Securing a social licence for development projects: A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis of land expropriation cases in China

Abstract

This study delves into the complexities of development projects and explores the concept of social licence to operate (SLO) as a means to secure community support and mitigate conflicts in China, where the conditions for obtaining SLO are poorly understood. By applying the SLO pyramid model and measurement scales and employing the fsQCA method, we focus on six key conditions: economic fairness, procedural fairness, government conflict resolution capacity, the project implementer's trustworthiness, the reactivity of affected residents, inherent project risks, and the causal pathways influencing SLO levels. Our findings suggest that two causal pathways—risk mitigation and public interest projects with fair implementation—are crucial for achieving high-level SLO. Additionally, the regional context and stakeholder interactions are pivotal for SLO success, with governance dysfunction and community–developer friction being pathways to low SLO levels. We exemplify each pathway with detailed, context-specific case studies to ensure explanatory power. This study significantly contributes to the understanding of the dynamic interactions among various factors and offers practical recommendations for policymakers and stakeholders to enhance SLO in development projects.