Institutional capability, cooperation level and irrigation water order: Empirical analysis based on survey data from the Yellow River area

Abstract

AbstractVillage rules and customs, reciprocal trust and favour and mobilization ability are the main factors affecting governance ability in rural public affairs. Based on microsurvey data from 979 irrigating farmers from the Yellow River area in China, the effects of three types of village institutional capacity factors (knowledge resources, relational resources and mobilization capacity) on the irrigation behaviour and the irrigation water order of village farmland were analysed. The results indicate that these factors would reduce villagers' water‐stealing behaviour and water‐use disputes during the irrigation process, strengthen water‐use satisfaction of the villagers and ultimately improve the order of farmland‐irrigation water in the whole village. The level of cooperation within irrigation organizations has a moderating effect on this process, and higher levels of cooperation lead to a greater positive impact of these institutional capacity factors on villagers' water‐use behaviour.