Empirical Analysis on the Influencing Factors of Farmland Abandonment From the Perspective of Complex Configuration

ABSTRACT Farmland abandonment is a common phenomenon that occurs at a certain stage of rural economic development and is a dynamic process driven by multiple factors. Investigating the interactions among multiple factors influencing regional farmland abandonment across spatial and temporal dimensions is crucial for formulating reclamation policies and ensuring food security Therefore, this study develops an analytical framework for factors influencing farmland abandonment based on configuration theory. Taking 13 districts (counties) in the Huangshui Basin from 2002 to 2020 as case samples, this study applies a dynamic qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to explore the configuration effects of these factors on farmland abandonment over the time series. The results indicate that no single condition constitutes a necessary condition for farmland abandonment; however, the necessity of geographical environmental conditions shows a steadily increasing trend over the study period. In the sufficiency analysis of configurations leading to a high farmland abandonment index, five configuration paths were identified, categorized into three types: environment‐driven, population–resource constrained, and population–economy–policy deficient. Three additional configuration paths were found for non‐high abandonment, categorized as population‐oriented and economy‐driven. These findings provide a new perspective for analyzing the factors influencing farmland abandonment in both temporal and spatial dimensions, and also offer a theoretical foundation and data support for the reuse of abandoned farmland.