Speaker
Description
Since the onset of the 21st century, China's rural revitalization has been predominantly driven by governmental initiatives and fiscal investments, resulting in substantial enhancements to rural living environments and infrastructure development. However, post-construction phases reveal persistent challenges in long-term operations and maintenance, posing sustainability concerns when relying solely on public funding. This predicament necessitates urgent exploration of enduring mechanisms for sustainable village development. Emerging practices in China's economically advanced rural regions demonstrate innovative approaches through market-oriented village operations, representing a proactive response to sustained rural development demands. The integration of market mechanisms into rural governance remains a contentious subject in academic discourse, raising critical questions: Can market-driven operational models genuinely enhance the sustainable supply of villages? What governance frameworks can balance commercial viability with equitable benefit-sharing among stakeholders?
This study examines three representative cases of market-embedded village operations within Hangzhou's metropolitan periphery. Through comparative analysis of operational paradigms, the study elucidates both convergent strategies and divergent approaches, with particular focus on post-market-integration governance mechanisms. The findings aim to inform policy formulation for sustainable rural governance models incorporating market elements.
The study employs a mixed-methods approach drawing from: ①Two-phase field investigations conducted in July 2023 and August 2024; ②Triangulated data collection through government archives, digital media analysis, and non-participant observation; ③Semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders.
The study reveals two principal insights: ①Market-embedded village operations constitute a pivotal mechanism for rural resource valorization. Strategic intermediation by market entities establishes vital connectivity between village resource endowments and urban market systems. ②Sustainable market-embedded operations require a collaborative governance, manifested through three relational dimensions. Firstly, market entities must leverage collective mobilization capacity of village organizations to achieve endogenous resource consolidation. Secondly, the institutionalization of benefit-sharing mechanisms among market entities, village collectives, and residents—evolving beyond transactional reciprocity to form resilient developmental collectives—constitutes the institutional bedrock enabling stable village operations and advancing sustainable development trajectories. Thirdly, the ingress of market entities into village ecosystems remains contingent upon governmental proactive institutional guidance and incentive structuring, while the substantive implementation of rural operational initiatives necessitates systemic safeguarding of operational ecosystems and factor markets through comprehensive policy underwriting.
| Keywords | Market embedding; Rural governance; Collaborative governance; Village operations |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
