The Institutional Collective Action Framework
TL;DR: In this article, the authors classified the mechanisms for mitigating institutional collective action dilemmas according to their scope and enforcement, and proposed an agenda to advance the theoretical and empirical development of the ICA approach.
Abstract: Institutional collective action (ICA) dilemmas arise from the division or partitioning of authority in which decisions by one government in one or more specific functional area impacts other governments and/or other functions. The focus on externalities of choice in fragmented systems integrates multiple research traditions into a conceptual system to understand and investigate collective dilemmas ubiquitous in contemporary governance arrangements. The mechanisms for mitigating ICA dilemmas are classified according to their scope and enforcement. Incentives to participate in a mechanism are hypothesized to favor mechanisms that provide the greatest gain for the least cost under different conditions of collaboration risk as determined by the nature of the underlying ICA problem, the compositions of affected jurisdictions, and institutional contexts. After reviewing empirical applications of the framework, an agenda to advance the theoretical and empirical development of the ICA approach is advanced.
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TL;DR: In this paper, a multi-dimensional framework for policy integration in cross-cutting policy problems is proposed, which distinguishes four dimensions of integration: policy frame, subsystem involvement, policy goals, and policy instruments.
Abstract: The role of policy integration in the governance of cross-cutting policy problems has attracted increasing scholarly attention in recent years. Nevertheless, the concept of policy (dis)integration is still under theorized, particularly regarding its inherent processual nature. The main argument of this paper is that policy integration should be understood as a process that entails various elements that do not necessarily move in a concerted manner but may develop at different paces or even in opposite directions. To study such dynamic integration pathways, the paper proposes a multi-dimensional framework. Drawing on existing literature, the framework distinguishes four dimensions of integration: (1) policy frame, (2), subsystem involvement, (3) policy goals, and (4) policy instruments. For each of these dimensions, we describe different manifestations that are associated with lesser or more advanced degrees of policy integration within a governance system. Apart from offering an innovative theoretical approach that does justice to the dynamic and oftentimes asynchronous nature of integration processes, the framework allows for holding decision-makers accountable for promises they make about enhancing policy integration. Simultaneously, it is argued that the merit of lower degrees of integration should not be underestimated, as these may sometimes be the most feasible or appropriate for the governance of a cross-cutting problem.
260 citations
Cites background from "The Institutional Collective Action..."
...…funding programs and financial incentives, consultation mechanisms, impact assessments, interdepartmental working groups, and (green) cabinets, inter-alia (e.g., Adelle et al. 2009; EEA 2005; Feiock 2013; Jacob and Volkery 2004; Jacob et al. 2008; Karré et al. 2013; Ross and Dovers 2008)....
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...…nonintentional policymaking Subsystems recognize the failure of the dominant subsystem to manage the problem and externalities (Bryson et al. 2006; Feiock 2013), which results in the emergence of concerns about the problem in one or more additional subsystems Awareness of the problem’s…...
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...Examples of such instruments include overarching plans and strategies, constitutional provisions, legislative standards setting, overarching funding programs and financial incentives, consultation mechanisms, impact assessments, interdepartmental working groups, and (green) cabinets, inter-alia (e.g., Adelle et al. 2009; EEA 2005; Feiock 2013; Jacob and Volkery 2004; Jacob et al. 2008; Karré et al. 2013; Ross and Dovers 2008)....
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...Formally, no other subsystems are involved, although they may be in terms of substantial, nonintentional policymaking Subsystems recognize the failure of the dominant subsystem to manage the problem and externalities (Bryson et al. 2006; Feiock 2013), which results in the emergence of concerns about the problem in one or more additional subsystems Awareness of the problem’s crosscutting nature spreads across subsystems, as a result of which two or more subsystems have formal responsibility for dealing with the problem All possibly relevant subsystems have developed ideas about their role in the governance of the problem....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors analyse the literature on cost savings under cooperation and find that savings are dependent on the cost structure of public services, particularly those related to scale and density economies and externalities, and the structure of local government (size, metropolitan location, powers granted by the nation or regional state).
Abstract: Austerity and fiscal crisis make the search for cost-saving reforms in local government more critical While cost savings from privatization have frequently proven ephemeral, inter-municipal cooperation has been a relatively understudied reform We analyse the literature on cost savings under cooperation and find that savings are dependent on (1) the cost structure of public services, particularly those related to scale and density economies and externalities, (2) the structure of local government (size, metropolitan location, powers granted by the nation or regional state), and (3) the governance framework at the local/regional level where cooperation varies from informal to formal European studies give more emphasis to cost savings, while US studies focus on coordination concerns arising from the higher degree of devolution in the US local government system
210 citations
TL;DR: The role of policies as governing instruments and the factors that shape their political impacts is considered in this paper, where the authors suggest that the lens provided by regime perspectives is a useful way for advancing the understanding of these considerations.
Abstract: We call on policy scholars to take seriously the role of policies as governing instruments and to consider more fully the factors that shape their political impacts. We suggest that the lens provided by regime perspectives is a useful way for advancing the understanding of these considerations. As a descriptive undertaking, the regime lens can be used to construct a conceptual map that considers the constellation of ideas, institutional arrangements, and interests that are involved in addressing policy problems. As an analytic lens, regime perspectives can be used to understand how and with what effect policies set in place feedback processes that shape policy legitimacy, coherence, and durability. Together, these provide new insights into policy implementation and the interplay of policy and politics in governing. Regime perspectives provide avenues for asking and answering the “big questions” about the quality of governing arrangements and the sustainability of policies that were important considerations for the development of the field of policy studies in the 1960s, but have since waned as foci for policy scholarship.
196 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors draw together diverse social science perspectives and research into a variety of cases to show how different types of power shape rule setting, issue construction, and policy implementation in polycentric governance.
Abstract: Failure to address unsustainable global change is often attributed to failures in conventional environmental governance. Polycentric environmental governance—the popular alternative—involves many centres of authority interacting coherently for a common governance goal. Yet, longitudinal analysis reveals many polycentric systems are struggling to cope with the growing impacts, pace, and scope of social and environmental change. Analytic shortcomings are also beginning to appear, particularly in the treatment of power. Here we draw together diverse social science perspectives and research into a variety of cases to show how different types of power shape rule setting, issue construction, and policy implementation in polycentric governance. We delineate an important and emerging research agenda for polycentric environmental governance, integrating diverse types of power into analytical and practical models.
175 citations
Cites background from "The Institutional Collective Action..."
...…power also reflects the broader governance literature, where researchers in the key fields of American federalism and European Union (EU) studies (Feiock, 2013; Hooghe and Marks, 2003; Scharpf, 2006), political science (Crook and Manor, 1998), public policy and administration (Bevir and Rhodes,…...
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TL;DR: The authors examine the role of public managers as leaders, encouragers, and followers of collaborative governance and examine the decision calculus factoring into the choice of collaborativegovernance as a toolbox for achieving desired policy goals.
Abstract: The public policy and public management literatures together support a vibrant discussion of collaborative governance. Much of this scholarship takes a broad perspective focusing on questions such as what collaborative governance is; why collaborative governance emerges; or why individuals and organizations choose to participate in voluntary, nonbinding collaborative efforts. This paper focuses specifically on the role of public managers as leaders, encouragers, and followers of collaborative governance. We examine the decision calculus factoring into the choice of collaborative governance as a toolbox for achieving desired policy goals. That is, we ask why public managers choose to devote public resources to collaborative governance. What motivates public managers to pick up the phone, write a check, or otherwise change their current behavior? We develop 20 propositions that contextualize this choice in terms of two overarching questions: (i) How do institutional structure and organizational strategy intersect to influence the ways in which public managers design and implement collaborative governance?; and (ii) Why do public managers choose particular roles within collaborative institutions? In doing so, we demonstrate how the public policy and public management literatures can be coupled to better understand a theoretical issue that each research body struggles to encapsulate in isolation.
134 citations
References
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Book•
01 Apr 1984TL;DR: In this paper, a model based on the concept of an evolutionarily stable strategy in the context of the Prisoner's Dilemma game was developed for cooperation in organisms, and the results of a computer tournament showed how cooperation based on reciprocity can get started in an asocial world, can thrive while interacting with a wide range of other strategies, and can resist invasion once fully established.
Abstract: Cooperation in organisms, whether bacteria or primates, has been a difficulty for evolutionary theory since Darwin. On the assumption that interactions between pairs of individuals occur on a probabilistic basis, a model is developed based on the concept of an evolutionarily stable strategy in the context of the Prisoner's Dilemma game. Deductions from the model, and the results of a computer tournament show how cooperation based on reciprocity can get started in an asocial world, can thrive while interacting with a wide range of other strategies, and can resist invasion once fully established. Potential applications include specific aspects of territoriality, mating, and disease.
17,720 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1990TL;DR: In this paper, an institutional approach to the study of self-organization and self-governance in CPR situations is presented, along with a framework for analysis of selforganizing and selfgoverning CPRs.
Abstract: Preface 1. Reflections on the commons 2. An institutional approach to the study of self-organization and self-governance in CPR situations 3. Analyzing long-enduring, self-organized and self-governed CPRs 4. Analyzing institutional change 5. Analyzing institutional failures and fragilities 6. A framework for analysis of self-organizing and self-governing CPRs Notes References Index.
16,852 citations
"The Institutional Collective Action..." refers background in this paper
...…collective action literature concerned with situations in which individual incentives lead to collective outcomes not desired by any of the individuals and extends the approach to composite actors defined by institutionally determined position, authority, and aggregation rules (Ostrom, 1990, 2005)....
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Book•
10 Oct 2016
TL;DR: In this paper, it is argued that the suggested courses of action are inappropriate, in that they lead to results which are not necessarily, or even usually, desirable, and therefore, it is recommended to exclude the factory from residential districts (and presumably from other areas in which the emission of smoke would have harmful effects on others).
Abstract: This paper is concerned with those actions of business firms which have harmful effects on others. The standard example is that of a factory the smoke from which has harmful effects on those occupying neighbouring properties. The economic analysis of such a situation has usually proceeded in terms of a divergence between the private and social product of the factory, in which economists have largely followed the treatment of Pigou in The Economics of Welfare. The conclusions to which this kind of analysis seems to have led most economists is that it would be desirable to make the owner of the factory liable for the damage caused to those injured by the smoke, or alternatively, to place a tax on the factory owner varying with the amount of smoke produced and equivalent in money terms to the damage it would cause, or finally, to exclude the factory from residential districts (and presumably from other areas in which the emission of smoke would have harmful effects on others). It is my contention that the suggested courses of action are inappropriate, in that they lead to results which are not necessarily, or even usually, desirable.
11,448 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors develop one of perhaps multiple specifications of embeddedness, a concept that has been used to refer broadly to the contingent nature of economic action with respect to cognition, social structure, institutions, and culture.
Abstract: This chapter aims to develop one of perhaps multiple specifications of embeddedness, a concept that has been used to refer broadly to the contingent nature of economic action with respect to cognition, social structure, institutions, and culture. Research on embeddedness is an exciting area in sociology and economics because it advances understanding of how social structure affects economic life. The chapter addresses propositions about the operation and outcomes of interfirm networks that are guided implicitly by ceteris paribus assumptions. While economies of time due to embeddedness have obvious benefits for the individual firm, they also have important implications for allocative efficiency and the determination of prices. Under the conditions, social processes that increase integration combine with resource dependency problems to increase the vulnerability of networked organizations. The level of investment in an economy promotes positive changes in productivity, standards of living, mobility, and wealth generation.
9,137 citations