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Abstract:
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"This paper conceptualizes financial markets as virtual environments which should be subject to stewardship requirements found in natural environments. As in natural environments, irresponsible self-governance and lax or off-target regulation result in environmental damage and social loss. Watershed governance is proposed as the best-fitting analogy to financial markets governance for seven reasons: 1, scaling the watershed analogy from small to large fits well with financial markets; 2, both consist of a variety of users who 3, tap hydrologic [capital] resources for many different uses. 4, financial markets, like watersheds, are made up of private, club, common pool and public goods, and 5, may be better-managed through polycentric institutions with a range of public-private governance arrangements. 6, governmental, private sector and mixed agents seek to support and manage [sustainable] exploitation in each. 7, environmental degradation comparisons are robust. Upstream-downstream interlinkage and cross-border riparian negotiations in combination with financial market cases illustrate challenging financial market governance issues."
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