Building Absorptive Capacity for Sustainable Management of Common Resources

The sustainable management of irrigated areas under arid climate change depends on achieving gains in both productivity and innovation. These gains are related substantially on capacity building and namely absorptive capacity. Integrating farms in a communicative and cooperative network with a Leader generates a dynamic capability and enhances absorptive capacity in the community. The observed “productivity gap” in irrigated areas is associated with two large sets of variables: the first determines the direct impact and the second captures the indirect impact of the absorptive capacity. The first block is composed of the differential value-added in interaction with the qualification of human capital, social capital and the rate of technical progress. The second block is composed of each variable’s differential relative to that of the leader. We develop a model based on two main composites describing firm’s capability characteristics. The first capability is the “degree of network integration” reflecting cooperation and communication. The second capability is the “qualification of Human capital” that describes the quality of institutions or social capital. The data are collected using surveys in irrigated areas which have developed a spontaneous local network. We use the method of Multiple Correspondences Analysis (ACM) to summarize these two composite indices. The paper shows two main results. Firstly, the “Degree of Network Integration” has a direct impact to exchange knowledge and an indirect impact to externalities’ absorption. Secondly, the “Qualification of Human resources” has only a direct impact: the level of “education and age” plays a significant role in the capacity to integration and in productivity gains processes.