Written Versus Unwritten Rules: The Role of Rule Formalization in Green Tape

ABSTRACT

Contemporary conceptions of written organizational rules evoke images of inefficiency, constraint, and rigidity. While formal rules can generate negative outcomes, this article argues that their written nature is not the culprit. Rather, theory suggests that the formalization process increases a rule's likelihood of becoming effective “green tape.” From a rule design perspective, rule formalization is expected to trigger more organizational learning and greater scrutiny than unwritten rules, which undergo no such process. From a compliance perspective, written rules are expected to focus organizational attention and convey legitimacy better than unwritten rules, thereby increasing the likelihood of compliance. Combining these expectations, the article hypothesizes that written rules will exhibit more logical designs, higher compliance, and ultimately greater effectiveness than unwritten rules. Statistical modeling of two data sources supports these expectations and suggests the need to rethink reflexively negative attitudes toward written organizational rules.     

In Search of Paradise

<正>When winter rolls over northern China and endless days of smog have you wandering around in a comatose state,there is only one remedy—and it doesn’t come in a bottle.It’s sunshine,blue skies,and beaches.I conducted a survey amongst my friends regarding the best place to catch some waves and the same location kept coming up.     

Land Use and Tenure Insecurity in the Drylands of Southern Ethiopia

This paper examines changing patterns of land rights and use in Borana and Guji zones, southern Ethiopia. It seeks to understand how heterogeneous groups of pastoralists and agropastoralists gain access to land under varied institutional configurations. We find different means of exclusion are pursued, including private enclosures that rely on customary institutions, government administration, and/or hybrid combinations to enforce claims. We also find that some herders may be making claims to farm plots with the goal of securing access to land rather than planting crops. By assessing how different situations and socio-economic factors affect land claims, the paper deepens understanding of motivations for plot acquisition by pastoralists and challenges the common dichotomy between customary and formal administrative rules and institutions.     

BRICS MEANS BUSINE

In Africa they say it is a positive sign if it rains at the start of an important event. That certainly seemed to hold true in South Africa’s premier eastern port city, where the Fifth BRICS Summit began with thunderous skies and unrelenting showers. As the flags of the five member