Heterogeneous responsibilities of three grassland resource governance modes in Inner Mongolia, China

Abstract

Grassland resource governance is an important part of ecological civilization construction, and it directly affects grassland governance performance. This study deploys principal-agent theory and uses social network analysis to compare grassland resource governance modes in China in terms of institutional settings and institutional network characteristics. This study found three types of grassland resource governance modes: self-designed, docked, and integrated. The self-designed mode forms a network structure with dual centers and multiple members, and has the second-best structural mode of the three types. The docked mode forms a network structure with a single center in which the institution is the absolute core and is relatively divergent. It has the weakest structural advantage of the three types. The integrated mode forms a network structure with a single institution at the core and other institutions distributed evenly throughout the structure. This mode has the strongest structural advantage among the three types. This study offers the practical application of improving the practice of grassland governance in China and is theoretically significant because it can contribute to improving grassland governance modes and enriching the public goods resources governance.