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- All Subjects: Social-Ecological Systems
- Creators: Janssen, Marcus A
Description
My research is motivated by a rule of thumb that no matter how well a system is designed, some actors fail to fulfill the behavior which is needed to sustain the system. Examples of misbehavior are shirking, rule infraction, and free riding. With a focus on social-ecological systems, this thesis explored the effectiveness of social feedback mechanisms driven by the two available individual options: the exit option is defined as any response to escape from an objectionable state of affairs; and the voice option as any attempt to stay put and improve the state. Using a stylized dynamic model, the first study investigates how the coexistence of participatory and groundwater market institutions affects government-managed irrigation systems. My findings suggest that patterns of bureaucratic reactions to exit (using private tubewells) and voice (putting pressure on irrigation bureaus) are critical to shaping system dynamics. I also found that the silence option – neither exit nor voice – can impede a further improvement in public infrastructure, but in some cases, can improve public infrastructure dramatically. Using a qualitative comparative analysis of 30 self-governing fishing groups in South Korea, the second study examines how resource mobility, group size, and Ostrom’s Design Principles for rule enforcement can co-determine the effectiveness of the voice option in self-controlling rule infractions. Results suggest that the informal mechanism for conflict resolution is a necessary condition for successful self-governance of local fisheries and that even if rules for monitoring and graduated sanctions are not in use, groups can be successful when they harvest only stationary resources. Using an agent-based model of public good provision, the third study explores under what socioeconomic conditions the exit option – neither producing nor consuming collective benefits – can work effectively to enhance levels of cooperation. The model results suggest that the exit option contributes to the spread of cooperators in mid- and large-size groups at the moderate level of exit payoff, given that group interaction occurs to increase the number of cooperators.
ContributorsShin, Hoon Cheol (Author) / Anderies, John M (Thesis advisor) / Abbott, Joshua K (Committee member) / Janssen, Marcus A (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Globally, rivers are being heavily dammed and over-utilized to the point where water shortages are starting to occur. This problem is magnified in arid and semi-arid regions where climate change, growing populations, intensive agriculture and urbanization have created tremendous pressures on existing river systems. Regulatory incentives have been enacted in recent decades that have spurred river restoration programs in the United States. But what kind of governance does river restoration require that is different from allocative institutional set-ups? Are these recovery programs succeeding in restoring ecological health and resilience of the rivers? Do the programs contribute to social-ecological resilience of the river systems more broadly? This study aims to tackle these key questions for two Colorado River sub-basin recovery programs (one in the Upper Basin and one in the Lower Basin) through utilization of different frameworks and methodologies for each. Organizational resilience to institutional and biophysical disturbances varies, with the Upper Basin program being more resilient than the Lower Basin program. Ecological resilience as measured by beta diversity (for the Upper Basin) was a factor of the level of hydrological and technological interventions rather than an occurrence of the natural flow regime. This points to the fact that in a highly-dampened and managed system like the Colorado River, the dampened flow regime alone is not a significant factor in maintaining community diversity and ecological health. A broad-scale social-ecological analysis supports the finding that the natural feedback between social and ecological elements is broken and recovery efforts are more an attempt at resuscitating the river system to maintain a semblance of historic levels of fish populations and aquatic processes. Adaptive management pathways for the future need to address and build pathways to transformability into recovery planning to achieve resilience for the river system.
ContributorsSrinivasan, Jaishri (Author) / Schoon, Michael L (Thesis advisor) / Sabo, John L (Thesis advisor) / White, Dave D (Committee member) / Janssen, Marcus A (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021