IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v68y2015icp205-214.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Living Institutions: Sharing and Sanctioning Water among Pastoralists in Namibia

Author

Listed:
  • Schnegg, Michael
  • Linke, Theresa

Abstract

Sanctions are often considered an important component of successful resource management. To govern water usage, pastoral communities in Namibia have specific sanctions at their disposal and yet these are almost never applied. Interestingly, this does not lead to a breakdown in water supply. To understand collective action in small communities it is important to take into account that people share multiple resources. Combining ethnography and network analysis we reveal that people cannot separate the sharing of water from the sharing of ancestries, food, and work. This discourages the application of formal sanctions while opening other means of maintaining institutional regimes.

Suggested Citation

  • Schnegg, Michael & Linke, Theresa, 2015. "Living Institutions: Sharing and Sanctioning Water among Pastoralists in Namibia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 205-214.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:68:y:2015:i:c:p:205-214
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.11.024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X14003891
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.11.024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Beitl, Christine M., 2014. "Adding Environment to the Collective Action Problem: Individuals, Civil Society, and the Mangrove-Fishery Commons in Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 93-107.
    2. Mathew Kurian & Ton Dietz, 2013. "Leadership on the Commons: Wealth Distribution, Co-provision and Service Delivery," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(11), pages 1532-1547, November.
    3. Pretty, Jules & Ward, Hugh, 2001. "Social Capital and the Environment," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 209-227, February.
    4. Anderson, Christopher M. & Putterman, Louis, 2006. "Do non-strategic sanctions obey the law of demand? The demand for punishment in the voluntary contribution mechanism," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 1-24, January.
    5. Araral Jr., Eduardo, 2009. "What Explains Collective Action in the Commons? Theory and Evidence from the Philippines," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 687-697, March.
    6. Michael Schnegg, 2006. "Reciprocity And The Emergence Of Power Laws In Social Networks," International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 17(07), pages 1067-1076.
    7. Bodin, Örjan & Crona, Beatrice I., 2008. "Management of Natural Resources at the Community Level: Exploring the Role of Social Capital and Leadership in a Rural Fishing Community," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2763-2779, December.
    8. Agrawal, Arun, 2001. "Common Property Institutions and Sustainable Governance of Resources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(10), pages 1649-1672, October.
    9. Lesorogol, Carolyn K., 2005. "Privatizing pastoral lands: economic and normative outcomes in Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(11), pages 1959-1978, November.
    10. Haro, Guyo O. & Doyo, Godana J. & McPeak, John G., 2005. "Linkages Between Community, Environmental, and Conflict Management: Experiences from Northern Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 285-299, February.
    11. Ernst Fehr & Urs Fischbacher, 2004. "Social norms and human cooperation," Macroeconomics 0409026, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Benjamin, Charles E., 2008. "Legal Pluralism and Decentralization: Natural Resource Management in Mali," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2255-2276, November.
    13. David Mosse, 1997. "The Symbolic Making of a Common Property Resource: History, Ecology and Locality in a Tank‐irrigated Landscape in South India," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 28(3), pages 467-504, July.
    14. Gibson, Clark C. & Williams, John T. & Ostrom, Elinor, 2005. "Local Enforcement and Better Forests," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 273-284, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Whaley, Luke & Cleaver, Frances & Mwathunga, Evance, 2021. "Flesh and bones: Working with the grain to improve community management of water," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    2. Beresford, Melissa & Brewis, Alexandra & Choudhary, Neetu & Drew, Georgina & Garcia, Nataly Escobedo & Garrick, Dustin & Hossain, Mohammed Jobayer & Lopez, Ernesto & Nébié, Elisabeth Ilboudo & Pacheco, 2023. "Justice and Moral Economies in Modular, Adaptive, and Decentralized (MAD) Water Systems," SocArXiv 6ywp7, Center for Open Science.
    3. Ishihara, Hiroe & Pascual, Unai & Hodge, Ian, 2017. "Dancing With Storks: The Role of Power Relations in Payments for Ecosystem Services," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 45-54.
    4. Jun Qian & Xiao Sun & Ziyang Wang & Yueting Chai, 2022. "Negative Feedback Punishment Approach Helps Sanctioning Institutions Achieve Stable, Time-Saving and Low-Cost Performances," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(15), pages 1-16, August.
    5. D. Layne Coppock & Lucas Crowley & Susan L. Durham & Dylan Groves & Julian C. Jamison & Dean Karlan & Brien E. Norton & R. Douglas Ramsey, 2021. "Cooperation in the Commons: Community-based Rangeland Management in Namibia," NBER Working Papers 29469, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Oppel, Annalena, 2021. "Normalizing necessity? Support networks and racial inequality in Namibia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    7. Ishihara, Hiroe & Tokunaga, Kanae & Uchida, Hirotsugu, 2021. "Achieving multiple socio-ecological institutional fits: The case of spiny lobster co-management in Wagu, Japan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    8. Mrittika Basu & Rajarshi DasGupta & Shizuka Hashimoto & Satoshi Hoshino, 2021. "A multi-actor and bottom-up perspective on attaining rural water security: qualitative evidence from India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 1461-1484, February.
    9. Justin W. Webb & Theodore A. Khoury & Michael A. Hitt, 2020. "The Influence of Formal and Informal Institutional Voids on Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 44(3), pages 504-526, May.
    10. Archambault, Caroline & Ehrhardt, David, 2022. "The committeefication of collective action in Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Yahua & Chen, Chunliang & Araral, Eduardo, 2016. "The Effects of Migration on Collective Action in the Commons: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 79-93.
    2. Andersson, Krister, 2013. "Local Governance of Forests and the Role of External Organizations: Some Ties Matter More Than Others," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 226-237.
    3. H. Carolyn Peach Brown & James P. Lassoie & Steven A. Wolf, 2007. "An analytic approach to structuring co–management of community forests in Cameroon," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 7(2), pages 135-154, April.
    4. Novo, Paula & Garrido, Alberto, 2011. "Informing irrigation districts developing in Nicaragua: challenges from a social capital and collective action perspective," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114603, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Kahsay, Goytom Abraha & Bulte, Erwin, 2019. "Trust, regulation and participatory forest management: Micro-level evidence on forest governance from Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 118-132.
    6. Behera, Bhagirath, 2009. "Explaining the performance of state-community joint forest management in India," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 177-185, November.
    7. Górriz-Mifsud, Elena & Secco, Laura & Pisani, Elena, 2016. "Exploring the interlinkages between governance and social capital: A dynamic model for forestry," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 25-36.
    8. Sullivan, Abigail & York, Abigail M. & An, Li & Yabiku, Scott T. & Hall, Sharon J., 2017. "How does perception at multiple levels influence collective action in the commons? The case of Mikania micrantha in Chitwan, Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 1-10.
    9. Nkonya, Ephraim & Markelova, Helen, 2009. "Looking beyond the obvious: Uncovering the features of natural resource conflicts in Uganda," CAPRi working papers 95, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Kerri Brick & Martine Visser & Justine Burns, 2012. "Risk Aversion: Experimental Evidence from South African Fishing Communities," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 94(1), pages 133-152.
    11. Leroy, David, 2023. "An empirical assessment of the institutional performance of community-based water management in a large-scale irrigation system in southern Mexico," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    12. Karapetyan, Deanna & d'Adda, Giovanna, 2014. "Determinants of conservation among the rural poor: A charitable contribution experiment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 74-87.
    13. Okumu, Boscow & Muchapondwa, Edwin, 2020. "Determinants of successful collective management of forest resources: Evidence from Kenyan Community Forest Associations," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    14. Long, Hexing & de Jong, Wil & Yiwen, Zhang & Liu, Jinlong, 2021. "Institutional choices between private management and user group management during forest devolution: A case study of forest allocation in China," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    15. Mari Rege & Kjetil Telle, 2006. "Unaffected Strangers Affect Contributions," Nordic Journal of Political Economy, Nordic Journal of Political Economy, vol. 32, pages 93-112.
    16. Coleman, Eric A. & Steed, Brian C., 2009. "Monitoring and sanctioning in the commons: An application to forestry," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 2106-2113, May.
    17. Goeschl, Timo & Jarke, Johannes, 2016. "Second and third party punishment under costly monitoring," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 124-133.
    18. Beitl, Christine M., 2014. "Adding Environment to the Collective Action Problem: Individuals, Civil Society, and the Mangrove-Fishery Commons in Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 93-107.
    19. Esther Mwangi & Ruth Meinzen-Dick & Yan Sun, 2009. "Does Gender Influence Forest Management? Exploring Cases from East Africa and Latin America," CID Working Papers 40, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    20. Singh, Vijai Shanker & Pandey, Deep Narayan & Prakash, Neha Pandey, 2011. "What determines the success of joint forest management? Science-based lessons on sustainable governance of forests in India," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 126-133.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:68:y:2015:i:c:p:205-214. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.