Local government behavior in rural construction land marketization in China: An archetype analysis

There are various rural construction land marketization (RCLM) patterns in China. Explorations on the factors influencing the differences between patterns can provide policy inspirations for establishing a unified land market in China. Archetype analysis enables us to reveal the structural relationships between various factors and elucidate reappearing patterns in the cases. Based on 29 cases, this study analyzes the effects of different factor combinations on the behavioral choices of local governments using the archetype analysis approach. Six archetypes are extracted, and the main findings from the archetype analysis are as follows: 1) The combination of active rural land markets and the effective operation of village autonomy or informal dialogue mechanisms led by rural elites promote the emergence of self-organization models for RCLM. Local governments mainly play guiding, supervisory, and service roles. 2) When the self-organization model is challenging to sustain, local governments participate in the process of RCLM with different mechanisms due to social benefits orientation. 3) In certain well-developed rural areas with a high level of industrialization and limited land resources, extensive government intervention has emerged as a new governance model to achieve regional coordinated development goals. Our work reveals the mechanisms through which local governments play a role in the reform and innovation of RCLM, and it contributes to a better understanding of local government positioning in the future RCLM reform process.