enforcement of protected areas (PAs) and assess the extent to which the placement of Chinese aid projects within PAs is shaped by whether a project benefits local economic interests in a political leader’s birth region. We theorize that leaders are more willing violate PAs if the project is placed in their home region than if it is located in a non-home region because the interests that benefit from the aid project in the home region use their new rents to support the incumbent. Analyzing a dataset of 3,675 Chinese infrastructure projects, we find no overall increase in the likelihood of projects infringing on PAs due to a leader's birth region. However, the results reveal significant regional variation. In Africa, projects located in a leader’s birth region are approximately 10 percent more likely to encroach on PAs. Outside Africa, this relationship is reversed, with projects less likely to violate PAs when placed in a leader’s home region. Exploratory analyses suggest that domestic public opinion about China and variations in the role of ethnic politics may explain this regional difference, whereas a country's governance quality and project-specific characteristics do not play a significant role.

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More about the speaker

Stefano Jud is postdoctoral researcher at the Wyss Academy for Nature at the University of Bern (Switzerland). He is broadly interested in understanding how we can improve people’s livelihoods without jeopardizing the environment. In his work, he studies governance mechanisms that can help to align development and environment. He specifically focuses on mechanisms related to domestic institutions, industrial policy, trade policy. His work is forthcoming or has appeared in International Studies Quarterly, Business & Politics, and International Interactions.

He completed his Ph.D. in Political Science at Emory University. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and Masters of Arts in International Affairs & Governance from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland) and a Master in Global Economy and Management from Yonsei University (South Korea).