The diffusion of the housing purchase restriction policy in China

China's housing purchase restriction (HPR) policy is a "non-mandatory" policy, meaning that local governments can decide whether to adopt it and for how long. Based on an empirical analysis, this paper argues that the primary factor motivating a local government to implement the HPR policy is the external pressure from the higher-level governments. This paper concludes that a local government might be forced via implicit coercion to implement a housing policy that is ostensibly "non-mandatory." This paper deepens the international community's understanding of the diffusion of housing policies in Chinese contexts.