Rules in Use

From the IAD framework. Institutional Analysis and Development framework.

What are IAD “rules” all about? For each action situation, embedded within its contextual environment, decision must be made. There are a set of Seven Rules that must be dealt with effectively. They include:

* Boundary Rules (Who is in and who is outside? Specify how participants enter or leave these positions.);

* Position Rules (What roles must be played and by whom with what resources, opportunities, preferences and responsibilities?);

* Authority/Choice Rules (What set of actions is Prohibited, Permitted, and Required of a position?);

* Information Rules (What is known and what must be known and what cannot be known?);

* Aggregation Rules (How are we to organize ourselves to achieve the desired outputs and results? Specify the transformation function from actions to intermediate or final outcomes.);

* Scope Rules (What is to be accomplished, where, by when, for whom?); and

* Payoff Rules (How benefits and costs are required, permitted, or forbidden to players? What results will make it worth the effort and risk as well as making the enterprise sustainable?)