The effects of socialized agricultural services on rural collective action in the irrigation commons: Evidence from China

Socialized agricultural services (SASs) have reshaped the smallholder agricultural system and promoted scale operations in rural China, but little is known about whether and how they affect rural collective action in the irrigation commons. Based on the social-ecological system framework, we apply an ordered probit model and a mediation model to examine the effects of SASs on rural collective action in the commons using a data set consisting of 7737 farm households from 448 villages in 14 provinces in China. We show that SASs have a positive effect on collective action for the governance of the irrigation commons and can slow down and mitigate the negative effect of rural labor migration. In particular, SASs can help improve collective action by enhancing village leadership, fostering agricultural resource dependency, and diminishing economic heterogeneity among villagers. We contribute to the literature by investigating the effects of SASs on rural collective action, which reveals a self-regulatory mechanism inside of the social ecological system enabling it to adapt and restore balance under external shocks. Our findings have implications for the reform of the farming system and governance of the commons.