New Institutional Economics, Governance and the Performance of Water Institutions in India
There has been substantial water resources development for agriculture in India but the emphasis has been mainly on the technical side - the building of the necessary institutions required for effective management of the resource has received little attention. Many believe that water resource management in India is heading for a crisis unless the institutions and related policies are rapidly transformed. In this light, the study examines key features of water institutions in India, applying new institutional economics fundamentals, as well as management theories of good governance. The study uses a survey of 29 water institutions and 450 farm households conducted across three states in India which face water scarcity and have attempted to address it through institutional efforts and innovations. The findings indicate and help identify important characteristics of institutional design for creating better institutions. Findings indicate that derived from new institutional economics fundamentals, the stress on features such as clear objectives, good interaction, adaptiveness, appropriateness of scale, and compliance ability are very important for institutional performance. They reduce transaction cost and promote cooperative solutions, which are key contributions of good institutions. Delivery of good governance by effective institutionalization of technical, organizational, and political rationalities are also very important. This requires empowerment of bodies such as the general body, chairman, managing committee and secretary in the institutions. The results bring out some significant associations and ways for enhancing institutional performance in water resource management in India.
The Economics of Institutions, Equity, Efficiency and Effectiveness: The Case of Water Distribution in Lower Sundays River Valley, South Africa
Water supply disruptions are prevalent in various parts of South Africa. The Lower Sundays River Valley is not an exception. However, there is currently no physical shortage of water in the catchment. This study defines institutional arrangements and dynamics in the water sector in South Africa, using the Lower Sunday River Water Users Association as the case study. Key informant interviews reveal that relevant stakeholders are not adequately represented in management committees. Such institutional arrangement vacuums can lead to a failure of the water institutions in the catchment to provide water resources effectively.
Deliberative Democracy and the Resource Curse: A Nationwide Experiment in Tanzania
Oil and gas discoveries in developing countries are often associated with short-sighted economic policies and, in response, calls to insulate resource management from populist impulses. We report on a randomized experiment testing methods to overcome this apparent tension between sound resource governance and democratic politics. Soon after Tanzania’s discovery of major natural gas reserves, we invited a nationally representative sample of voters to an intensive public deliberation of policy options featuring nationally recognized experts and small-group discussions. Democratic deliberation reinforced the public’s strong preference for rapid spending of gas revenues, but also increased support for various prudential and economically orthodox measures, including independent oversight of gas revenues, limits on government borrowing, and selling gas abroad rather than subsidizing fuel at home. These effects were driven by deliberation per se, rather than a pure information treatment, and show no evidence of contamination by facilitatoror peer-effects in group deliberations. www.cgdev.org Justin Sandefur, Nancy Birdsall, James Fishkin, and Mujobu Moyo