An Investigation into the Mechanism of Government Embedment and Organizational Environment Influencing Farmers’ Credible Commitment in Regard to the Collective Governance of Rural Residential Land

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Research articles present the topic of the scope of land use in rural areas, as well as the management of residential land in rural areas.  

As shared by the authors of software derived from fundamental research, a solid framework delivered for rural land use, supported by a rural cultural network and consistent extension, which are available in the form of penalties for basic land facilities. These means enabled, electrical, for general use, in the field of land use, in rural areas, thus facilitating the effective application of collective management of residential land in rural areas. Two pilot rounds of land reform for residential development in rural areas were launched in 2015 and 2020, which include actions taken in this matter.In the reviewer's opinion, the article is an attempt to study social phenomena in connection with the agricultural environment. The work may constitute an advance in current knowledge provided that the criteria for selecting individual factors are more precisely described and the justification for the selection of instrumental variables for the adoption of the IV-2SLS model is made in order to check the endogeneity of the basic variables. 

The literature review also looks positive as it relates directly to the subject of research and presents mainly current scientific achievements in this area, although it would require expansion to include international literature. The methodology of the conducted research raises no objections.

To sum up: The work constitutes a significant advance in current knowledge, written in good scientific language supported by drawings, charts and tables. The purpose of the work is clearly defined and described both in the introduction and later developed in the study. The research element in the work is described in sufficient detail, which helps in the interpretation of the results. In the reviewer's opinion, the work meets the requirements of the journal and may be published.

Author Response

Comments 1: The work may constitute an advance in current knowledge provided that the criteria for selecting individual factors are more precisely described and the justification for the selection of instrumental variables for the adoption of the IV-2SLS model is made in order to check the endogeneity of the basic variables.

Response 1: Thank you for recognizing the positive role of the article and for the constructive suggestions to improve its quality. In fact, we tested the endogeneity of the variables and showed that the Hausman test rejected the original hypothesis of the absence of endogenous explanatory variables at the 1% level, suggesting that there is an endogenous relationship between Government Embedment and  Credible Commitment of farm households in  collective governance of Rural Residential Land. However, it is not shown in the paper due to the limitation of the length of the article. In addition, we further add the advantages of the IV-2SLS test method. The adjustments in the paper are as follows: More importantly, when the sample size is large enough, IV-2SLS ensures parameter heterogeneity and provides largely accurate and unbiased estimates.

You can find it on page 14, first paragraph, lines 2-3.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The study An Investigation into the Mechanism of Government Embed-ment and Organizational Environment influencing Farmers' Credible Commitment in Collective Governance of Rural Residential Land is a very good analysis and can be a model for studies in other geographical regions.

I congratulate you for the good organization of the information and the presentation of the study results.

Author Response

Comments 1: The study An Investigation into the Mechanism of Government Embedment and Organizational Environment influencing Farmers' Credible Commitment in Collective Governance of Rural Residential Land is a very good analysis and can be a model for studies in other geographical regions.

I congratulate you for the good organization of the information and the presentation of the study results.

Response 1: I would like to thank you for taking time out of their busy schedules to review my paper and for recognizing the results of my paper.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Dear Authors,

the paper you have submitted to Land is an original contribution to the debate on collective governance of common resources and the paper has a generally clear structure, progressing logically from the introduction through the theoretical framework, methodology, results and conclusions. However, some sections could benefit from more concise writing to improve readability. In fatc, the language is at times overly complex, which hinders the clarity of the arguments being made.

You, authors, draw upon relevant literature on collective governance, credible commitment and organizational environment. Key theoretical concepts from Ostrom and others are appropriately cited. However, the theoretical framework would be strengthened by engaging more critically with alternative perspectives and potential limitations of the adopted approach.

The paper uses a robust methodology and the sample size is sufficient. However, more detail is needed on the sampling strategy and survey design to fully assess the reliability and validity of the data.

The results are extensively reported, with clear tables showing the output of the various statistical models. The key findings regarding the positive effects of government embedment and cultural environment on credible commitment are well-evidenced. However, the discussion of the results is quite dense and would benefit from a more accessible summary of the main takeaways.

Overall, the paper makes an original contribution by empirically testing the factors influencing credible commitment in the specific context of rural residential land governance in China. The analysis provides novel insights into the mechanisms through which government embedment and organizational environment jointly influence collective action. However, the broader theoretical implications of the findings could be drawn out more explicitly to highlight the paper's contribution to wider debates on governing the commons.

In general, i believe that the paper could be improved with some refinements. 

All the best

Author Response

Comments 1: The results are extensively reported, with clear tables showing the output of the various statistical models. The key findings regarding the positive effects of government embedment and cultural environment on credible commitment are well-evidenced. However, the discussion of the results is quite dense and would benefit from a more accessible summary of the main takeaways.

Response 1: Thank you for recognizing the findings of the dissertation and for suggesting ways to improve the quality of the article. Following your comments, we have newly summarized the main findings to make them more understandable. The specific changes are as follows:

(1) both Government Embedment and Cultural Environment can significantly increase the level of farmers' credible commitment in collective governance of Rural Residential Land, and Government Embedment can improve the level of farmers' credible commitment by improving the Cultural Environment; (2) Punishment intensity can both directly increase the level of farmers' credible commitment and increase the positive effect of the Cultural Environment on it; (3) Low levels of punishment intensity are difficult to increase the level of farmers' credible commitment, and the level of farmers' credible commitment is increased only when the punishment reaches a certain threshold value, can it significantly improve the level of credible commitment of farmers.

You can find our changes on page 17, first paragraph, lines 9-17 of the article.

 

Comments 2: Overall, the paper makes an original contribution by empirically testing the factors influencing credible commitment in the specific context of rural residential land governance in China. The analysis provides novel insights into the mechanisms through which government embedment and organizational environment jointly influence collective action. However, the broader theoretical implications of the findings could be drawn out more explicitly to highlight the paper's contribution to wider debates on governing the commons.

Response 2: Thanks for pointing this out. We have added a fourth policy implication in order to guarantee that this study will provide more references for the governance of public affairs: Fourth, strengthen the synergistic interaction between the government and village collectives. Strengthen the institutional synergy, organizational synergy, resource synergy and conceptual synergy between the government and rural collectives in the governance of rural public affairs, promote multi-dimensional co-governance, and give full play to the positive role of the government's administrative power in the governance of rural public affairs.

You can find our changes on page 18, first paragraph, lines 13-18 of the article.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx