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The concept of international regime complexity offers a useful lens for examining the increasing density of international institutions in global governance. A growing literature in International Political Economy (IPE) identifies clusters of overlapping institutions in many important policy areas, yet some scholars argue that complexity undermines governance effectiveness, while others perceive distinct advantages over unified institutions. To bring coherence to these findings, we present a general theoretical framework that characterizes regime complexes based on two structural features: Authority relations and institutional differentiation. These dimensions jointly determine the opportunities and constraints that states and other actors confront as they navigate institutional rules. As a result, they shape important outcomes, such as policy adjustment, regime shifting and competitive regime creation. The article proposes testable hypotheses regarding the effects of authority and differentiation, and we assess their correspondence with the eight regime complexes examined by the five companion articles in this special issue. We further identify a set of dynamic processes that shape the evolution of regime complexes over time. Our framework strengthens the foundation for comparative analysis of regime complexes and charts a new agenda for the research program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do states build new international organizations (IOs) in issue areas where many institutions already exist? Prevailing theories of institutional creation emphasize their ability to resolve market failures, but adding new IOs can increase uncertainty and rule inconsistency. I argue that institutional proliferation occurs when existing IOs fail to adapt to shifts in state power. Member states expect decision-making rules to reflect their underlying power; when it does not, they demand greater influence in the organization. Subsequent bargaining over the redistribution of IO influence often fails due to credibility and information problems. As a result, under-represented states construct new organizations that provide them with greater institutional control. To test this argument, I examine the proliferation of multilateral development banks since 1944. I leverage a novel identification strategy rooted in the allocation of World Bank votes at Bretton Woods to show that the probability of institutional proliferation is higher when power is misaligned in existing institutions. My results suggest that conflict over shifts in global power contribute to the fragmentation of global governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • There is large heterogeneity of water use practices among urban and small farms. • Small fields have lower uniformities and greater depths than large fields. • Surface irrigated fields apply higher depths than sprinkle or drip fields. • Fields relying on a set schedule had higher depths than fields without. • Irrigators need better awareness of the importance of management in efficiency. Abstract The landscape of water in Utah is changing due to population growth, conversion of agricultural land to urban development, and increasing awareness of water scarcity. At the same time, Utah is experiencing a growing number of urban and small farms, but knowledge of water use in this sector is limited. Better understanding of what occurs at the field level on urban and small farms can aid state water use estimates and conservation efforts, and assist farmers in moving towards wiser water management. For the 2015 growing season, we performed irrigation evaluations for 24 urban and small farms in Cache Valley, Utah and we explore the results through case studies and identify trends among gross irrigation depth and field variables including field size, irrigation method, application uniformity, and scheduling practices. Results show a great degree of heterogeneity in irrigation methods, equipment used, and management practices. The beneficial consumed fraction of irrigation water ranged from 0.06 to 1.0. Small fields had lower application uniformities and greater irrigation depths than large fields. Surface irrigated fields had higher irrigation depths than sprinkle and drip irrigated fields. Additionally, fields using a fixed irrigation schedule had higher depths than fields that were irrigated inconsistently due to other factors. The results show that urban and small farm irrigators need improved knowledge of proper irrigation management. Irrigators, university extension services, and state water authorities working in this sector need to recognize the link between proper management and total water use, and focus more efforts on improving management, specifically how to use 1) low-cost methods to measure flow rates, 2) simple irrigation scheduling tools, and 3) improve application uniformity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]