House-purchasing regulations have frequently been adopted by the Chinese government to cool the overheated housing market. Under-reporting of transaction prices has also been widely employed by home buyers to reduce transaction taxes. This paper suggests that by under-reporting to a greater...

This paper reveals the role of Yin-and-Yang contracts in evading transaction regulations in China’s housing market. Using micro-observations of Beijing’s housing resales, we find buyers are engaged in “Yin-and-Yang” contracts with higher degree of under-reporting during “the most...