A Framework for Institutional Analysis of Decentralization Reforms in Natural Resource Management

Blomquist, William; Dinar, Ariel; Kemper, Karin

doi:10.1080/08941920902960396

Cited by 39 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Anderies et al 2004;Blomquist et al 2010;Clement 2010) to advance the diagnostic capacity of scholarly investigations of SESs. Clement (2010) contends that the IAD framework, with its emphasis on collective action at the local level, fails to account for the role of power, history, and environmental discourses in shaping local policies and subsequent environmental outcomes.…”

Section: Framework For the Study Of Social-ecological Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Missing ecology: integrating ecological perspectives with the social-ecological system framework

Epstein¹,

Vogt²,

Mincey

et al. 2013

Int J Commons

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Abstract:The social-ecological systems framework was designed to provide a common research tool for interdisciplinary investigations of social-ecological systems. However, its origin in institutional studies of the commons belies its interdisciplinary ambitions and highlights its relatively limited attention to ecology and natural scientific knowledge. This paper considers the biophysical components of the framework and its epistemological foundations as it relates to the incorporation of knowledge from the natural sciences. It finds that the Missing ecology 433 mixture of inductive and deductive reasoning associated with socially-oriented investigations of these systems is lacking on the ecological side, which relies upon induction alone. As a result the paper proposes the addition of a seventh core sub-system to the social-ecological systems framework, ecological rules, which would allow scholars to explicitly incorporate knowledge from the natural sciences for deductive reasoning. The paper shows, through an instructive case study, how the addition of ecological rules can provide a more nuanced description of the factors that contribute to outcomes in socialecological systems.

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Section: Framework For the Study Of Social-ecological Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Missing ecology: integrating ecological perspectives with the social-ecological system framework

Epstein¹,

Vogt²,

Mincey

et al. 2013

Int J Commons

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“…Therefore, assessing the effectiveness or trying to predict the likely outcomes of China's forest tenure reform and institutional change requires careful and pertinent institutional analysis. The specific approach to institutional analysis of decentralization, formulated by Blomquist et al (2010), offers a concrete "roadmap" that pins down four sets of variables, as detailed below, and suggests possible pathways by which they are associated with the likelihood of successful decentralization of resource use. According to the authors, the complex interactions of these variables will determine the incentives and capabilities of stakeholders to participate, which will in turn affect the sustainability of stakeholder involvement in management.…”

Section: Assessment Of China's Reformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…China's significant accomplishments notwithstanding, quite a few practical issues must be properly addressed before substantial changes in the resource conditions can happen. Because decentralization reforms entail major institutional rearrangements-one might even say that they promote improved resource management through institutional change (Blomquist et al, 2010)-more careful and critical institutional analysis is called for by building upon the advances in institutional economics and taking into account needed changes in the broader policy context. Our study will thus incorporate the property rights theory (North, 1990), the transaction cost theory (Williamson, 2000), and the collective action theory (Ostrom, 1990).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

China's forest tenure reform and institutional change in the new century: What has been implemented and what remains to be pursued?

2013

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“…Of course a key question is whether users have the autonomy to effect a change of rules (Ostrom, 1990;Blomquist, 2010). Equally important is that they perceive themselves to have such autonomy.…”

Section: Transformation Costsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The scope for collective action in a large groundwater basin: An institutional analysis of aquifer governance in Western Australia

Skurray

2015

Ecological Economics

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The Gnangara groundwater system in Western Australia occupies some 2,200km 2 , supports multiple ecological systems and human uses, and is under unprecedented stress due to reduced rainfall and over-extraction. The basin is currently managed according to command and control principles by the state's Department of Water. This paper examines some of Ostrom's "situational variables" for the analysis of institutional choice -the selfprovision of institutional arrangements in common-pool resources situations -as they relate to the Gnangara case. The paper approaches the topic of collective action not as a niche concept which may be fitted only to certain specific cases, but as a basic and natural mode of human co-operation and interaction when faced with inter-dependent interests and in the absence of militating factors. We therefore conduct the analysis from the perspective of identifying elements of the current management approach -as well as of the shared norms, expectations, and attitudes of the appropriators -which could be altered to allow collective governance to develop, at least at some scale within the overall management regime. We use data from a set of water licence documents obtained from the Department of Water, among other data sources. A number of factors are identified as inhibiting the development of collective action at present. Current arrangements are topdown in nature, with all rules, monitoring, and enforcement supplied by the state-level management agency. Current norms and expectations among the appropriators appear to be competitive rather than co-operative, and discount rates appear to be high. In view of the size of the resource, and the large number and heterogeneity of appropriators, we conclude that the use of 'nested' organisational units -beginning at the smaller scale -will be a key component of efforts to develop the requisite social and institutional capital.Further, we conclude that there are several historical and other factors in this case whose net effect is to prejudice the unassisted development of collective action institutions by appropriator efforts alone, and that significant external support will be required from government agencies. This study highlights some important aspects of the regulatory apparatus in place, their likely effects upon the resource appropriators in terms of attitudes and behaviours, and the resulting impacts on the common-pool resource upon which wildlife, ecosystems, and the appropriators all depend.

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A Framework for Institutional Analysis of Decentralization Reforms in Natural Resource Management

Cited by 39 publications

References 34 publications

Missing ecology: integrating ecological perspectives with the social-ecological system framework

Missing ecology: integrating ecological perspectives with the social-ecological system framework

China's forest tenure reform and institutional change in the new century: What has been implemented and what remains to be pursued?

The scope for collective action in a large groundwater basin: An institutional analysis of aquifer governance in Western Australia

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