Enhancing Watershed Governance through Collaborative Platforms: Evidence from Ecological Compensation Governance in China

Abstract

Abstract Extensive research has been conducted on control and coordination in collaborative governance, and recent studies on “collaborative platforms” have shed light on the integration of these aspects. Collaborative platforms represent a governance strategy that surpasses traditional collaborative governance, allowing for the coexistence of control and coordination to foster broader and evolving cooperation. This paper focuses on the Xin’an River Ecological Compensation Collaborative Platform in China, using grounded theory coding techniques and procedures to explore its specific evolutionary process and mechanisms from a process perspective. This paper delves into the interaction, development, and functioning of control and coordination within this collaborative platform. The research uncovers an evolutionary trend in the Xin’an River Ecological Compensation Collaborative Platform characterized by scale expansion, governance maturity, structural complexity, and functional upgrading. The platform’s evolutionary mechanism shows the following progression: “Platform Driving Force - Platform Governance Tools - Platform Structure - Platform Functions”. Throughout its evolution, control and coordination exhibit dual strengths, but their emphasis varies at different phases of platform development. The paper makes a significant contribution by advancing the theory of collaborative platforms through empirical evidence from China. On the one hand, it provides empirical support for the theory in terms of platform operation logic, structure, functionality, and experimentation. On the other hand, it offers a more detailed explanation of how control and coordination operate within collaborative platforms by adopting a process perspective and drawing on research scenarios from China.