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Conference Paper Institutional Failure and Reform: A Problem in Economic and Political Analysis of Water Resource Development(1967) Ostrom, Vincent(From pp. 1, 2, & 8): "The purpose of this conference is to consider the question of what special contribution, if any, can political scientists make to the analysis and formulation of public policy? At an earlier time, essentially the same question might have been posed by inquiring about What special contribution can political scientists make to political reform? More recently, the reform motif has become something of an anathema to the more scientifically rigorous political scientists. Yet, we keep returning to the problems of reform like moths drawn to a candle flame. Perhaps we will be able to make a special contribution as political scientists to the analysis and formulation of public policy only when we develop the capability for analyzing the issue of reform with some measure of professional competence. "My invitation to participate in this meeting was to direct attention to the tangible and practical problems of public policy associated with water resource development and not to discourse about political reform as such. Yet, contemporary studies of water resource development persistently turn to allegations of institutional failure among resource development and management agencies and conclude by either explicitly or implicitly proposing a program of reform. Most of these studies have been made by economists, those done by political scientists have a similar, albeit, variant approach to institutional failure and reform. The studies by economists are both more systematic and more consistent in their critique, and I shall use their work as the principal point of departure. "There are quite tangible and practical reasons, unrelated to the wiles of politicians, for problems of water resource development to become deeply involved in the political process. The water problem is, in fact, a multitude of problems, but most of these are problems of fluidity. Whenever water behaves as a liquid, it has the characteristics of 1) a common pool, flow resource involving; 2) a complex bundle of potential goods and bads which sustain; 3) a high level of interaction or interdependency among the various joint and alternative uses. The interrelationships among all three of these characteristics of a water resource situation simply compounds the difficulties in settling upon stable, long-term institutional arrangements for the economics development of water resources."Working Paper Fiscal Illusion as an Explanation of Institutional Choice in a Federation(1978) West, E. G.; Winer, Stanley L."The fiscal 'illusion' hypothesis may be interpreted, following West and Winer (1978), as an assertion that utility maximizing public managers will invest resources to induce underestimation of tax-prices. They do so in order to maximize the size of government, subject to the controlling influence of the (median) voter under majority rule. Unfortunately for the voter, they will in general succeed if information about government activity is costly to acquire, and if political competition is imperfect. In this note, we use the fiscal illusion hypothesis to explain the choice of institutional arrangements in certain federations since 1945. In particular, we are interested in the growth of conditional or tied grants from federal to state or provincial governments."Working Paper Exchange of Water Supply(1960) Ostrom, Vincent"California's water 'problem' arises from a personal preference congeries relevant to an area yielding limited water supplies. Semi-arid Mediterranean Southern California coastal regions provide climatic amenities attractive to population. These same weather conditions are expensive to water resources. By contrast, more abundantly supplied Northern California has not attracted large populations. Yet in the modern metropolis a relatively abundant water supply is essential to meet a variety of requirements. The resolution of this paradox is central to California water resource development. Marked contrasts in water yield and population distribution can be noted in comparisons of the south and north coastal areas of California. The south coastal area comprising Ventura basin and the Southern California coastal plain contains over one-half of the state's population with less than two percent of the state's natural run-off. By contrast, the north coastal area has less than three per cent of the state's population with nearly forty per cent of the state's water crop. The problem of geographic redistribution of water supplies is further complicated by extreme seasonal and cyclical variations in floods and droughts."Journal Article Land Use and Tenure in the Tropics(1976) Adeyoju, S. Kolade"Tropical peoples are predominantly dependent upon agriculture for their livelihood. The prospects of significantly altering this economic pattern by bringing it to a level comparable with that of industrialized countries are, in the short run, not promising. It is therefore evident that overall development must include - indeed often must begin with activities that require and use land on a fairly large scale. Without the production of a surplus in agriculture and other rural enterprises, industrialization cannot occur, unless alternative sources of foreign exchange earnings are available from the export of minerals. However, the global consequences of 'mineral warfare' in recent years indicate quite clearly that over-dependence on exportation or importation of minerals is fraught with unpredictable hazards and sophisticated forms of blackmail. While it is desirable to have a diversity of resources and it is also necessary to prefer one type of economic activity to another, there is as yet no rationale for excluding agricultural development either in the developed or developing countries. The reasons for giving increasing attention to the agricultural sector, including forestry, are both explicit and compelling."Conference Paper Competition and the Integration of Agriculture and Cattle Raising in Sahelian and Soudano-Sahelian Africa(1977) Pelissier, Paul"Situated between the Sahara, traditionally the domain of pastoral nomadism, and the Sudanian zone, the Sahel zone has long been a place of encounter, of competition--even confrontation--between herders and farmers. But is it not also a center for unique modes of production based on techniques specific to Africa and capable of explaining some of the most noteworthy aspects characteristic of Africa south of the Sahara?"Working Paper Land Reform, Development, and Institutional Design(1972) Loveman, Brian"Land reform has often been viewed as a major remedy for the ills afflicting developing societies. Like the elixirs of the traveling medicine man, no one knows all of the ingredients; no one knows the side effects. But, land reform is guaranteed to cure all--or most all--diseases of developing nations. As John Montgomery has observed, land reform is an example of 'a principle which has been tested and has survived, though its effects have rarely been reported or explained'."Journal Article Territories of the Lobstermen: Good Ocean Boundaries Make Good Neighbors... and Vice Versa(1972) Acheson, James M."The rules for lobster fishing territories are especially critical because they control access to the lobsters and because they have important ecological implications at a time when some parts of the marine resource are being over exploited. "Growing up in an inland area of Maine, I was for a long time vaguely aware that territoriality existed among lobstermen. Only recently, however, did I find evidence of these territorial rules and investigate them systematically."Journal Article Khumbu: Country of the Sherpas(1967) Willan, R.G.M."For many years the highest mountain in the world remained unconquered. During the 1920s and 1930s numerous expeditions attempted to climb the huge peak called Mount Everest by English geographers but without success; at last in 1953 the news was flashed to the world that the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay had set foot on the summit. Long before this, however, members of the various climbing expeditions in the Himalayas had become acquainted with the Sherpas who live in the high country below Everest, a people of Tibetan origin who are believed to have crossed the high passes of the Himalayas into the region now known as Khumbu about two centuries ago."Working Paper Socio-economic Survey of Lower Rufiji Flood Plain: Rufiji Delta Agricultural System(1974) Sandberg, Audun"This report has been prepared by BRALUP researchers for planning officers and TANU cadres at the district and regional level, and for members of the Rufiji Basin Development Authority. It deals with the specific problem: how to implement the policy of ujamaa in the Rufiji Delta, which is the lower part of the Rufiji Flood Plain. (The upper part of the flood plain is called the Rufiji Valley.) Now that the Rufiji Flood Plain has been made a special National Development Area, there is a great need for data on natural and human resources. This report aims at providing such background data which can enable the planners to make realistic plans to further the development of peasants in the Rufiji Delta."Conference Paper Deep-Sea Mining: Comments from the Floor(1968) Goldie, L.F.E."This Association has, since its foundation, participated honorably and effectively in the 'progressive development of international law and its codification'. Thus, long before the United Nations General Assembly was given this function, the International Law Association was called into being as a scientific group above the contest of sectional interests and as an entity whose deliberations would clarify problems both de lege lata (questions of legal analysis and codification) and de lege ferenda (questions of law reform and justice)."