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Revised: 7/26/2007 <br />Then the seven rules that comprise the collective choice level should be investigated and <br />described. This is the procedural focus of the analysis. <br /> <br />Problematic Situations <br /> <br />The i nitial experience of dissatisfaction, prior to any attempt to analyze and improve <br />upon it, is a problematic situation. Problem definition has been called the most important <br />step in problem - solving, because the way the problem is formulated shapes the natu re of <br />the potential solutions which are conceived, evaluated, and ultimately tried. <br /> <br />Problems at the Operational Choice Level <br /> <br />At the operational choice level there are four types of natural resource and environmental <br />problems: depletion, underinvestment, maldistribution, and externalities. <br /> <br />Depletion Problems : Current resource use threatens to diminish future use. The rate of <br />consumption of a given resource is perceived t be too high (e.g. overgrazing, groundwater <br />declines). Depletion problems are freque ntly associated with open access and common <br />pool resource situations (tragedy of the commons). <br /> <br />Underinvestment Problems : Anticipated future provisions of resource - related goods and <br />services are smaller than desired, presumably due to failure to invest suf ficient capital <br />and/or labor in resource management. This is typical of public good situations and the <br />related free rider problem, which involve resource that once provided to one party, are <br />automatically available to all (e.g. clean air, biodiversity). A good example is <br />endangered species. <br /> <br />Maldistribution Problems : Allocation of a finite resource - related good or service is <br />perceived by one or more parties to be inadequate. This is frequently described as <br />scarcity situations. Inevitable an allocation m echanism of some sort must be employed. <br />Those parties most disadvantaged by the nature of the allocation mechanism are most <br />likely to indicate the existence of a maldistribution problem. A good example is water <br />scarcity. <br /> <br />Externality Problems : Often cons idered a sub - set of maldistribution problems. The use <br />of a resource - related good or service by some parties diminishes the availability of other <br />goods and services received by different parties. Institutional rules that allocate rights <br />and/or costs and b enefits poorly – either in terms of equity or efficiency – can contribute <br />to these problem types. Examples include most pollution situations. <br /> <br />Problems at the Collective Choice Level <br /> <br />The resolution of operational choice level problems typically requires action at the <br />institution’s collective choice level. Parties acting at the collective choice level can <br />encounter one or more of three general types of problems or conflicts: interest conflict, <br />value conflict, and cognitive conflict. Value conflicts arise when participants share <br />2 <br />