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The Comedy of the Commons?

The Comedy of the Commons?. Common Property Resource Management Leah S. Horowitz, Ph.D. leah@env.leeds.ac.uk. Themes today. Open-access vs. common property Privatisation State ownership Common property theory Common property resource management (CPRM) Problems faced by CPRM systems

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The Comedy of the Commons?

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  1. The Comedy of the Commons? Common Property Resource Management Leah S. Horowitz, Ph.D. leah@env.leeds.ac.uk

  2. Themes today • Open-access vs. common property • Privatisation • State ownership • Common property theory • Common property resource management (CPRM) • Problems faced by CPRM systems • Case study #1: Cree Indian fisheries as CPRM systems • Case study #2: Grasslands management in the Highlands of Ethiopia

  3. Open-access vs. common property • Hardin, Garrett 1968. The tragedy of the commons. Science 162: 1243-1248. • William Forster Lloyd • compared the English labor market to a grazing commons • people keep adding cows, having babies • overexploitation, oversaturation

  4. Hardin’s angle • individual self-interest • “rational” economic behavior • “Freedom in a commons brings ruin for all.” • Two solutions • State control • privatization

  5. Requirements for privatization • Divisibility • Equity of distribution • Long-term interest • State enforcement

  6. State ownership • Enforcement • External management • Resentment • Creating “open-access” systems

  7. Common property theory • Hardin’s unjustified assumptions • resource users are selfish • common resources are open-access • Common property ≠ open access • Common property resources • restricted to a group • governed by rules

  8. References • McCay, Bonnie and James M. Acheson (eds.) 1987. The question of the commons: the culture and ecology of communal resources. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. • Ostrom, Elinor 1990. Governing the commons: the evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. • Ostrom, Elinor, Thomas Dietz, Nives Dolsak, Paul C. Stern, Susan Stonich, and Elke U. Weber 2002. The drama of the commons. Washington: National Academy Press.

  9. Common property resource management (CPRM) • Created under conditions of scarcity • Advantages • less bureaucratic inefficiency • local experience • adaptability • acceptance • cost-effectiveness

  10. Requirements for CPRM • Small user group • Exclusivity • Social network • Expectations • Cultural factors • values • ideologies • moral code • Communities are systems of social relations

  11. Disadvantages • Intra-community disputes • Difficulties in setting rules • Inequitable resource distribution

  12. Problems faced by CPRM systems • Technological innovation • Commercialization • Education • Changing belief systems • Government opposition

  13. Case study #1: Cree Indian fisheries as CPRM systems • Berkes, Fikret 1987. Common-property resource management and Cree Indian fisheries in subarctic Canada. Pp. 66-90 in B. McCay and J.M. Acheson (eds.) 1987. The question of the commons: the culture and ecology of communal resources. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.

  14. Chisasibi territory, Canada

  15. Beaver and goose management • Trap-lines and goose territories • “Beaver boss” or “goose-shooting boss” • responsibility to manage the harvesting activity • community can punish him

  16. Fish management • Abundant • Only used for food • Management • fishing territories • inexhaustible • disrespectful to manage scientifically • follow proper procedures, show respect • code of ethics

  17. Threats to the Cree CPRM systems • Improved access • Increased population • Technology • Loss of traditional knowledge

  18. Case study #2: Grasslands management in Ethiopia • Ashenafi, Zelealem Tefera and N. Leader-Williams 2006. Indigenous common property resource management in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Human Ecology 33(4): 539-563.

  19. Guassa area, Ethiopia

  20. CPRM of the Guassa area • “Pioneer fathers” forbid settlement, 17th c. • Qero • headmen responsible for protecting their area • parishes with headman esquire • restrictions on who and when • patrols • punishments

  21. The socialist revolution • 1975: all rural land to the state • Guassa Committee • Peasant associations • by-laws • patrols • punishments

  22. Problems with the new management • Ineffectiveness • lack of ownership • interference • drought • weak enforcement • immigration • market • overexploitation • illegal use • Socioeconomic changes • increased land pressure • villagization

  23. One community member’s perspective • It was a taboo and an insult in our forefathers’ time to sell Guassa grass. How can someone sell something that is not his own property? We got the Guassa from our forefathers and we should hand it to our children as we received it. The situation is different, now the Guassa grass has become a commodity to sell and buy in the market. (A 67-year-old informant from Tesfomentier Peasant Association)

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