Institutional Analysis of Infrastructure Problems: Case Study of Water Quality in Distribution Systems

Civil engineers working with public infrastructure face institutional problems, but they are hard to explain and no effective methodology for analyzing them has been available to civil engineers. As applied to public infrastructure, the term “institution” includes more than agencies and organizations, and extends to laws, customs, and management behaviors. A methodology for institutional analysis should provide a systematic way to answer questions about infrastructure that include: what are the laws and controls; what are the incentives; who has control and which roles; and what is the management culture? The methodology is presented and a case study of institutional problems with water quality in distribution systems identifies technical issues and gaps in institutional arrangements that inhibit solutions to them: fragmented authority, inadequate legal controls stemming from poor technical understanding, faulty incentive structures, management cultures, and unclear roles and responsibilities, made worse by difficulties in enabling the players to undertake their responsibilities. It was evident from the case study that unless institutional problems are addressed, progress is not possible on the technical and management issues. Whereas the elements of institutional analysis are not new, the methodology offers a repeatable way to structure the analysis.