P.B. Anand argues that if water supply and sanitation were mainly problems of technology or financial resources, they would have been resolved long ago. While appreciating that technology and finances are important, he ascertains that there are many other factors affecting our ability to...

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Many urban environmental problems (such as littering of streets) arise from the open access character of the resource concerned and can be analysed in the framework of co-operation. Studies in the context of rural commons have indicated that though seeming to be violating a narrow definition of...

In this paper, a framework is developed to consider collective action, sustainability and the capability approach with regard to resolution of water disputes, followed by a brief discussion of how identity can hinder cooperation or the development of universalism. This framework is then examined...

This paper examines the scope for a rights-based perspective on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by focusing on right to water. The paper adapts Hohfeldian framework of elements of a right developed by Wenar. According to this, a right should be interpreted in terms of powers, privileges,...

Improving the urban environment in developing countries is now an emerging priority. In that context, valuation is an important source of information to the policy-makers. This paper discusses the application of a multiple choice contingent valuation method to improvements in water supply in...

This paper examines the concept of global public goods (GPGs) and in that context explores the extent of aid (ODA) presently being diverted to GPG provision and whether such diversion skews aid-flows towards some recipients. These are examined on the basis of OECD data for the late 1990s. The...

This paper presents a discussion on some design principles of local collective action institutions, using a case study from India. Various potential conflicts in the functioning of such institutions are explored. Does group homogeneity and social capital foster collective action? This is...

This introduction to a Special Issue provides a conceptual framework connecting the themes of human security, well-being and human development, and sustainability. Inter-connections between each of these three themes are possible. The connecting concepts are freedoms, rights, responsibilities,...