What factors contribute to self-organized collective action for old village reconstruction? A qualitative comparative analysis of 36 villages in China

Self-organized old village reconstruction is a collective action issue in land consolidation in China. Previous studies have analysed the independent factors that influence performance, but they lack a holistic perspective of structural configuration to identify the successful paths. Based on a combination of the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework and configuration analysis, this study attempts to identify the conditions that can create successful self-organized collective action. Using 36 village cases from the developed and underdeveloped regions in China, this study reveals the complex causality between potential conditions and outcomes through the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach. The results show that (1) no single condition or absence of a condition is a necessary condition for high performance in old village reconstruction and that (2) the existence of two configurations (i.e., the Size-Rule type and Endowment-Rule-Decision type) is sufficient for high performance in old village reconstruction. In addition, Endowment-Size-Rule Absence type of configuration leads to low performance in old village reconstruction. The findings enhance the knowledge of how villages can effectively undertake self-organized reconstruction and thus provide practical policy implications.