Governing the Commons? : Water and Power in Pakistan's Indus Basin

Surface irrigation is a common pool resource characterized by asymmetric appropriation opportunities across upstream and downstream water users. Large canal systems are also predominantly managed by the state. This paper studies water allocation un...

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Main Authors: Jacoby, Hanan G., Mansuri, Ghazala
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/598661519220552334/Governing-the-commons-water-and-power-in-Pakistans-Indus-basin
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29411
id okr-10986-29411
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-294112021-06-08T14:42:48Z Governing the Commons? : Water and Power in Pakistan's Indus Basin Jacoby, Hanan G. Mansuri, Ghazala WATER SUPPLY RIVER BASINS HYDROPOWER BUREAUCRACY RENT-SEEKING CORRUPTION COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCE IRRIGATION GOVERNANCE Surface irrigation is a common pool resource characterized by asymmetric appropriation opportunities across upstream and downstream water users. Large canal systems are also predominantly managed by the state. This paper studies water allocation under an irrigation bureaucracy subject to corruption and rent-seeking. Data on the landholdings and political influence of nearly a quarter million irrigators in Pakistan's vast Indus Basin watershed allow the construction of a novel index of lobbying power. Consistent with a model of misgovernance, the decline in water availability and land values from channel head to tail is accentuated along canals having greater lobbying power at the head than at the tail. 2018-02-28T22:56:39Z 2018-02-28T22:56:39Z 2018-02 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/598661519220552334/Governing-the-commons-water-and-power-in-Pakistans-Indus-basin http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29411 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8351 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper South Asia Pakistan
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic WATER SUPPLY
RIVER BASINS
HYDROPOWER
BUREAUCRACY
RENT-SEEKING
CORRUPTION
COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCE
IRRIGATION
GOVERNANCE
spellingShingle WATER SUPPLY
RIVER BASINS
HYDROPOWER
BUREAUCRACY
RENT-SEEKING
CORRUPTION
COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCE
IRRIGATION
GOVERNANCE
Jacoby, Hanan G.
Mansuri, Ghazala
Governing the Commons? : Water and Power in Pakistan's Indus Basin
geographic_facet South Asia
Pakistan
relation Policy Research Working Paper;No. 8351
description Surface irrigation is a common pool resource characterized by asymmetric appropriation opportunities across upstream and downstream water users. Large canal systems are also predominantly managed by the state. This paper studies water allocation under an irrigation bureaucracy subject to corruption and rent-seeking. Data on the landholdings and political influence of nearly a quarter million irrigators in Pakistan's vast Indus Basin watershed allow the construction of a novel index of lobbying power. Consistent with a model of misgovernance, the decline in water availability and land values from channel head to tail is accentuated along canals having greater lobbying power at the head than at the tail.
format Working Paper
author Jacoby, Hanan G.
Mansuri, Ghazala
author_facet Jacoby, Hanan G.
Mansuri, Ghazala
author_sort Jacoby, Hanan G.
title Governing the Commons? : Water and Power in Pakistan's Indus Basin
title_short Governing the Commons? : Water and Power in Pakistan's Indus Basin
title_full Governing the Commons? : Water and Power in Pakistan's Indus Basin
title_fullStr Governing the Commons? : Water and Power in Pakistan's Indus Basin
title_full_unstemmed Governing the Commons? : Water and Power in Pakistan's Indus Basin
title_sort governing the commons? : water and power in pakistan's indus basin
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2018
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/598661519220552334/Governing-the-commons-water-and-power-in-Pakistans-Indus-basin
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/29411
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