Institutional pathways for enhancing villagers’ participation in rural human settlement governance amid collective action dilemmas: using NCA and fsQCA approaches

In rural human settlement governance, the conflict between the demands of collective rationality and villagers’ individual rational pursuits often leads to collective action dilemmas of governance. Drawing on Ostrom’s eight institutional design principles (DPs), this study employs a hybrid methodolo...

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Main Authors: Xin Nie, Li Qiu, Tianci Wu, Xiaoyu Yang, Fengqin Li, Wenhan Feng, Han Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IOP Publishing 2025-01-01
Series:Environmental Research Communications
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/adf0ce
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author Xin Nie
Li Qiu
Tianci Wu
Xiaoyu Yang
Fengqin Li
Wenhan Feng
Han Wang
author_facet Xin Nie
Li Qiu
Tianci Wu
Xiaoyu Yang
Fengqin Li
Wenhan Feng
Han Wang
author_sort Xin Nie
collection DOAJ
description In rural human settlement governance, the conflict between the demands of collective rationality and villagers’ individual rational pursuits often leads to collective action dilemmas of governance. Drawing on Ostrom’s eight institutional design principles (DPs), this study employs a hybrid methodology combining Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to systematically examine how institutional arrangements influence villagers’ participation in rural human settlement governance from a holistic institutional perspective, while exploring institutional pathways for overcoming problems of collective action. Key findings are: (1) four effective pathways for enhancing villagers’ participation and curbing free-riding behavior: the institutional supply-led model, implementation-recognition model, safeguards-supervision model, and multi-dimensional co-governance approach; (2) core institutional principles enabling active participation: clearly defined boundaries (DP1), congruence between the rules and local conditions (DP2), and conflict-resolution mechanisms (DP6); (3) these institutional principles demonstrate both substitutional and complementary relationships across different pathways, and their strategic utilization can effectively constrain and incentivize villagers to align their individual actions with collective interests. This study concludes that resolving collective action dilemmas requires the synergistic integration of institutional advantages, establishing an operational logic that facilitates positive interactions among multiple stakeholders. This study deepens our understanding of institutional roles in rural habitat governance, widens the exploration of institutional pathways for problems of collective action, and provides practical implications for modernizing rural environmental governance systems and capabilities.
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spelling doaj-art-71fba1a3c0a346d3b0efd832082b07b72025-08-20T03:56:42ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Communications2515-76202025-01-017707502410.1088/2515-7620/adf0ceInstitutional pathways for enhancing villagers’ participation in rural human settlement governance amid collective action dilemmas: using NCA and fsQCA approachesXin Nie0Li Qiu1Tianci Wu2Xiaoyu Yang3Fengqin Li4Wenhan Feng5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7824-9725Han Wang6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9823-4096School of Public Policy and Management, Guangxi University , Nanning 530004, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China; China Center for Agricultural Policy (CCAP), Peking University , Beijing 100871, People’s Republic of China; Land Resources and Public Policy Research Center, Guangxi University , Nanning 530004, Guangxi, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Public Policy and Management, Guangxi University , Nanning 530004, Guangxi, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Public Policy and Management, Guangxi University , Nanning 530004, Guangxi, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Public Policy and Management, Guangxi University , Nanning 530004, Guangxi, People’s Republic of ChinaSchool of Public Policy and Management, Guangxi University , Nanning 530004, Guangxi, People’s Republic of ChinaDepartment of Geography, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) , Munich, 80333, GermanySchool of Public Policy and Management, Guangxi University , Nanning 530004, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China; China Center for Agricultural Policy (CCAP), Peking University , Beijing 100871, People’s Republic of China; Land Resources and Public Policy Research Center, Guangxi University , Nanning 530004, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China; Department of City and Regional Planning, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, United States of AmericaIn rural human settlement governance, the conflict between the demands of collective rationality and villagers’ individual rational pursuits often leads to collective action dilemmas of governance. Drawing on Ostrom’s eight institutional design principles (DPs), this study employs a hybrid methodology combining Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to systematically examine how institutional arrangements influence villagers’ participation in rural human settlement governance from a holistic institutional perspective, while exploring institutional pathways for overcoming problems of collective action. Key findings are: (1) four effective pathways for enhancing villagers’ participation and curbing free-riding behavior: the institutional supply-led model, implementation-recognition model, safeguards-supervision model, and multi-dimensional co-governance approach; (2) core institutional principles enabling active participation: clearly defined boundaries (DP1), congruence between the rules and local conditions (DP2), and conflict-resolution mechanisms (DP6); (3) these institutional principles demonstrate both substitutional and complementary relationships across different pathways, and their strategic utilization can effectively constrain and incentivize villagers to align their individual actions with collective interests. This study concludes that resolving collective action dilemmas requires the synergistic integration of institutional advantages, establishing an operational logic that facilitates positive interactions among multiple stakeholders. This study deepens our understanding of institutional roles in rural habitat governance, widens the exploration of institutional pathways for problems of collective action, and provides practical implications for modernizing rural environmental governance systems and capabilities.https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/adf0cerural human settlement governancecollective action dilemmaostrom’s design principlessubstitution and complementarityNCA and fsQCA
spellingShingle Xin Nie
Li Qiu
Tianci Wu
Xiaoyu Yang
Fengqin Li
Wenhan Feng
Han Wang
Institutional pathways for enhancing villagers’ participation in rural human settlement governance amid collective action dilemmas: using NCA and fsQCA approaches
Environmental Research Communications
rural human settlement governance
collective action dilemma
ostrom’s design principles
substitution and complementarity
NCA and fsQCA
title Institutional pathways for enhancing villagers’ participation in rural human settlement governance amid collective action dilemmas: using NCA and fsQCA approaches
title_full Institutional pathways for enhancing villagers’ participation in rural human settlement governance amid collective action dilemmas: using NCA and fsQCA approaches
title_fullStr Institutional pathways for enhancing villagers’ participation in rural human settlement governance amid collective action dilemmas: using NCA and fsQCA approaches
title_full_unstemmed Institutional pathways for enhancing villagers’ participation in rural human settlement governance amid collective action dilemmas: using NCA and fsQCA approaches
title_short Institutional pathways for enhancing villagers’ participation in rural human settlement governance amid collective action dilemmas: using NCA and fsQCA approaches
title_sort institutional pathways for enhancing villagers participation in rural human settlement governance amid collective action dilemmas using nca and fsqca approaches
topic rural human settlement governance
collective action dilemma
ostrom’s design principles
substitution and complementarity
NCA and fsQCA
url https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/adf0ce
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