Economic performance of rural collective-owned cooperatives: Determinants and influence mechanism

Rural collective-owned cooperatives (RCOCs) have received significant attention for rural development, alleviating rural poverty, and achieving common welfare in China. Using the Social-ecological system (SES) framework as a conceptual and analytical lens, this paper clarifies the determinants and the influence mechanism for the economic performance of RCOCs. A mixed method, PLS-SEM combined NCA approach is applied to 420 smallholder farmers in rural China. The results reveal that rural collective property-rights system reform (RCPRSR), leadership, social capital, and collective action positively affect the economic performance of RCOCs. Moreover, leadership and social capital also operate through their mediating effect on collective action amongst collective members. Our results further show that RCPRSR, leadership, and social capital are necessary conditions for the high economic performance of RCOCs.