Improving the performance of small-scale irrigation systems: The effects of technological investments and governance structure on irrigation performance in Nepal

Technological fixes and government management have often been assumed to be the most effective policy tools in improving the performance of small-scale irrigation systems in Asia. Many intervention efforts based upon that assumption, however, have brought about counterintuitive and counterintentional outcomes. Using irrigation management in Nepal as the context, this paper argues that technological investments might exacerbate the asymmetries of interests and endowments among irrigators, which often dampens their incentives to contribute to infrastructure maintenance. In addition, irrigators in agency-managed systems are usually given few incentives to engage in irrigation management. Their collective inaction often leads to low levels of performance. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd