Fuzzy-set QCA (fsQCA)
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Finds combinations of conditions sufficient for an outcome, with set-membership scores between 0 and 1.
LaTeX: \mathrm{Consistency}(X \le Y) = \frac{\sum_i \min(x_i, y_i)}{\sum_i x_i}
Variables and notation#
x_i and y_i are calibrated membership scores in condition set X and outcome set Y; min is fuzzy intersection; the ratio measures consistency with X being a subset of Y.
Worked example#
For x=(0.8,0.4),y=(0.6,0.5), numerator=0.6+0.4=1 and denominator=1.2, so consistency≈0.8333.
Related methods and when to use them#
fsQCA evaluates set relations and configurations; regression estimates average conditional associations. High sufficiency consistency can coexist with low coverage; calibration and nonzero denominators matter.
Sources and further reading#
Key findings#
- Fuzzy-set QCA (fsQCA) was mentioned in 29 papers in the last 30 days (2026-10-07 to 2026-11-05), ranking #51 of the 248 equations and models mentioned.
- By journal category: Management (15), Operations Research (4), Information Systems (4), Economics (2), Accounting (2), Tourism and Hospitality (1) and Higher Education and Research (1).
- Most of them appeared in Technological Forecasting and Social Change (3), Journal of International Business Policy (2) and Journal of International Business Studies (2).
- Often mentioned together with Structural equation modeling (SEM) (7), Theory of planned behavior (4) and Cronbach's alpha (3).
- Datasets named in the same papers: Eurostat (2), Labour Force Surveys (1) and CNRDS (1).
- From Nov 2023 to Oct 2026, 818 archived papers mentioned Fuzzy-set QCA (fsQCA) in their title, abstract, keywords or full text, most of them in Oct 2026 (39).
- From 2017 to 2026 (so far), Fuzzy-set QCA (fsQCA) was mentioned in 1,265 papers in the tracked journals, most of them in management (654), information systems (118) and economics (113).
- 246 of them were published in 2025, against 42 in 2017.
- Since 2023, the institutions with the most of these papers were Universitat de València (18), Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (13) and University of Lisbon (12).
- The journals publishing most of them were Journal of Innovation & Knowledge (80), Technological Forecasting and Social Change (54) and Journal of Business Research (54).
- The most-cited of them is “Fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA): Guidelines for research practice in Information Systems and marketing” (International Journal of Information Management, 2021), with 2,259 citations.
Mentions over 36 months#
| Trend | Nov 23–Oct 24 | Nov 24–Oct 25 | Nov 25–Oct 26 | 36 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 240 | 255 | 323 | 818 |
Papers per year#
20172026 (so far)
| Category | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (so far) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Management | 22 | 23 | 36 | 22 | 43 | 44 | 73 | 133 | 119 | 139 |
| Information Systems | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 29 | 21 | 22 |
| Economics | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 24 | 31 | 24 |
| Marketing | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 17 | 9 | 33 |
| Tourism and Hospitality | 0 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 14 |
| Higher Education and Research | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 14 |
| Statistics | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
| Health Economics and Policy | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 8 |
| Operations Research | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 10 |
| Finance | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 6 |
| AI | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| Accounting | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| All categories | 42 | 45 | 52 | 45 | 82 | 87 | 130 | 253 | 246 | 283 |
Where the papers come from#
| # | Journal | Papers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Journal of Innovation & Knowledge | 80 |
| 2 | Technological Forecasting and Social Change | 54 |
| 3 | Journal of Business Research | 54 |
| 4 | Review of Managerial Science | 30 |
| 5 | Future Business Journal | 28 |
| 6 | Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services | 26 |
| 7 | Industrial Marketing Management | 21 |
| 8 | Quality & Quantity | 21 |
| 9 | International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal | 17 |
| 10 | Small Business Economics | 16 |
| # | Institution | Papers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Universitat de València | 18 |
| 2 | Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology | 13 |
| 3 | University of Lisbon | 12 |
| 4 | University of Vaasa | 12 |
| 5 | Erasmus University Rotterdam | 11 |
| 6 | Universitat Politècnica de València | 11 |
| 7 | Hangzhou Normal University | 10 |
| 8 | University of Auckland | 10 |
| 9 | University of Leeds | 10 |
| 10 | University of Turin | 10 |
| # | Country | Papers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 214 |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 157 |
| 3 | Spain | 109 |
| 4 | United States | 92 |
| 5 | Italy | 78 |
| 6 | Germany | 69 |
| 7 | Australia | 60 |
| 8 | France | 48 |
| 9 | Netherlands | 44 |
| 10 | Finland | 43 |
| # | Keyword | Papers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis | 152 |
| 2 | configurational analysis | 86 |
| 3 | digital transformation | 50 |
| 4 | small and medium-sized enterprises | 40 |
| 5 | COVID-19 pandemic | 32 |
| 6 | dynamic capabilities | 28 |
| 7 | technology adoption | 26 |
| 8 | manufacturing companies | 24 |
| 9 | corporate governance | 22 |
| 10 | resource-based view | 22 |
Most-cited papers#
Cite this page
Scholar4AI. (2026). Fuzzy-set QCA (fsQCA). Journal and Conference Research Rankings. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://scholar4ai.com/equations/fuzzy-set-qca-fsqca
@misc{scholar4ai-equations-fuzzy-set-qca-fsqca,
author = {{Scholar4AI}},
title = {Fuzzy-set QCA (fsQCA)},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://scholar4ai.com/equations/fuzzy-set-qca-fsqca}},
urldate = {2026-11-05},
note = {Journal and Conference Research Rankings; data from OpenAlex (CC0); licensed CC BY-NC 4.0}
}