Institutional change and collective action: The case of reclamation systems in Northwest Poland

This paper examines two drastic changes in the performance of local water associations in providing local public goods - appropriate levels of water table - in the reclamation system in the Powiat Pyrzyce in the Voivodship Zachodniopomorski in northwest Poland. Employing an institutional economics approach shows the results of processes of revalorisation of the interrelated property objects land and reclamation infrastructure that have been triggered and shaped not only by the drastic political, economic and administrative changes after the breakdown of the socialist regime in Poland in 1990, but also by the prospect of joining the European Union and the proactive leadership of the director of the Powiat Department of Environmental Protection, Forestry and Agriculture. More precisely, both processes - the discontinuation (from 1990 onwards) and revival (from 2002 onwards) of the local water associations - were mainly determined by changing market conditions together with variances in the ability of state authorities to effectively control and facilitate these associations. Further, the delay in overcoming the period of collective inaction was fostered by the time-delayed and cumulative effects of neglecting the cleaning and the maintenance of secondary ditches. --Collective action,institutional change,reclamation systems

Institutional Change in East German Water Management Systems

Like in many fen land regions in East Germany, long-standing intensive arable farming -enabled by reclamation - has caused soil deterioration and high water runoff in the Schraden region. More than ten years of economic and political transformation that followed the breakdown of the socialist regime has worsened the situation and even added new problems. The visible consequences are droughts in the summer, waterlogged plots in the spring, and worn-down water management facilities that operate in an uncoo rdinated or unautho rized way. Given the local public good character of so me features of the fen land, the common-pool character of the intermittently scarce resource water within the ecosystem, and the conflicting interests of regional stakeholders, it is argued that the reallocation of property rights over reclamation systems, together with ineffective coordination mechanisms, have caused the physical and institutional failure of the water management system and thus impeded app ropriate land use. More precisely, the combination of legal insecurities accompanied by enforcement problems, fragmented land ownership structure, and a high number of short-term lease contracts have reduced the incentives for the majority of farmers to maintain the reclamation works. Due to limited statutory rights in conjunction with limited financials, the present water association appears to be an inadequate local coordination mechanism. Furthermore, the complete and timeintensive restructuring process at all levels of water administration has resulted in cumbersome or even nonexistent interrelations between various governmental layers as well as in rare transboundary contacts.Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy, H41, P14, P32, Q15, Q25,

Identifying obstacles to the design and implementation of payment schemes for ecosystem services provided through farm trees

An important determinant of ecosystem services provision from European farmland is the amount and spatial arrangement of trees, shrubs, and woodlands that are integrated into the respective land use systems. Farm trees are considered ‘keystone structures’ of agroecosystems because of their disproportionally large ecological value (relative to their low abundance), but are threatened by agricultural intensification, land abandonment, and urbanization. While the preservation of farm trees is a component of several command-and control approaches and while numerous payment schemes for ecosystem services (PES schemes) provided through agricultural practices do in general exist, there are few incentive-based policies that specifically target the conservation of farm trees. This paper uses an institutional economics framework for the analysis of PES schemes that enhance the establishment, protection, and management of farm trees. Using the German state of Saxony as a case, it elaborates on the reasons for the very reluctant participation of farmers in these schemes. The obstacles identified include high production and opportunity costs, contractual uncertainties, and land tenure implications. Further, since scheme adoption has been low compared with the total area covered by the respective farm tree types, the PES schemes alone cannot explain the substantial increase in number and size of some farm-tree types. Options to improve participation comprise regionalised premiums, result-oriented remuneration, and cooperative approaches. The example of PES schemes for farm trees highlights one of the major challenges for the protection and preservation of cultural landscapes: they are man-made and thus need to be preserved, managed, and maintained continuously.Payments for ecosystem services (PES), agroecosystems, trees outside forests, institutional economics, East Germany, Saxony, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Economic and ecological transformation processes in East German water management regimes: the role of property rights and governance structures

"Like in many low moor regions in East Germany, long-standing intensive arable farming - enabled by complex melioration - has caused soil deterioration and high water runoff in the 'Schraden'. More than ten years of economic and political transformation has worsened the situation and even added new problems. The visible consequences are drought periods in the summer, waterlogged plots in the spring and worn-down water management facilities that operate in an uncoordinated or even unauthorized way. It is here argued that the reallocation of property rights on melioration systems, together with ineffective co-ordination mechanisms, have impeded appropriate land use. Transformation related problems like the discontinuity of land property rights, the unclear legal situation regarding melioration plants built in socialist times, and highly-fragmented land ownership have not been effectively dealt with by the newly-established Water Association and Water Administration, respectively. Profoundly heterogeneous water-user interests and the complexity of ecosystem relations have contributed to the persistence of the problems. This analysis is based on regional planning material as well as on qualitative, semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders, representatives of the administration and politicians at all levels of government." (author's abstract)Wie in vielen Flachmoorregionen in Ostdeutschland, hat die althergebrachte intensive Landwirtschaft zur Bodenverschlechterung und hohem Wasserabfluss in der Flachmoorregion 'Schraden' beigetragen. Mehr als zehn Jahre ökonomische und politische Transformation haben die Situation verschlechtert und neue Probleme geschaffen. Die sichtbaren Konsequenzen sind Dürreperioden im Sommer, überschwemmte Bereiche im Frühjahr und heruntergewirtschaftete Wassermanagementeinrichtungen, die in einer unkoordinierten oder sogar unautorisierten Weise operieren. Der Autor argumentiert, dass die Neuverteilung der Eigentumsrechte bei den Meliorationssystemen sowie die ineffektiven Koordinationsmechanismen eine adäquate Flächennutzung behindert haben. Transformationsbedingte Probleme, wie etwa die Diskontinuität im Bereich der Bodenrechte, die unklare Rechtslage in Bezug auf die Meliorationsanlagen, die in den sozialistischen Zeiten errichtet wurden, und stark fragmentierter Landbesitz wurden durch die neu etablierten Wasserverbände nicht effektiv behandelt. Tiefgreifende heterogene Wassernutzungsinteressen und die Komplexität der Beziehungen des Ökosystems haben zur Persistenz der Probleme beigetragen. Die vorliegende Analyse basiert auf regionalem Planungsmaterial sowie auf qualitativen, teilstrukturierten Interviews mit lokalen Interessengruppen, Repräsentanten der Verwaltung und Politikern auf allen Regierungsebenen. (ICDÜbers

The Role of Coordination and Cooperation for Bt-maize cultivation in Brandenburg, Germany

Since 2006, several varieties of transgenic Bt-maize are approved for commercial cultivation in Germany. The German regulatory framework for growing these crops comprises ex-ante regulations as well as ex-post liability rules to protect conventional and organic farming from possible negative side effects of transgenic plants and to ensure co-existence. Public regulation is also suspected to impose additional costs to those farmers who intend to plant Bt-maize. We address the question how Bt-maize growing farmers perceive the additional costs of regulation and whether coordination or cooperation takes place in order to diminish these costs. In 2006, we carried out a case study in the Oderbruch region (Brandenburg, Germany) comprising eight Bt-maize growing farmers and six adjacent neighbours. The predominantly large farms chose intrafarm coordination to manage the construction of buffer zones within their own fields and to avoid the planting of Bt-maize close to their neighbours. Inter-farm coordination or cooperation with adjacent farmers was not regarded necessary to achieve co-existence.Coordination, Cooperation, Bt-maize, Crop Production/Industries,

Agri-Environmental Policy: Understanding the Role of Regional Administration

With regard to agri-environmental schemes (AES) under Regulation (EC) 1257/99, we suggest that their ineffectiveness, inefficiency, and divers uptake is inherent to the way they are institutionalised in the European CAP framework. Based on experiences of the GRANO research project that initiated two Agri-Environmental Forums in Brandenburg (Germany) to integrate local actors directly into designing and implementing local AES we argue that the process of designing AES can be conceptualised as a complex negotiation process at Laender level. The related institutional settings shape possible outcomes and scheme designs. With only "passive support" for decentralised and participatory approaches yet compulsory complex bureaucratic procedures on part of the EU, there are no incentives for Laender administrations to actively support those approaches.agri-environmental policy, subsidiarity principle, Germany, Environmental Economics and Policy, H11, H77, Q18,

Characteristics of resources and the provision of biodiversity and ecosystem services in Germany: the cases of fruit tree meadows and wolf protection

Work on common pool resources has paid scant attention to the role of properties of natural resources for the way their provision is governed. This paper scrutinizes determinants of institutions that regulate the provision of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Two cases of maintaining ecosystem services are compared (protection of wolves and management of scattered fruit tree meadows). Distinct characteristics of resources (mobility) and differences in the overarching European regulatory framework explain their different institutional embeddedness. Cost-effectiveness considerations seem to be paramount in the design of institutions. In the case of wolf protection, the state uses its power to modify property rights in order to increase acceptance of wolf management. This is essential for political reasons as well as to prevent EU sanctions. On the other hand, scattered fruit tree maintenance is subject to voluntary, long-term agreements, justified by medium-term irreversibility and asset specific investments.Institutions, Governance, Wolf Management, Scattered fruit trees, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Public Policy and Farm-level Strategies for Coexistence in Germany – A Case Study of Bt-maize in Brandenburg

The regulatory framework for growing GM crops in Germany comprises quite liberal ex-ante regulations with very strict ex-post liability rules to protect other production forms from possible negative side effects of transgenic plants. Regulation is assumed to impose additional costs on farmers who intend to plant Bt-maize. This paper investigates the significance of these costs and the possibility of minimizing them by farm-level strategies such as coordination and cooperation between the Bt-maize growing farmer and his neighbours. A case study investigating the behaviour of Bt-maize growing farmers was carried out in the Oderbruch region in the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. This region is leading in Bt-maize cultivation in Germany and has a high incidence of the European Corn Borer (Ostrinia nubilalis Hübner). The interviews revealed that additional costs due to ex-ante regulation and ex-post liability were only of minor importance to the Bt-maize growing farmers. All farms were large-scale and could easily manage the construction of buffer zones within their own fields and deliberately avoided the planting of Bt-maize close to their neighbours. Thus advanced inter-farm coordination and cooperation was not necessary to achieve coexistence. However, the fact that Bt-maize was only grown on large-scale farms indicates a significant threshold effect due to the regulatory framework in Germany likely to prevent small-scale farms from planting Bt-maize unless innovative farm-level strategies of coexistence will be developed.coexistence, ex-ante regulation and ex-post liability, Germany, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries,

Ex-ante Policy Assessment of Agricultural, Environmental, and Rural Policies from an Institutional Perspective: The Procedure for Institutional Compatibility Assessment

Ex-ante impact assessment of agricultural, environmental, and rural policies has become an integral part of political decision making processes in the EU. While there is a large variety of agrienvironmental modelling tools available to analyse likely social, economic, and environmental impacts of these policies, scientifically well-founded ex-ante policy assessment tools capturing the institutional dimension are still missing. In this paper, we introduce a formalised procedure for modelling – ex-ante – institutional aspects for policy implementation: the ‘Procedure for Institutional Compatibility Assessment’ (PICA). PICA has been designed as an explorative, yet formalised methodology that enables policy makers to identify at an early stage potential institutional incompatibilities. After providing a brief overview of relevant approaches for policy assessment we elaborate on the four distinct steps of PICA and use a core element of the EU Nitrate Directive to illustrate its function.Methodology, Ex-ante Policy Assessment, Institutional Policy Assessment, Agricultural and Food Policy, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Agri-environmental policy in Germany: understanding the role of regional administration

"With regard to agri-environmental schemes under Regulation (EC) No. 1257/1999 in Europe a rather divers uptake as well as a lack of effectiveness and efficiency of these current schemes can be observed. In contrast to most of the related literature, we suggest that the ineffectiveness and inefficiency is inherent to the way those schemes are currently institutionalised in the framework of European agricultural policies. The paper draws on experiences made within the GRANO research project on 'Approaches for Sustainable Agricultural Production in Northeast Germany'. Among other sub-projects, round tables, so-called Agri-Environmental Forums (AEF), were installed in two districts in Brandenburg to integrate local actors directly into the process of designing and implementing local agri-environmental schemes in order to improve their economic and ecological efficiency. While the participants were successful in designing such local scheme, it did not become part of the Rural Development Plan in Brandenburg. Based on this case study, we argue that the process of designing agri-environmental schemes in Germany can be conceptualised as a rather complex negotiation process at 'Laender' level. The institutional settings in which this negotiation process takes place shape the possible outcomes and, thus, the design of the schemes. With only 'passive support' for decentralised and participatory approaches, yet compulsory complex bureaucratic procedures on part of the EU, there are no incentives for the administration at 'Laender' level to actively support those approaches. Further, it can not be expected that the lack of effectiveness and efficiency can be wiped out completely from the current European Agri-environmental Policy framework. Therefore, we have to drop the assumption that agri-environmental issues in general can be solved through agri-environmental schemes alone." (author's abstract)Die Reform der Allgemeinen Landwirtschaftlichen Politik 1992 und die Einführung der Agenda 2000 bedeuten einen neuen Trend in der Landwirtschaftspolitik der Europäischen Union (EU) hinsichtlich der Agrarumweltpolitik sowie der ländlichen Entwicklungspolitik. Aufgrund des Föderalismus in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland mit ihren 16 Bundesländern besteht jedoch eine breite Variation bei der Implementierung dieser politischen Vorhaben. Vor diesem Hintergrund befasst sich die Studie mit der Übertragung der Agrarumweltpolitik der EU auf die Regionen der Mitgliedsländer am Beispiel des Bundeslandes Brandenburg. Dabei vertreten die Autoren die Ansicht, dass ein starrer Umsetzungsverlauf von oben nach unten durch die staatliche Bürokratie nicht die einzige Lösung darstellt, sondern hier vielmehr die Vielfältigkeit der Umwelt und der sozialen Bedingungen berücksichtigt werden sollte. Die Ausführungen basieren auf Erfahrungen, die aus einem Forschungsprojekt von 1999 bis 2002 zur nachhaltigen landwirtschaftlichen Produktion in Nordost-Deutschland hervorgehen. In einem ersten Schritt erfolgt die Analyse der Argumentation und Vorgehensweise der regionalen Verwaltung in Brandenburg, um so ein Bild von der aktuellen Situation bei der Festlegung eines Agrarumweltplanes zu zeichnen. In einem zweiten Schritt wird die derzeitige Debatte über Agrarumweltvorhaben in Deutschland und Europa skizziert. Im Anschluss gilt das Interesse sowohl dem Basiskonzept des Agrarumwelt-Forums und dessen konkreten Aktivitäten und Resultaten als auch dem Verhandlungsprozess mit dem Ministerium für Landwirtschaft, Ernährung und Forstwirtschaft von Brandenburg. In einem abschließenden vierten Schritt werden die Faktoren für das Scheitern der Umsetzung des lokalen Agrarumweltplanes identifiziert und diskutiert. In diesem Zusammenhang wird der Entscheidungsprozess umrissen und aufgezeigt, warum Agrarumweltpläne den jeweiligen Gegebenheiten entsprechend gestaltet sind bzw. sein sollten. (ICG2