How Significant Are the Roles Moral Obligation and Formal Institutions Play in Participatory Irrigation Management?

Liu Yang, Anthony Rezitis and Yang Ren ()
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Liu Yang: School of Public Affairs and Administration, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, No. 2006 Xiyuan Road, Chengdu 611731, China
Yang Ren: School of Public Affairs and Administration, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, No. 2006 Xiyuan Road, Chengdu 611731, China

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: Against the background of the agricultural tax reform and the disintegration of China’s rural collective agriculture system, participatory irrigation management (PIM) is the key to improving irrigation management performance. Based on the survey data of 712 peasant households in the Yellow River basin of China, this study employs multi-group structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore the impact of moral obligation and formal institutions on PIM. The results show that both moral obligation and formal institutions can significantly improve collective action. Collective action can markedly promote irrigation management performance, and the formal institution can significantly enhance the farmers’ moral obligation. Additionally, the results of the multi-group analysis show that the agricultural income level of households and their provinces can regulate the impact of moral obligation and formal institutions on PIM. Therefore, to improve irrigation management performance, strategies of intensifying moral obligation and refining formal institutions are recommended for governments and village committees.

Keywords: moral obligation; formal institution; institutional analysis and development framework; agricultural income; participatory irrigation management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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