How socioeconomic and institutional conditions at the household level shape the environmental effectiveness of governmental payments for ecosystem services program

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Autoren

  • Cheng Chen
  • Bettina Matzdorf
  • Claas Meyer
  • Hannes J. König
  • Lin Zhen

Organisationseinheiten

Externe Organisationen

  • Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF) e.V.
  • Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin)
  • Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
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Details

OriginalspracheEnglisch
Seiten (von - bis)317-330
Seitenumfang14
FachzeitschriftEcosystems and People
Jahrgang15
Ausgabenummer1
Frühes Online-Datum16 Okt. 2019
PublikationsstatusVeröffentlicht - 2019

Abstract

As the world’s largest payments for ecosystem services (PES) program, China’s Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) is designed to combat soil erosion and land degradation by converting cropland on steep slopes into forests. Operating through an incentive-based approach, the SLCP involved 32 million rural households as core agents. This paper aims to fill a research gap regarding how socioeconomic and institutional conditions influence rural households to reach the primary environmental goals. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), we conclude that at the household level, the different pathways to environmental success or failure have been shaped by socioeconomic and institutional conditions in a combinatory manner rather than single conditions alone. Specifically, the combination of household involvement and effective monitoring plays a fundamental role in capacity-building between government and households. We found that financial incentives have a trade-off effect, as they could not only create a positive interaction but also trigger failure in situations with different conditions. Finally, the potential and limits of QCA were discussed, and we call for a more serious reflection on the added value of QCA as an alternative or complementary method to conventional approaches in environmental governance research.

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How socioeconomic and institutional conditions at the household level shape the environmental effectiveness of governmental payments for ecosystem services program. / Chen, Cheng; Matzdorf, Bettina; Meyer, Claas et al.
in: Ecosystems and People, Jahrgang 15, Nr. 1, 2019, S. 317-330.

Publikation: Beitrag in FachzeitschriftArtikelForschungPeer-Review

Chen C, Matzdorf B, Meyer C, König HJ, Zhen L. How socioeconomic and institutional conditions at the household level shape the environmental effectiveness of governmental payments for ecosystem services program. Ecosystems and People. 2019;15(1):317-330. Epub 2019 Okt 16. doi: 10.1080/26395916.2019.1676311, 10.15488/9837
Chen, Cheng ; Matzdorf, Bettina ; Meyer, Claas et al. / How socioeconomic and institutional conditions at the household level shape the environmental effectiveness of governmental payments for ecosystem services program. in: Ecosystems and People. 2019 ; Jahrgang 15, Nr. 1. S. 317-330.
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AU - Chen, Cheng

AU - Matzdorf, Bettina

AU - Meyer, Claas

AU - König, Hannes J.

AU - Zhen, Lin

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KW - governance

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KW - QCA

KW - qualitative comparative analysis

KW - reforestation

KW - sloping land conversion program

KW - Suneetha Subramanian

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