IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/waterr/v29y2015i14p4945-4961.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Scaling up of Policy Experiments and Pilots: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Lessons for the Water Sector

Author

Listed:
  • Sreeja Nair
  • Michael Howlett

Abstract

The use of experimentation by practitioners and resource managers as a policy instrument for effective policy design under complex and dynamic conditions has been well-acknowledged both in theory and practice. For issues such as water resource management, policy experimentation, especially pilot projects, can play an important role in exploring alternate courses of action when faced with long-term uncertainty. While the political aspects of experimentation design and outcomes have been alluded to by several policy scholars, there is lack of empirical evidence that explores their interplay with other factors that may also be critical for scaling up of policy experiments. This paper examines experiences with scaling up of different types of water policy experiments through a Qualitative Comparative Analysis of fifteen pilot initiatives in multiple sectors. Presence of political support is found to be necessary for scaling up in 97 % of the cases studied, followed closely by the need for synergies with ongoing policies and programmes. When in combination with effective pilot planning and strong monitoring and evaluation, both these factors create a sufficient condition for successful scaling up in nearly 60 % of the cases studied. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Sreeja Nair & Michael Howlett, 2015. "Scaling up of Policy Experiments and Pilots: A Qualitative Comparative Analysis and Lessons for the Water Sector," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(14), pages 4945-4961, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:29:y:2015:i:14:p:4945-4961
    DOI: 10.1007/s11269-015-1081-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11269-015-1081-0
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11269-015-1081-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pattanayak, Subhrendu K. & van den Berg, Caroline & Yang, Jui-Chen & Van Houtven, George, 2006. "The use of willingness to pay experiments : estimating demand for piped water connections in Sri Lanka," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3818, The World Bank.
    2. Hartmann, Arntraud & Linn, Johannes F, 2007. "Scaling up: A path to effective development," 2020 vision briefs BB32 Special Edition, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Callander, Steven, 2011. "Searching for Good Policies," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 105(4), pages 643-662, November.
    4. Ragin, Charles C., 2006. "Set Relations in Social Research: Evaluating Their Consistency and Coverage," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 291-310, July.
    5. Ishmael B. M. Kosamu, 2014. "Conditions for Sustainability of the Elephant Marsh Fishery in Malawi," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(7), pages 1-18, June.
    6. Spicer, Neil & Bhattacharya, Dipankar & Dimka, Ritgak & Fanta, Feleke & Mangham-Jefferies, Lindsay & Schellenberg, Joanna & Tamire-Woldemariam, Addis & Walt, Gill & Wickremasinghe, Deepthi, 2014. "‘Scaling-up is a craft not a science’: Catalysing scale-up of health innovations in Ethiopia, India and Nigeria," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 30-38.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nicholas, Graeme & Srinivasan, MS & Beechener, Sam & Foote, Jeff & Robson-Williams, Melissa & FitzHerbert, Stephen, 2020. "Transferring the impacts of pilot-scale studies to other scales: Understanding the role of non-biophysical factors using field-based irrigation studies," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    2. Araceli Martin-Candilejo & Francisco J. Martin-Carrasco & Ana Iglesias & Luis Garrote, 2023. "Heading into the Unknown? Exploring Sustainable Drought Management in the Mediterranean Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Bradley T. Hiller & Peter M. Guthrie & Aled W. Jones, 2016. "Overcoming Ex-Post Development Stagnation: Interventions with Continuity and Scaling in Mind," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-26, February.
    4. Matt Andrews & Lant Pritchett & Michael Woolcock, 2016. "Scaling PDIA through Broad Agency, and Your Role," CID Working Papers 315, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    5. Paula Kivimaa & Mikael Hildén & Dave Huitema & Andrew Jordan & Jens Newig, 2015. "Experiments in Climate Governance. Lessons from a Systematic Review of Case Studies in Transition Research," SPRU Working Paper Series 2015-36, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    6. Pahle, Michael & Schaeffer, Roberto & Pachauri, Shonali & Eom, Jiyong & Awasthy, Aayushi & Chen, Wenying & Di Maria, Corrado & Jiang, Kejun & He, Chenmin & Portugal-Pereira, Joana & Safonov, George & , 2021. "The crucial role of complementarity, transparency and adaptability for designing energy policies for sustainable development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    7. Mirzaei, Arezoo & Knierim, Andrea & Fealy Nahavand, Saeid & Shokri, Shahab Alddin & Mahmoudi, Hossein, 2019. "Assessment of policy instruments towards improving the water reservoirs’ governance in Northern Iran," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 48-58.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Prosman, Ernst Johannes & Cagliano, Raffaella, 2022. "A contingency perspective on manufacturing configurations for the circular economy: Insights from successful start-ups," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).
    2. Grohs, Reinhard & Raies, Karine & Koll, Oliver & Mühlbacher, Hans, 2016. "One pie, many recipes: Alternative paths to high brand strength," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(6), pages 2244-2251.
    3. Barry Cooper & Judith Glaesser, 2016. "Analysing necessity and sufficiency with Qualitative Comparative Analysis: how do results vary as case weights change?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 327-346, January.
    4. Yu-Li Lin & Hsiu-Wen Liu & Fengzeng Xu & Hao Wang, 2016. "Environmental Conditions, Entrepreneur Alertness and Social Capital on Performance," International Business Research, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 9(8), pages 1-13, August.
    5. Thomas Mellewigt & Glenn Hoetker & Martina Lütkewitte, 2018. "Avoiding High Opportunism Is Easy, Achieving Low Opportunism Is Not: A QCA Study on Curbing Opportunism in Buyer–Supplier Relationships," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(6), pages 1208-1208, December.
    6. Federica Nieri & Luciano Ciravegna & Ruth V. Aguilera & Elisa Giuliani, 2019. "Larger, more internationalized, better behaved? A configurational study of em erging market multinational enterprises' involvement in corporate wrongdoing," Discussion Papers 2019/255, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    7. Muñoz, Pablo & Kibler, Ewald, 2016. "Institutional complexity and social entrepreneurship: A fuzzy-set approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(4), pages 1314-1318.
    8. Ferguson, Graham & Megehee, Carol M. & Woodside, Arch G., 2017. "Culture, religiosity, and economic configural models explaining tipping-behavior prevalence across nations," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 218-233.
    9. Ming Zhang & Ruoran Cheng & Jiabao Fei & Ribesh Khanal, 2024. "Enhancing Digital Innovation Ecosystem Resilience through the Interplay of Organizational, Technological, and Environmental Factors: A Study of 31 Provinces in China Using NCA and fsQCA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-22, February.
    10. Aurélie Hemonnet-Goujot & Delphine Manceau & Celine Abecassis-Moedas, 2019. "Drivers and Pathways of NPD Success in the Marketing-External Design Relationship," Post-Print hal-01883760, HAL.
    11. Katarzyna Boratyńska, 2021. "A New Approach for Risk of Corporate Bankruptcy Assessment during the COVID-19 Pandemic," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-14, December.
    12. Annelien Gansemans & Deborah Martens & Marijke D’Haese & Jan Orbie, 2017. "Do Labour Rights Matter for Export? A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Pineapple Trade to the EU," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 5(4), pages 93-105.
    13. Tobias Steindl, 2021. "Cultural rule orientation, legal institutions, and the credibility of corporate social responsibility reports," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 310-332, January.
    14. Turner, Ian R, 2021. "Policy Durability, Agency Capacity, and Executive Unilateralism," SocArXiv stnzf, Center for Open Science.
    15. Asier Baquero, 2022. "Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction: Relationship and Efficient Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-19, February.
    16. Andreas Bernecker & Pierre C. Boyer & Christina Gathmann, 2021. "The Role of Electoral Incentives for Policy Innovation: Evidence from the US Welfare Reform," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(2), pages 26-57, May.
    17. Sonja Sperber & Christian Linder, 2018. "The impact of top management teams on firm innovativeness: a configurational analysis of demographic characteristics, leadership style and team power distribution," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 285-316, January.
    18. Pástor, Ľuboš & Veronesi, Pietro, 2013. "Political uncertainty and risk premia," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 520-545.
    19. Daniela Cristofoli & Benedetta Trivellato & Alessandro Sancino & Laura Maccio’ & Josip Markovic, 2021. "Public network leadership and the ties that lead," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 25(1), pages 251-274, March.
    20. Mabel Pisá-Bó & José Fernando López-Muñoz & Josefina Novejarque-Civera, 2021. "The ever-changing socioeconomic conditions for entrepreneurship," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 1335-1355, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:waterr:v:29:y:2015:i:14:p:4945-4961. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.