Policy Pathways to Digitalization: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of China’s Construction Industry

Understanding how policy mixes influence systemic digital transformation is a key concern in socio-technical transition research. This study explores the configurational effects of policy tools in construction digitalization to address this issue. Based on an analysis of policies issued across 31 Chinese provinces (2020–2025), key policy tools were identified using a Multi-Level Perspective (MLP), followed by fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) to examine their configurational effects. The results show that: (1) policies can be grouped into three categories—technology application, management norms, and industrial ecology—comprising six thematic tools; (2) no single condition is essential for high or low digital development; (3) high-level outcomes are associated with three distinct configurations: “technology-talent driven”, “foundation-governance linkage”, and “system-ecology leading”, while “factor-deficient” and “system-mismatched” types are frequently linked to low-level outcomes. By identifying equifinal pathways and cross-level coordination mechanisms, the study offers configurational insights for designing digital policy mixes. While the theoretical implications are broadly applicable, the specific configurations require validation across different contexts because they depend on China’s provincial policy data.