By Yang Allen, 06/05/2019. As I write this blog post, I am set to embark for Ningbo to conduct my fieldwork in the next two days. In this research, I will examine rural governance in the context of China via the lens of rural public goods and services provision. My inquiry mainly centers on village infrastructures, educational facilities, agrarian support, and daily services in the rural areas of Ningbo, Zhejiang. This research seeks to answer the following broad question: How can we understand the influence of landownership (independent variable) on rural governance, with an emphasis on public goods provision (dependent variable)? In order to deconstruct this broad question, I will approach the research through two mediating variables, civil participation and political partnerships, when examining the relationship between landownership and public goods provision.
Ningbo stands out as a research site for this project for three reasons. First, Ningbo provides a variety of rural villages to sample. The municipality consists of two sub-cities (Cixi and Yuyao), six districts (Haishu, Jiangbei, Zhenhai, Beilun, Yinzhou, and Fenghua), as well as two counties (Ninghai and Xiangshan), in a total of 2,495 village committees. Thus, the exploration in Ningbo can provide valuable information for further research. Second, the stable economic development and loose political environment have helped Zhejiang province create a vigorous civil society as a whole, which has allowed the city of Ningbo to grow a strong local civil society and a vibrant private sector over the past few decades. Third, Ningbo has been the pioneer in terms of land policies and regulations in China. Focusing on Ningbo, a singular jurisdiction, can help to eliminate other unexpected societal variables, such as cultural, regional, or even linguistic differences.
My travel plans will take me from Toronto (where I am presenting initial research from this project) to Beijing, and then down to the Ningbo region in early April. Based on the volume of each sub-jurisdiction owning rural villages to the total amount of rural villages in Ningbo, I will utilize quota sampling to gather a proportional representation of the actual number of rural villages. Therefore, during this five-week timeframe, I have randomly chosen 28 villages to scout, gathering general information on local public goods and services, as well as the information on landownership. High-speed rail and local public transformation will be my first choice when traveling around China. This could bring me closer to the Ningbo locals. I have never been to Ningbo, thus I am very looking forward to exploring the area.