Demanding Supply: Path-dependent Informality in Jordan's Water Sector Under King Abdullah Ii

Abstract: Combining archival research with elite interviews in Jordan, this study employs qualitative methods to construct an empirical account of the institutional constraints shaping Jordanian water sector dynamics since King Abdullah II’s reign began in 1999. Our findings indicate that the drivers of informality in the sector stem from Jordan’s state-building process; de facto water policy emerges as a neo-patrimonial survival tool on the macro-level and, on the micro- and meso- levels, as a networked state-society relationship mediating access to state resources. Given water’s natural scarcity in Jordan, the persistence of informal institutions like water theft and nepotistic behavior is therefore puzzling in a sector widely acknowledged to be critical for economic development. This apparent incongruity is most completely understood when Jordan’s socio-political power structure is situated within a path dependence framework. This case provides an inroad to refining theories of path dependency and institutional evolution in authoritarian contexts, and contributes more broadly to empirical new institutional economics (NIE) research.