1. Institutions and Sustainability
Marco Janssen
School of Sustainability
Center for Behavior, Institutions and the Environment
Arizona State University

2. Collective action problems
A situation in which there is a conflict between what is preferred by the individual and the group.
Rooted in rational choice theory.
Mancur Olson (1965) Logic of Collective Action

3. Commons:
Resources that are shared in common (for example: a community)

4. Failures to sustain the commons

5. Tragedy of the Commons
Famous essay by Garrett Hardin (1968) in Science.
When people share a common resource they will keep extracting resources which provide individual benefit while costs are shared by group.
Only way out to avoid the tragedy is strict regulation by external authority or privatization of resource.

6. But what about the empirical evidence?
Many examples of successful self-governance of common resources.
Since 1980s systematic comparison of case studies.
Self-governance is possible and can be very effective and efficient

7. What does this mean?
If people are able to self-govern their commons, don’t overrule their institutions.
Community approach can work in the right conditions.
But community approaches are not the solution to everything, sometimes we need to use governmental regulation or privatization.

9. Domesticated animals
People have to solve when and where animals can graze.
Movement of animals during the year.
If private property movement is restricted.

10. Lobster fisheries in Maine
Lobster fisheries almost collapse
in the 1920s but is now a very
sustainable fisheries by
developing local institutions.

11. Water management in the Netherlands
Since the year 800 development of local water boards.
Technology (windmills)
Floods
Trial and error

12. Institutional Analysis and Development Framework
The IAD framework is a tool that helps to systematic analyze collective action and the commons, with a focus on institutions.

13. Action situation Focal analysis for the study of institutions
Situation where multiple actors interact

14. Action Arena
Action situation + participants = action arena

15. Institutional Analysis and Development Framework

16. Rules in use Rules in use vs Rules on paper Rules need to be known
Rules need to be understood

17. Compare commons in different locations

18. Why are some communities successful in governing their commons and not others?

19. Design principles 1. Clearly defined boundaries
2. Proportional equivalence between benefits and costs
3. Collective-choice arrangements
4. Monitoring
5. Graduated sanctions
6. Conflict-resolution mechanisms
7. Minimal recognition of rights to organize
8. Nested enterprises

20. Design Principles Design Principles are not a blue print
Still hold in meta-analysis studies (Cox et al. 2010; Baggio, 2016).
No study using primary data.
Configurations of design principles in specific social-biophysical context.

21. Collective action in human history focused on local scale
By trial and error, and learning from others, communities have found ways to solve complex collective action problems.

22. But the world is changing

23. Polycentric Governance
V. Ostrom et al (1961) on governance of municipalities.
Both local level initiatives and higher level governance. Diversity of solutions tailored to context.
Fit between problem and solution.
In recent years new interest in Polycentric Governance applied to Climate change:
Clubs, urban initiatives,

24. Irrigation as a fruitfly for SESs
Decade of focus on (small-scale) irrigation systems (case studies, experiments, models).
Importance of connection between resource users and public infrastructure providers.
Asymmetry affect power differences. Inequality affects cooperation and robustness.
Role of market integration.

25. Coupled Infrastructure Systems
Creation, maintenance and distribution of affortances.

26. Political Economy of Coupled Infrastructure Systems (PECIS)

27. Summary Communities are able to govern their common resources.
Research focuses on the social and biophysical conditions that lead to success and failure.
No panaceas, but protocols to diagnose the problem.
Hot topics: polycentricity & coupled infrastructure systems
More info see