Institutional Analysis Framework Research Articles

Forging the Resistive Republic: Social Capital, Institutional Stability, and Civic Virtue in Pluralist Democracies

Republicans too often take for granted features not easy to bring about in the absence of social capital. Lovett and Pettit (2009) consider that it is through collective political actions that citizens shed light on acts of domination. For Pettit (2012), civic vigilance is the only guarantee that “the government will be forced to remain responsive to popular inputs”. As Kimpell (2023) mentions, one of the weak points of republican theories remains the lack of an account of norm generation. I aim to show how this could occur in a way that does not constitute itself an arbitrary interference of the government in the people’s lives. The kind of generalized reciprocity which is of utmost importance for republicanism often depends on the presence of ties that connect different socio-economic groups within communities and, “where such interactions do not naturally occur, forums for interaction can be intentionally created and designed to encourage development of social capital” (Warner 2001). More specifically, I argue that such forums for interaction could be represented by polycentric systems. Furthermore, I argue that embracing polycentricity constitutes a non-dominating way in which we could promote the “resistive community” (Pettit 2012) required by republicanism. I consider that the empirical results extensively documented in the Institutional Analysis and Development framework are an appropriate starting point for designing novel republican policies and institutions that can function alongside sufficient levels of trust.

Narratives Behind Climate Strategy in Finland

The 2015 Paris Agreement (PA) represents a profound change in global climate governance becoming a blueprint for other governance arenas. However, the varying success of reaching the national climate targets, unstable security, and growing right-wing populism poses a question of which direction the EU climate policy is moving after ten years of PA. The success of this agreement depends heavily on the effectiveness of national climate change policies wherein political parties have a critical role in developing these policies while also impacting public attitudes on climate change. We use the case of Finnish climate strategy as a case of national climate strategy. We analyzed Finnish climate policy documents by using Ostrom’s IAD Framework and Multiple stream framework analysis to create the narratives behind the Finnish climate strategy. The Institutional Analysis and Development framework (IAD) is a conceptual tool that Ostrom and her colleagues developed to analyze and understand the complex interactions and dynamics within institutions that govern common-pool resources. Our research question is: What are the narratives behind the Finnish climate strategy? Key words: Climate strategy, narrative, IAD framework, Multiple stream analysis framework

Resistance to Being Listed Industrial Heritage? The Conflicts and Dilemma of Heritage-Making During Land Banking in Guangzhou

Amid rapid urban regeneration over the past decade, industrial heritage conservation in China has garnered increasing attention, focusing more on the reuse of listed buildings than on conflicts in the inscription process. This article examines the conflicts and dilemmas between urban redevelopment and industrial heritage conservation during the inscription process in China, through five case studies in Guangzhou. It aims to provide both an understanding of conflicts and institutional challenges posed by land banking, and insights into stakeholder dynamics, the role of media and NGOs, and the implementation of cultural heritage assessments. Grounded in the Institutional Analysis and Development framework, the empirical studies reveal that institutional conflicts, particularly resistance from land development centers and former factory owners, often stem from financial motivations. This resistance can lead to the premature demolition of potential heritage sites but also drive institutional innovations. Guangzhou’s introduction of the Wenping assessment system integrates industrial heritage identification with land banking and urban regeneration planning, aiming to protect heritage from hasty demolitions. Media coverage and NGO advocacy have been instrumental in heritage-making and prompting policy responses. The adaptive reuse of industrial heritage sites into creative industrial parks faces challenges from their temporary nature and land banking pressures, underscoring the need for policies ensuring stable and enduring reuse. Ambiguous responsibilities and fragmented management systems further impede effective heritage conservation.

Understanding power, culture and institutional change: a revised approach to political settlements analysis

ABSTRACT The institutions that govern how we distribute resources, protect rights, and accord status are widely recognised as important for progressive development outcomes. Political settlements analysis is an increasingly influential framework for (post)institutional analysis within development studies, arguing that institutions and their outcomes are shaped by political economy relations of power. This article builds on the strengths of political settlements analysis (PSA) but argues that its strongly materialist foundations overlook the role of social identity, status and moral beliefs in shaping institutional change. Future research employing PSA needs rebalancing, incorporating an understanding of power relations as ideational as well as material and based on cultural as well as political and economic sources. Drawing on insights from cultural political economy, this article presents an alternative approach to power in PSA. This emphasises the contingency inherent in meaning-making processes and conceives of power as embedded in cultural understandings, as well as political organisation and economic control. Adopting this cultural political economy approach to power allows PSA to produce a fuller understanding of the causal mechanisms generating institutional change.

Collective action success factors and community satisfaction in Malaysia’s urban commons

This study examines maintenance and management in socio-economically grounded multi-owned low-cost housing schemes in Malaysia, employing an augmented institutional analysis framework. Focusing on collective action success factors, the research addresses two main questions: ‘How does the influence of the six collective action success factors impact community satisfaction?’ and ‘To what extent does the income of parcel holders contribute to the success factors affecting community satisfaction within collective action?’ Combining quantitative and qualitative methods, this study encompasses a survey of 633 parcel holders in Greater Kuala Lumpur and subsequent interviews with local leadership. Successful self-management of common properties was influenced by the physical environment, social capital, rules-in-use, stakeholders’ interest, adaptation, and racial relationships. Additionally, income acted as a moderator between community satisfaction level and physical environment attributes, as well as stakeholders’ interests. This research recommends government subsidies for multi-owned low-cost housing maintenance, contributing policy insights to the global housing discourse.

Dutch municipalities tackling climate change adaptation to heat stress through mainstreaming across sectors

As climate change accelerates, adapting to heat stress means preventing excess deaths, increased healthcare costs, reduced productivity, and damaged infrastructure and buildings. In cities, the urban heat island effect exacerbates these impacts. Adapting to heat stress requires action by a multitude of actors in different domains, including infrastructure and building owners, health care and social workers, and vulnerable inhabitants. While there is research on heat stress adaptation by single sectors, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding heat adaptation across sectors. To contribute to bridging this knowledge gap, we answer the following research question: To what extent and how are municipalities in the Dutch Province of Overijssel mainstreaming heat stress as part of their adaptation efforts? To answer this question, we combine action-oriented research employing the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework in a Dutch municipality, with a survey conducted among 15 municipalities located in the same province. Our research identifies two major challenges. First, the implementation of heat adaptation remains limited. Second, we identified two challenges regarding mainstreaming, namely a mismatch between the responsibility of heat adaptation in the built environment vis-à-vis the health care sector, and a lack of information on vulnerable groups that makes cross-sectoral collaboration more difficult. Thus, the extent to which heat adaptation is being mainstreamed as part of municipalities’ efforts to adapt the built environment is still quite limited and heat stress management at the intersection with the health care sector remains mostly absent, leaving vulnerable groups exposed.

Burdens on the gateway to the state: Administrative burdens in the registration of people experiencing homelessness in Belgium and the Netherlands

AbstractPopulation registries are the gateway to public services, benefits, and rights. However, despite clear formal rules and procedures, people eligible for registration may still face administrative burdens in obtaining access. In this article, we study the case of the municipal registration of people who experience homelessness in Belgium and the Netherlands—a group that typically suffers from administrative vulnerability. Using data from 61 interviews with social workers and civil servants, we find that burdens are constructed at the municipal level to disincentivize homeless people's access to registration. However, using the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework, we also identify mechanisms in the governance of population registrations and the decentralization of social policies that create incentives for strategic behavior by municipal policy makers and street‐level bureaucrats. By analyzing the interaction between multiple institutional levels, we contribute to understanding how structural mechanisms influence policymakers’ agency in the construction of administrative burdens.

Governing Landscape Simplification in Rapid Commercialization Contexts – the Case of the Dike-Pond System in the Pearl River Delta, China

In the last decades, rapid agricultural commercialization has led to landscape simplification, posing threats to the social and ecological values of agroecosystems worldwide. This paper draws upon the landscape commons concept, advocating for an institutional perspective to comprehensively understand the local governance concerning landscape simplification. We contributed to commons research by expanding the scope into holistic and multifunctional landscape systems, and particularly concentrate on pond landscapes. We select the case of a dike-pond system in the Pearl River Delta, China, to scrutinize the local institutional arrangements and their interplay with landscape simplification. This study utilizes the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework in conjunction with Ostrom’s Design Principles (DPs). Findings from the study reveal that an emphasis on ponds exhibiting comparative profit advantages over dikes and rivers, coupled with a preference for intensive fish production in collective decision-making, has resulted in land cover simplification and erosion of the system’s multifunctionality. To address this issue, we recommend considering multiple biophysical elements and functions in the governance of landscape commons while identifying avenues to reinforce local institutions, in alignment with Ostrom’s DPs.

Mineworkers with pneumoconiosis, work-related injury compensation, and empty institution in China

This study investigates the ineffectiveness of China's work-related injury insurance in protecting mineworkers with pneumoconiosis. Using the FAT (Formal, Actual, and Targeted) institutional analysis framework, the paper examines the discrepancy between the formal rules, the actual practices and the targeted outcomes of the system, based on interviews with 20 pneumoconiosis mineworkers. The paper reveals that the work-related injury insurance system is an empty institution that does not cover most mineworkers, does not compensate them adequately, and does not prevent or treat their disease effectively. The paper also explores the factors that contribute to the system's ineffectiveness, such as the political compromise behind the revision of laws and regulations, the complexity and exclusivity of the eligibility criteria, and the transient and precarious nature of mineworkers’ employment. Furthermore, the paper discusses how the system's failure is mitigated by other social security and assistance mechanisms that provide basic medical and living support for pneumoconiosis patients, but do not address the root causes of their occupational disease or ensure their access to justice and compensation. The paper situates the findings within the political economy of occupational health literature and proposes policy recommendations for a more comprehensive and compassionate approach to occupational disease prevention and control in China.

Understanding engineering ethics in countries: Towards an analytical framework

In recent decades, distinct national approaches to engineering ethics have evolved, each tailored to its unique contextual factors. These contextual disparities make it unfeasible to transfer one country's engineering ethics approach directly into another. This calls for a compelling need to enhance our comprehension of engineering ethics within specific national contexts. This paper introduces a novel conceptual framework for national engineering ethics (NEE), inspired by Elinor Ostrom's Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework. The NEE framework categorises engineering ethics activities into three core pillars: research, education, and professional behaviour. This framework facilitates a comprehensive analysis of these activities across three levels—operational, organisational, and governmental. The proposed framework offers a valuable resource for scholars seeking a deeper understanding of engineering ethics within specific national boundaries, enabling structured reporting and analysis. It serves as a critical step towards achieving mutual understanding, allowing for cross-national comparisons and the exchange of best practices. Additionally, it provides a structured platform for policymakers and developers to devise strategies for implementing engineering ethics at the national level.

Flawed Institutional Structures: Project Managers Underutilized in Nigeria’s Construction Industry

Many studies have been conducted on the poor performance of the construction industry. Nigeria’s construction industry has been linked to project delays and cost overruns, leading to many abandoned construction projects throughout the country. These issues are largely attributed to inadequate project management practices and the underutilization of project managers. To address these challenges, an institutional analysis was conducted to examine the factors, within the institutional framework of the Nigerian construction industry, that hinder the effective utilization of project managers and the implementation of project management practices. Data were collected from the previous literature and were supported by data collected through semi-structured interviews in Nigeria. The collected data were coded into a four-level framework for institutional analysis. This method was employed to analyze the interrelationships between the identified embedded factors, institutional laws and regulations, and construction organizations, and to understand how their influence results in the underutilization of project managers. Deviation analysis was conducted as an additional method to categorize the impacts of the embedded factors at each institutional level and to determine how these impacts contribute to the underutilization of project managers in the Nigerian construction industry (NCI). It was found that the system of the underutilization of project managers consists of two subsystems: underutilization and lowering commitment. For the former subsystem, corruption, political influence, religious and tribal discrimination, and organizational culture were found to adversely influence the institutional structure of the construction industry in Nigeria. These factors weaken the governance mechanisms within the industry, leading project managers to prioritize corrupt practices over project needs. The ineffectiveness of existing laws and regulations exacerbates the situation, supporting unfair working conditions and contributing to the underperformance of project managers. This result leads to development at the top of the latter subsystem, with minimal incentives and limited opportunities for career growth within construction organizations. The findings hold significant potential for addressing systemic issues in the Nigerian construction industry, particularly the underutilization of project managers and organizational support measures to improve project management practices and mitigate the adverse effects of corruption.

Analyzing China’s “One Village One Product” Policy Implementation through the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework and Policy Cycle Theory

Analyzing China’s “One Village One Product” Policy Implementation through the Institutional Analysis and Development Framework and Policy Cycle Theory

The cascading disaster risk of water, energy and food systems

ABSTRACT This study presents a modified Institutional Analysis and Development framework for the purposes of analysing and developing policies to address cascading disasters in interconnected water, energy, and food (WEF) sectors. The aim of the framework is to inform how policymakers can synchronize and coordinate cross-sectoral and trans-governmental policies to manage cascading WEF disasters. To justify its applicability, we have tested the framework in a WEF related cascading disaster case that occurred in Iqaluit – the capital of Nunavut in Canada. Iqaluit is a city with limited access and heavy dependency on imported food and energy. On 2 October 2021, Iqaluit residents first began reporting contamination in their piped water sources. It was revealed that the pollution occurred from a fuel leak in a storage site located near a water supply facility. To cope with the disaster, the Nunavut and Federal governments undertook a series of responses that resulted in some unpredicted consequences. The study concludes that compartmentalized and sector-specific disaster planning, and preparedness slow down government agencies’ responses to a hazard event. It also reveals that uncertainties associated with cascading disasters can be best understood and thus responded to through discursive learning.

Evolution of China’s ecological compensation and future policy orientation:Analysis based on the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework

Evolution of China’s ecological compensation and future policy orientation:Analysis based on the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework

From Common Pool Resources to the Pooled Commons: A New Typology and An Adapted Framework for Institutional Analysis of the Pooled Commons

From Common Pool Resources to the Pooled Commons: A New Typology and An Adapted Framework for Institutional Analysis of the Pooled Commons

제도분석틀을 활용한 협력적 거버넌스에 관한 연구

Governance has been highlighted as an alternative mechanism to the traditional hierarchical solution method to solve problems in modern society. It has been attracting attention in various fields, by adding a descriptive word “collaborative,” despite the fact that “collaboration” is a key element in the meaning of governance. This raises the need for governance that complements the limitations of the “collaborative governance” led by the administrative authorities. In this study, we aimed to explore the necessity and possibility of “citizen-led collaborative governance” centered on citizen initiative to replace the administration-led collaborative governance. As an example of citizen-driven collaborative governance, we utilized Ostrom's Institutional Analysis and Development Framework to identify factors of citizen initiative in the creation of the Banghakcheon Culture and Arts Street in Dobong-gu, Seoul. This is a case where collaborative governance was established and operational because there was a clear common purpose to solve the inconvenience of the residents due to the existence of the densely concentrated harmful businesses for decades and the position of the city government, which was promoting a regional development strategy centered around culture. Through collaborative governance, all 31 harmful businesses were voluntarily closed, 17 of the vacant spaces were transformed into workshops and public spaces, and the surrounding streets were successfully regenerated with cafes and bookstores. As a result of the analysis through the institutional analysis framework, we concluded that the factors that enabled the citizen-led operation were the capacity of civil society accumulated over the years, the consensus of public-private partnership spread through participatory projects such as village communities in the administration, and the institutional devices and promotion systems such as ordinances that embodied citizen initiative.

Examining the Burden Reduction Policy for Primary and Secondary School Teachers in China: A Framework Analysis Centered on the Rational Selection of Institutional Doctrine

The “burden reduction” policy aims to reduce the workload of primary and secondary school teachers to alleviate their burdens. While it has improved the quality of teachers, implementation challenges still exist. This study utilizes rational choice institutionalism and Ostrom’s institutional analysis and development framework to examine the policy. By considering the preferences of the Ministry of Education, local governments, schools, and teachers, it explores interactions and outcomes, identifies challenges, and provides policy suggestions.

Differential Influences of High-Speed Railway Stations on the Surrounding Construction Land Expansion and Institutional Analysis: The Case of Taiwan and Hainan

The purpose of this paper is to compare the differential impact of Taiwan High-speed Railway (T-HSR) and Hainan East Ring High-speed Railway (HER-HSR) stations on the surrounding construction land expansion, reveal the underlying institutional reasons, and then provide policy recommendations for coordinating the rational development of land resources and ecological environment protection around high-speed railway (HSR) stations. The research methods include the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, buffer analysis, and GIS spatial analysis. The results show that (1) The spillover impact of HSR stations on the surrounding construction land expansion is the result of the game between different actors around the development and protection of land around HSR stations under the action scenarios of various external factors. The surrounding construction land of 12 stations of T-HSR increased by 269.98 km2 within the study scope and period, while the surrounding area of 10 stations in HER-HSR increased by 187.61 km2. (2) There are nine stations in T-HSR that affect the expansion of surrounding construction land within 1.0–3.0 km and lead to the expansion of construction land of 22.44 km2, while there are six stations in HER-HSR that affect the expansion of construction land within 1.5–3.5 km and lead to the expansion of construction land of 24.20 km2. Other stations cannot effectively identify their areas of influence due to other reasons. (3) Each station of HER-HSR has a stronger influence intensity and degree on the expansion of surrounding construction land than that of T-HSR, which is closely related to institutional factors such as land planning, land property rights, and public participation. In conclusion, the differences in land planning, land property rights, public participation, and other basic systems will lead to differences in the expansion of surrounding construction land for HSR stations. This research aims to provide institutional adjustment suggestions to achieve coordinated economic development and ecological protection around HSR stations in two Chinese islands with different institutional environments.

The fragile springs, unnoticed: lessons from water policy in dry islands of Flores Indonesia

The Indonesian government has maintained the SDGs’ priorities by establishing targets and projects. This paper examines the way how programs and targets are designed and implemented by considering the reality of community-based water management (CBWM) on the ground. Using Critical Institutional Analysis Framework (CIAD), this study analyzes the actual CBWM particularly by taking in depth interviews with the representation of community members in 6 villages of dry-land area in the northern part of Manggarai District, East Nusa Tenggara Province. The study also undertakes the spatial analysis of the springs area. The analysis on site will be complemented by a portrait of bigger context in the political economy analysis of district and country. The finding indicates that although most land use and water policies have some formulation to protect water sources, including springs, the CBWM are detached from policy agenda. Without direct support to CBWM, the water policy is weak to challenge land use changes including the mining policies from the past and the current trend for commodity expansion. The study suggests that the water policies have to deal with mining policies if the jurisdiction is willing to indicate the water priority of the area. Moreover, the protection for the springs should not be relying on community-based institutions alone. The policies have to be there to enable the water institutions to anticipate the pressures on the springs.

ANALYSIS OF INSTITUTIONAL ENGINEERING IN ONE OF THE WET CLIMATE DRY LAND AGROECOSYSTEM VEGETABLE PLANTING

This study is the first to apply a relationship approach between farmer groups and other supporting institutions to develop a farming system and rice crop institutions in a region. The study aims to solve the problems faced by rice farmers in Rawa Medang village, West Tanjung Jabung Regency, by facilitating the adoption of sustainable rice farming system technology through institutional cooperation. The methodology used in this study applies the Participatory Research Appraisal (PRA) method, to explore the problems faced by rice farmers. Alternative interventions include the formation of several farmer groups or Gapoktan, named Joint Enterprises, a short discussion about the rice farming system, looking at the urgent needs of farmer groups, and connecting them with supporting institutions. Based on the PRA results, the problems prioritized are (1) Rice stem disease by Blas, (2) The presence of snail pests, (3) Seedlings, (4) Capital, (5) Subsidized fertilizer, (6) Meetings between groups, and (7) Technical guidance for rice plants. The novelty of this study is that it introduces a new framework of institutional engineering analysis supporting rice farming technology, based on the FSA (Farming System Analysis) concept. The study also provides empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the relationship approach in improving the productivity and profitability of rice farming in the region. The study contributes to the literature on agricultural development and innovation by highlighting the role of institutional cooperation in enhancing the adoption of sustainable rice farming system technology.