A popular alternative to state-led resource management is community resource management. This decentralised approach is potentially more efficient, but is not necessarily stable. We study this issue using coalition theory, arguing that some of the conditions for effective community resource...

In this paper we assess how perceptions of park legitimacy influence individual willingness to self-restrict their resource use — an important issue when designing conservation approaches like community ecosystem payments where the existing institutional context influences the willingness to...

Decentralization of irrigation management is claimed to improve performance by enhancing legitimacy and, thus, increasing cooperation. We test this hypothesis by collecting information about water users’ legitimacy perceptions and assessing the impact of these perceptions on irrigation charge...

In many international river basins disputes over property rights to water lead to inefficient water allocation and a waste of resources. In this paper, we examine how contested water rights impede water trade. To show this, we use a model in which property rights to water are contested because...

We model market power in water markets as multi-market Cournot competition with a river structure. Suppliers are connected through water balances, which imposes resource constraints, and they are connected to heterogeneous water users via a water delivery infrastructure. Our model captures a...

Recent severe river flooding in Europe has triggered debates among scientists and policy-makers on future projections of flood frequency and the need for adaptive investments, such as flood protection measures. Because there exists uncertainty about the impact of climate change on flood risk,...

Using the Heckscher-Ohlin trade model, I refute two prominent but incorrect claims on virtual water trade. These claims are that virtual water trade (i) levels uneven water distribution, and (ii) reduces the potential for water conflict. Both claims are based on an incorrect understanding of...