When the regime goes local: Local regulatory arrangements and land use sustainability

• Published in: Environmental science & policy 2019-06, Vol.96, p.77-84
• Main Authors: Viallon, François-Xavier, Schweizer, Rémi, Varone, Frédéric
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Institutional resource regime; Land use policy; Local regulatory arrangement; Policy expertise; Property rights
• ISSN: 1462-9011; 1873-6416
• DOI: 10.1016/j.envsci.2019.02.010

•A combination of the institutional resource regime and actors' implementation games.•Local regulatory arrangement (LRA) as a means of sustainable resource use assessment.•Policy expertise and acquired property rights as key factors for LRA explanation.•Qualitative comparative analysis to identify different causal paths leading to LRAs. This study investigates how an institutional resource regime translates into a local regulatory arrangement and policy outcomes that enhance the sustainability of natural resource use. Empirically, it focuses on land use in Switzerland and examines the conditions under which land use policy objectives are achieved. A comparative analysis of twelve land use cases dealing with different policy problems in peri-urban and urban contexts shows how the policy expertise of public authorities, as well as acquired use rights held by private landowners, can influence local regulatory arrangement and policy outcomes. The general conclusion is that consideration of actors' implementation games is highly relevant in explaining the institutional resource regime’s effects on the sustainability of natural resource uses.