The Impact of Forum Interdependence and Network Structure on Actor Performance in Complex Governance Systems

Abstract

One of the main assumptions of the Ecology of Games Framework (EGF) is that governance processes are heavily affected by the interactions among policy actors that take place in multiple decision‐making forums, which often function interdependently. In this article, we use data collected in the Tampa Bay and California Delta water governance systems to examine how “biophysical interdependence”—the extent to which forums deal with interconnected policy problems—impacts the costs that actors face when they participate in forums, which in turn can affect their performance in them. Furthermore, we examine how the individual information exchange networks that actors have (i.e., their ego‐networks) can mediate the previous relationship. We find that actors with networks that have more closure are better able to mitigate the costs associated with participating in biophysically interdependent forums, thus leading to better in‐forum performance. Our findings shed new light on the relationship between structure and function in complex ecologies of games.

The Ecology of Games as a Theory of Polycentricity: Recent Advances and Future Challenges

“…Finally, some research delves more deeply on the topic of issue interdependency, which is also one of the structural characteristics of the EGT. Mewhirter and Berardo () show that actors in ecologies of games performed better in forums when their interactions with others indicated high levels of bonding capital, but only when that participation took place in interdependent forums. When the level of interdependence dropped, the relationship between individual‐level bonding capital and performance actually declined.…”

“…with multiple "players," or policy actors who are endowed with a unique combination of resources and policy preferences. Importantly, these games may operate independently, though it is typical for them to be interconnected (Lubell, Mewhirter, Berardo, & Scholz, 2017;Lubell, Robins, & Wang, 2014;Mewhirter & Berardo, 2019). For example, multiple games may deal with similar topics, as when policy actors discuss local adaptation to climate change in different forums.…”

The Origins of Conflict in Polycentric Governance Systems

“…Policy issues are often linked through physical, social or economic processes, and thus behaviors affecting one issue can indirectly affect another (Bodin ). There is often competition among issues and negative cross‐issue externalities, along with high levels of complexity in understanding linkages (Mewhirter and Berardo ). Because of this complexity, policy forums that address a diverse set of policy issues will feature higher transaction costs, leading to greater perceived conflict.…”

Exploring Coordinative Mechanisms for Environmental Governance in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area: An Ecology of Games Framework

“…However, these well-designed strategies may not match with incentive structures of other policy institutions. In other words, the "best" strategies in one policy institution might be ineffective in other policy institutions [29,30].…”