Institutions and Networks (page 1/3)

Institutions are humanly defined constraints that structure human interaction between themselves and their environment, and include formal constraints (e.g. rules, laws, constitutions), informal constraints (e.g. norms of behaviour, conventions, and self-imposed codes of conduct), and their enforcement characteristics (North, 1994).

Thus, they may be seen as influencing the number, types and relative importance of options available to individuals at a given time.

Institutions of key importance in SESs include those that deal with property rights and common-property resources, and also incentive structures and group dynamics that change the perceived costs and benefits to individuals to favour more cooperative action.

Although institutional and organisational theory has documented a variety of arrangements and rules that have evolved in different societies to harmonise the relationship between humans and their environment (e.g. Ostrom & Schlager, 1996), little work has been done so far on the processes that control and maintain these institutions dynamically. This is an area that needs to be addressed if we are to design rules and incentive structures that sustain and enhance the characteristics of self-organisation and resilience in SESs.

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