Determinants of Collective Action in the Commons: An Empirical Study of Irrigation in China
Year: 2014
Type: conference-paper
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: "Irrigation systems have long been used as an important case for studying collective action in the empirical common pool resources (CPRs) literature. Based on a large-scale representative survey of Chinese rural areas, we use econometric analysis to examine the factors that influence collective action in the commons. The novelty of the current study is the introduction of a new ordered collective irrigation measure based on different types of rural irrigation and the subsequent study of labor outflow, a rarely explored but crucial variable in developing countries, and other factors affecting collective irrigation participation. We found that labor outflow had an adverse effect on participation in collective irrigation, and in cases of close proximity to urban centers or towns, widened inequality, and when occurring in hilly areas and areas with historically scarce water resource, the presence of fewer household laborers and poor water endowment tend to reduce the incentives to participate in collective irrigation. These findings remain robust for various equation specifications, taking into account measurement errors on both the dependent and control variables sides, thus contributing some new insights to the existing CPRs literature."
Authors: Wang, Yahua, Chen, Chunliang, Tao, Ye
Institution: Tsinghua University
Language: English
Subfield: Water Science and Technology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Award: 基于制度分析与发展(IAD)框架的参与式灌溉管理研究
OpenAlex ID: W7009000949