Losing ground: business power, standardized assets and the regulation of land acquisition taxes in Germany and Sweden

Abstract

Abstract Previous literature on the nexus between land, finance and business power has not systematically analysed the role of the liquidity of businesses’ assets. Combining process tracing with a comparative design, this study contributes a perspective on the role of standardized assets for business power. It investigates land acquisition tax reforms asking why institutional landowners’ structural and instrumental power was successful in Sweden but not in Germany. In Germany, a reform was passed in 2021 which disadvantages the private market institutional landowners compared to their public counterparts. This study argues that the standardization of landed property as liquid stock enabled publicly listed property companies to unite with other stock market actors, increasing their power resources and allowing them to successfully promote their interests due to the liquidity demands of their assets. This stands in contrast to the poorer reception of the liquidity of private market actors in their land-related transactions.