Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:58:59.469Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Collective action for watershed management: field experiments in Colombia and Kenya

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2010

JUAN CAMILO CARDENAS ,
LUZ ANGELA RODRIGUEZ  and
NANCY JOHNSON
JUAN CAMILO CARDENAS
Affiliation:
Universidad de los Andes, Calle 19A No. 1-37 Este, Bloque W (W-803), Bogotá, Colombia. Email: [email protected]
LUZ ANGELA RODRIGUEZ
Affiliation:
Instituto Alexander von Humboldt, Calle 28A No 15-09, Bogotá, Colombia
NANCY JOHNSON
Affiliation:
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Box 30709-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The collective action problem around water use and management involves solving both the problems of provision and appropriation. Cooperation in the provision can be affected by the rival nature of appropriation and the asymmetries in access. We report the results of two field experiments conducted in Colombia and Kenya. The irrigation game was used to explore the provision and appropriation decisions under asymmetric or sequential appropriation, complemented by a voluntary contribution mechanism experiment which looks at provision decisions under symmetric appropriation. The overall results were consistent with the patterns of previous studies: the zero contribution hypotheses is rejected whereas the most effective institution to increase cooperation was face-to-face communication, although we find that communication works much more effectively in Colombia than in Kenya. We also find that the asymmetric appropriation did reduce cooperation, though the magnitude of the social loss and the effectiveness of alternative institutional options varied across sites.

Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , Volume 16 , Special Issue 3: CRITICAL ENVIRONMENTAL AND DEVELOPMENT ISSUES IN LATIN AMERICA , June 2011 , pp. 275 - 303
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baland, J.M. and Platteau, J.P. (1996), Halting Degradation of Natural Resources: Is There a Role for Rural Communities?, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Blanco, J. (2008), ‘Integrated water resource management in Colombia: paralysis by analysis?’, Water Resources Development 24: 91–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bowles, S. (2008), ‘Policies designed for self-interested citizens may undermine “the moral sentiments”: evidence from economic experiments’, Science 320: 5883.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cardenas, J.C. (2003), ‘Real wealth and experimental cooperation: evidence from field experiments’, Journal of Development Economics 70: 263–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cardenas, J.C. (2004), ‘Norms from outside and from inside: an experimental analysis on the governance of local ecosystems’, Forest Policy and Economics 6: 229–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cardenas, J.C., Ahn, T.K., and Ostrom, E. (2004), ‘Communication and co-operation in a common-pool resource dilemma: a field experiment’ in Huck, S. (ed), Advances in Understanding Strategic Behavior: Game Theory, Experiments, and Bounded Rationality: Essays in Honor of Werner Güth, New York: Palgrave, pp. 258–286.Google Scholar
Cardenas, J.C., Janssen, M.A., and Bousquet, F. (2008), ‘Dynamics of rules and resources: three new field experiments on water, forests and fisheries’, in List, J. and Price, M. (eds) Handbook on Experimental Economics and the Environment, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Cardenas, J.C., Johnson, N., and Rodriguez, L.A. (2010), ‘Vertical collective action addressing vertical asymmetries in watershed management’, Mimeo.Google Scholar
Cardenas, J.C. and Ostrom, E. (2004), ‘What do people bring to the game? Experiments in the field about cooperation in the commons’, Agricultural Systems 82: 307–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cardenas, J.C., Stranlund, J.K., and Willis, C.E. (2000), ‘Local environmental control and institutional crowding-out’, World Development 28: 1719–1733.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cardenas, J.C., Stranlund, J.K., and Willis, C.E. (2002), ‘Economic inequality and burden-sharing in the provision of local environmental quality’, Ecological Economics 40: 379–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fujie, M., Hayami, Y., and Kikuchi, M. (2005), ‘The conditions of collective action for local commons management: the case of irrigation in the Philippines’, Agricultural Economics 33: 179–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hackett, S., Schlager, E., and Walker, J. (1994), ‘The role of communication in resolving common dilemmas: experimental evidence with heterogeneous appropriators’, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 27: 99–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harrison, G. and List, J. (2004), ‘Field experiments’, Journal of Economic Literature 42: 1009–1055.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, N., Garcia, J., Rubiano, J.E., Quintero, M., Estrada, R.D., Mwangi, E., Morena, A., Peralta, A., and Granados, S. (2009), ‘Water and poverty in two Colombian watersheds’, Water Alternatives 2 (1): 34–52.Google Scholar
Keohane, R.O. and Ostrom, E. (eds.) (1995), Local Commons and Global Interdependence: Heterogeneity and Cooperation in Two Domains, London: SAGE Publications Ltd.Google Scholar
Knox, A., Swallow, B., and Johnson, N. (2001), ‘Conceptual and Methodological Framework Lessons for Improving Watershed Management and Research’, Policy Brief Number 3, CGIAR System Wide Program on Collective Action and Property Rights.Google Scholar
Lam, W.F. (1998), Governing Irrigation Systems in Nepal: Institutions, Infrastructure, and Collective Action, Oakland, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies (ICS) Press.Google Scholar
Lecoutere, E., D'Exelle, B., and Van Campenhout, B. (2010), ‘Who Engages in Water Scarcity Conflicts? A Field Experiment with Irrigators in Semi-arid Africa’, MICROCON Research Working Paper 31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ledyard, J. (1995) ‘Public goods: a survey of experimental research’ in Roth, A. and Kagel, J. (eds), A Handbook of Experimental Economics, Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 111–194.Google Scholar
Mumma, A. (2005) ‘Kenya's New Water Law: An Analysis of Implications for the Rural Poor’, International Workshop on African Water Laws: Plural Legislative Frameworks for Rural Water Management in Africa, 26–28 January 2005, Johannesburg, South Africa.Google Scholar
Olson, M. (1965), The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Onyango, L., Swallow, B., Roy, J., and Meinzen-Dick, R. (2007), ‘Coping with history and hydrology: how Kenyan's settlement and land tenure patterns shape contemporary water rights and gender relations in water’, in van Koppen, B., Giordano, M., and Butterworth, J. (eds), Community-based Water Law and Water Resource Management Reform in Development Countries, Wallinford, UK: CAB International.Google Scholar
Ostrom, E. (1992), Crafting Institutions for Self-Governing Irrigation Systems, San Francisco: Institute of Contemporary Studies Press.Google Scholar
Ostrom, E. (1993), ‘Coping with asymmetries in the commons: self-governing irrigation systems can work’, The Journal of Economic Perspectives 7: 93–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, E. (1998), ‘A behavioral approach to the rational choice theory of Collective Action’, American Political Science Review 92: 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, E. (2006), ‘The value-added of laboratory experiments for the study of institutions and common-pool resources’, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 61: 149–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, E. and Gardner, R. (1993), ‘Coping with asymmetries in the commons: self-governing irrigation systems can work’, The Journal of Economic Perspectives 7: 93–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ostrom, E., Gardner, R., and Walker, J. (1994), Rules, Games and Common-Pool Resources, Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramírez, M.C. and Cisneros, H. (eds) (2006), ‘Andean System of Basins: Watershed Profiles – Enhancing Agricultural Water Productivity through Strategic Research’, Technical Report No. 1, Challenge Program on Water and Food, Colombo, Sri Lanka.Google Scholar
Roy, J., Crow, B., and Swallow, B. (2005), ‘Getting access to adequate water: community organizing, women and social change in Western Kenya’, International Workshop on African Water Laws: Plural Legislative Frameworks for Rural Water Management in Africa, 26–28 January 2005, Johannesburg, South Africa.Google Scholar
Swallow, B., Johnson, N., Meinzen-Dick, R., and Knox, A. (2006), ‘The challenges of inclusive cross-scale collective action in watersheds’, Water International 31: 361–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swallow, B., Onyango, L., and Meinzen-Dick, R. (2007) ‘Irrigation management and poverty dynamics: case study of the Nyando Basin in Western Kenya’, in van Koppen, B., Giordano, M., and Butterworth, J. (eds), Community-based Water Law and Water Resource Management Reform in Development Countries, Wallingford, UK: CAB International.Google Scholar
Teyie (2006), ‘Opportunities for fostering inclusive multi-scale collective action for watershed management in the Nyando River Basin, Kenya’, Paper presented at the Multi-Scale Governance Session, World Water Week, 22 August 2006, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Van Koppen, B., Giordano, M., Butterworth, J., and Mapedza, E. (2007) ‘Community-based water law and water resource management reform in development countries: rationale, contents and key messages in Western Kenya’, in van Koppen, B., Giordano, M., and Butterworth, J. (eds), Community-based Water Law and Water Resource Management Reform in Development Countries, Wallingford, UK: CAB International.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Agroforestry Center (2006), ‘Improved Land Management in the Lake Victoria Basin: Final Report on the TransVic Project’, Occasional Paper 07, Nairobi, Kenya.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Cardenas Supplementary Material

Cardenas Supplementary Appendix

Download Cardenas Supplementary Material(PDF)
PDF 325.6 KB