How digital governance drives the sustainable transition of rice-crayfish co-culture systems: an evolutionary game analysis of regulation–service–finance synergy

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🔬研究者:進化ゲーム理論とデジタルガバナンスの統合モデルが、農業の持続可能な移行研究に新たな視点を提供。

🏢実務担当者:農業関連企業や自治体は、デジタル技術を活用した規制・金融の連携が持続可能な農業への移行に有効であることを示唆。

🏛政策担当者:地域特性に応じたデジタルガバナンス戦略の重要性を示し、農業政策の設計に示唆を与える。

Introduction Rice–crayfish co-culture systems (RCS) in China are increasingly characterized by crayfish-prioritizing production, causing rice yields decline and ecological degradation. Conventional policy instruments and extension services have largely failed to reverse this trend, while digitally integrated governance pathways remain underexplored. Methods Integrating sustainability transition theory and digital governance theory, we conceptualize digital governance as a data-driven socio-technical mechanism and construct a tripartite evolutionary game model among local governments, banks, and smallholders. We incorporate digital regulatory intensity, digital service level, and a data-based creditworthiness enhancement coefficient to capture the regulation–service–finance (RSF) synergy. Numerical simulations calibrated to a representative RCS country validate the theoretical findings. Results (1) Achieving a sustainable transition in RCS necessitates the synergistic coordination of digital regulation, digital services, and digital credit, with proactive government guidance emerging as a critical factor for escaping the low-level equilibrium trap. (2) The RSF synergy, combining precise digital monitoring, enhanced extension services, and data-driven credit pricing, is the driving mechanism, while isolated interventions yield limited effects. (3) Governance strategies display regional heterogeneity: a regulation-first approach is better suited for regions with high initial imbalances, while a service-led pathway is more effective in regions with low imbalances. (4) Our findings indicate that digital governance can reshape traditional policy by linking subsidies to verified compliant behavior. In low-imbalance regions, market-based credit pricing may partially substitute for fiscal subsidies, fostering endogenous compliance incentives. Discussion This study frames RCS transition as a data-driven socio-technical regime shift. Its principal contribution lies in identifying the RSF synergy framework and regionally differentiated governance pathways. Limitations include the simplified treatment of social norms and dynamic policy feedback, highlighting the need for future multi-regional empirical validation.

• openalex https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2026.1890737first seen 2026-08-13 05:03:34