The emergence of self-governing social organizations is one of the most significant yet unexplored developments in rural China. By conducting a nationwide village-level survey, we find that these organizations are playing an important role in the provision of local public goods and services. To...

Based on our analysis of a survey of over 100 villages across six provinces, in which we collected both quantitative data and in-depth interview responses, we argue that: 1) autonomous or quasi-independent organizations play a very important role in collective action, but one that is perhaps...