Tang, Shui Yan. “Institutional arrangements and the management of common-pool resources.” Public Administration Review (1991): 42-51.
URL1
How do institutional arrangements affect the management of environmental resource systems? The administration of irrigation systems, fisheries, grazing lands, and other ‘common-pool resources’ is an increasingly important public sector activity. Relying on a cross-national study of thirty-six irrigation systems, Shui Yan Tang provides some insights into the effectiveness of alternative means for organizing water appropriation and maintenance tasks. Building on a distinction between bureaucratic and community systems, Tang finds reliance on bureaucratic arrangements to be less effective in managing water resource appropriation to farmers. Community arrangements, in contrast, proved more sensitive to the local needs of end users. While noting the potential relevance of bureaucratic structures in the construction, production, and distribution of common-pool resources, Tang’s work indicates the importance of considering non-bureaucratic alternatives when designing delivery systems for such resources.