Using Common-Pool Resource Principles to Design Local Government Fiscal Sustainability.

This article analyzes local government fiscal sustainability as a common-pool resource ( CPR) problem. Comparing the experiences of Los Angeles County, San Bernardino City, and San Bernardino County, California, the analysis applies a framework developed from three decades of CPR research to show the importance of six micro-situational variables-communications with the full set of participants, known reputations of participants, high marginal per capita return, entry or exit capabilities, longer time horizon, and agreed-upon sanctioning capabilities-in shaping collective action dynamics and building the trust and reciprocity among stakeholders needed to achieve fiscal sustainability. The underlying contextual conditions for these micro-situational variables vary based on specific socioeconomic and political settings, but the findings suggest that institutions and processes can be designed based on several well-tested principles in CPR governance to encourage stakeholders to look beyond their immediate self-interests and make decisions that account for the community's long-term fiscal sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]