IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cup/apsrev/v107y2013i04p726-741_00.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Co-Production, Polycentricity, and Value Heterogeneity: The Ostroms’ Public Choice Institutionalism Revisited

Author

Listed:
  • ALIGICA, PAUL DRAGOS
  • TARKO, VLAD

Abstract

Revisiting the theory of institutional hybridity and diversity developed by Vincent and Elinor Ostrom to cope with the challenge of the “neither states nor markets” institutional domain, this article reconstructs the Ostromian system along the “value heterogeneity–co-production–polycentricity” axis. It articulates the elements of a theory of value heterogeneity and of the fuzzy boundaries between private and public. It rebuilds the model of co-production, clarifying the ambiguity surrounding a key technical public choice theoretical assumption, and it demonstrates (a) why it should not be confused with the Alchian-Demsetz team production model and (b) how co-production engenders a type of market failure that has been neglected so far. In light of this analysis, the article reconsiders polycentricity, the capstone of the Ostromian system, explaining why polycentricity may be seen as a solution both to this co-production market failure problem and to the problems of social choice in conditions of deep heterogeneity. It also discusses further normative corollaries.

Suggested Citation

  • Aligica, Paul Dragos & Tarko, Vlad, 2013. "Co-Production, Polycentricity, and Value Heterogeneity: The Ostroms’ Public Choice Institutionalism Revisited," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 107(4), pages 726-741, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:107:y:2013:i:04:p:726-741_00
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003055413000427/type/journal_article
    File Function: link to article abstract page
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter J. Boettke & Christopher J. Coyne & Peter T. Leeson, 2015. "Institutional stickiness and the New Development Economics," Chapters, in: Laura E. Grube & Virgil Henry Storr (ed.), Culture and Economic Action, chapter 6, pages 123-146, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Leeson, Peter T., 2011. "Government, clubs, and constitutions," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 301-308.
    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. Faruk ÜLGEN, 2022. "Renewal of Public Action: Co-Production and Financial Regulation," CIRIEC Studies Series, in: Philippe BANCE & Marie-J. BOUCHARD & Dorothea GREILING & CIRIEC (ed.), New perspectives in the co-production of public policies, public services and common goods, volume 3, chapter 9, pages 181-205, CIRIEC - Université de Liège.
    2. Safner, Ryan, 2016. "Institutional entrepreneurship, wikipedia, and the opportunity of the commons," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(4), pages 743-771, December.
    3. Edward McPhail & Vlad Tarko, 2017. "The evolution of governance structures in a polycentric system," Chapters, in: Morris Altman (ed.), Handbook of Behavioural Economics and Smart Decision-Making, chapter 16, pages 290-314, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Skarbek, Emily C., 2016. "Aid, ethics, and the Samaritan's dilemma: strategic courage in constitutional entrepreneurship," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 371-393, June.
    5. Deslatte, Aaron & Scott, Tyler A. & Carter, David P., 2019. "Specialized governance and regional land-use outcomes: A spatial analysis of Florida community development districts," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 227-239.
    6. Faruk Ülgen, 2021. "Public good, collective action and financial regulation," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(1), pages 147-167, March.
    7. Lorenzini, Sara & von Jacobi, Nadia, 2024. "Whose forest? A two-level collective action perspective on struggles to reach polycentric governance," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    8. Jordan K. Lofthouse & Alexander Schaefer, 2025. "Expert knowledge and the administrative state," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 202(3), pages 433-454, March.
    9. Ilia Murtazashvili & Veeshan Rayamajhee & Keith Taylor, 2023. "The Tragedy of the Nurdles: Governing Global Externalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(9), pages 1-15, April.
    10. Laura Albareda & Alejo Jose G. Sison, 2020. "Commons Organizing: Embedding Common Good and Institutions for Collective Action. Insights from Ethics and Economics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 166(4), pages 727-743, November.
    11. repec:jpe:journl:1757 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Ilia Murtazashvili & Ennio E. Piano, 2019. "Governance of shale gas development: Insights from the Bloomington school of institutional analysis," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 32(2), pages 159-179, June.
    13. Paul Dragos Aligica & Vlad Tarko, 2014. "Institutional Resilience and Economic Systems: Lessons from Elinor Ostrom’s Work," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 56(1), pages 52-76, March.
    14. de Wit, Fronika & Mourato, João, 2022. "Governing the diverse forest: Polycentric climate governance in the Amazon," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    15. Ryan Safner, 2023. "Honor among thieves: how nineteenth century American pirate publishers simulated copyright protection," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 119-141, March.
    16. Peter Boettke & Jayme Lemke & Liya Palagashvili, 2015. "Polycentricity, Self-governance, and the Art & Science of Association," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 28(3), pages 311-335, September.
    17. Cristina Bicchieri, 2002. "Covenants without Swords," Rationality and Society, , vol. 14(2), pages 192-228, May.
    18. Skarbek, David, 2016. "Covenants without the Sword? Comparing Prison Self-Governance Globally," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 110(4), pages 845-862, November.
    19. Vlad Tarko, 2015. "The role of ideas in political economy," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 28(1), pages 17-39, March.
    20. Manuel Riemer & Randy Sa’d & Tim Posselt & Pourya Salehi & David Corbett & Peter Jones & Antony Upward & Exmond DeCruz & Bill Baue & Asad Asadzadeh & Simone Sandholz & Theo Kötter, 2025. "Systemic Management Practices—Enabling Local Governments to Adapt in Response to Complexity," World, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-25, June.
    21. Nick Cowen & Eric Schliesser, 2024. "Novel externalities," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 201(3), pages 557-578, December.
    22. Dolejší, David, 2018. "Coproduction of property rights: The management of watercourses in pre-modern Bohemia," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 50-59.

    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. Trent J. MacDonald, 2019. "The Political Economy of Non-Territorial Exit," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 18871.
    2. ., 2019. "Economic theory of non-territorial unbundling," Chapters, in: The Political Economy of Non-Territorial Exit, chapter 1, pages 14-38, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Teppo Felin & Peter T. Leeson & Christopher J. Coyne, 2012. "Wisdom, Alterability, and Social Rules," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(5-6), pages 441-451, July.
    4. Valentin Seidler, 2017. "Institutional Copying in the 20th Century: The Role of 14,000 British Colonial Officers," Journal of Contextual Economics (JCE) – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 137(1-2), pages 93-119.
    5. Ryan H. Murphy & Colin O’Reilly, 2023. "Freedom through taxation: the effect of fiscal capacity on the rule of law," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 69-90, August.
    6. Graziella Bertocchi & Arcangelo Dimico, 2017. "De jure and de facto determinants of power: evidence from Mississippi," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 321-345, December.
    7. Timothy Besley & Torsten Persson, 2011. "Pillars of Prosperity: The Political Economics of Development Clusters," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 9624.
    8. Coyne, Christopher J. & Mathers, Rachel L., 2011. "Rituals: An economic interpretation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 78(1), pages 74-84.
    9. Cheang, Bryan, 2024. "Why mission-directed governance risks authoritarianism: lessons from East Asia," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125640, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. repec:jpe:journl:1368 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Cecchi, Francesco & Melesse, Mequanint Biset, 2016. "Formal law and customary change: A lab-in-field experiment in Ethiopia," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 67-85.
    12. Dak-Adzaklo, Cephas Simon Peter & Wong, Raymond M.K., 2024. "Corporate governance reforms, societal trust, and corporate financial policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    13. Фомичева Ирина Вячеславовна & Гуляева Оксана Александровна, 2015. "К Вопросу О Дифференциации Институтов В Экономике," Известия Тульского государственного университета. Экономические и юридические науки, CyberLeninka;Федеральное государственное бюджетное образовательное учреждение высшего профессионального образования «Тульский государственный университет», issue 4-1, pages 453-461.
    14. Farrow, Katherine & Romaniuc, Rustam, 2019. "The stickiness of norms," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 54-62.
    15. Hans-Bernd Schaefer & Rok Spruk, 2024. "Islamic Law, Western European Law and the Roots of Middle East's Long Divergence: a Comparative Empirical Investigation (800-1600)," Papers 2401.14435, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2024.
    16. Peter J. Boettke & Rosolino A. Candela, 2015. "Rivalry, Polycentricism, and Institutional Evolution," Advances in Austrian Economics, in: New Thinking in Austrian Political Economy, volume 19, pages 1-19, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    17. James Caton & Richard E. Wagner, 2015. "Volatility in Catallactical Systems: Austrian Cycle Theory Revisited," Advances in Austrian Economics, in: New Thinking in Austrian Political Economy, volume 19, pages 95-117, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    18. Dietrich, Stephan & Beekman, Gonne & Nillesen, Eleonora, 2018. "Market integration and pro-social behaviour in rural Liberia," MERIT Working Papers 2018-010, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    19. Petrik Runst, 2014. "Popular Attitudes Toward Market Economic Principles and Institutional Reform in Transition Economies," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(1), pages 83-115, March.
    20. François Facchini, 2011. "Economic freedom in Muslim countries: an explanation using the theory of institutional path dependency," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 11015, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    21. Peter Calcagno & Beatriz Maldonado & Todd Nesbit & Mary Frances Zeager, 2024. "Political systems, regime memory, and economic freedom," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(2), pages 336-354, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:cup:apsrev:v:107:y:2013:i:04:p:726-741_00. 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: Kirk Stebbing (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cambridge.org/psr .

    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.