Authors: Yifei Liu, Helen X. H. Bao
Year: 2026
Status: Work in Progress
PDF: Available upon request — hxb20@cam.ac.uk
Research line: Land use policy in China
Abstract
Initiated for war preparation, the Third-Front Movement (1964 to 1980) relocated many industrial enterprises from coastal regions to inland China and constructed military facilities there. This paper investigates its immediate effect on the relative economic development of Chinese regions and its interaction with the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976). Using county-level census data for 1953, 1964 and 1982 and a triple-differences design, it finds that regions with Third-Front construction projects experienced higher industrialisation by the early 1980s, and that regions with Third-Front enterprises suffered less production disruption from the Cultural Revolution. Because Third-Front enterprises were located in inland and rural areas, the Movement contributed to a convergence in regional economic development in China.