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Rural drinking water systems (RDWS) in Bangladesh and elsewhere fail more often than we would want. The acknowledgment that pure community management models will not reverse this trend is growing: RDWS users need support. In an attempt to further understanding what this support could look like we in particular zoom in on the role of public agencies. We ask, (i) what conditions explain variation in collective action among the end-users of an RDWS? and, (ii) what conditions explain variation in collaboration between RDWS end-users and a public agency? We lean on concepts and insights borrowed from the commons literature. After all, rural drinking water systems can be framed as a commons: its users face appropriation and above all provision dilemmas, that must be solved to avoid failure. Based on this literature we develop a list of enabling conditions for (i) collective action among RDWS end-users, and (ii) collaboration between RDWS end-users, and a public agency. We applied these lists to study the governance of 30 pond sand filter (PSF) systems in the Southwestern coastal area in Bangladesh. Computing correlation, we find that large group size, interdependency among the group members, heterogeneity of endowments, a high level of dependence on resource system, locally devised access and management rules and well-working collaboration between PSF users and the public agency are significantly associated with the occurrence of collective action among PSF users. We also find that the latter (i.e. collaboration between PSF users and the public agency) is positively influenced by transparency and inclusive decision-making procedures, but mostly by a relation that is characterized by trust.

Sacred groves or sacred natural sites (SNS) are defined areas of land and bodies of water with considerable socio-cultural and ecological value. This study attempts to analyse SNS using the framework of commons or common-pool resources and understand the implications regarding the access to and ecological sustainability of these sacred spaces. A set of ten groves from an inventory of sacred groves reported by the Institute of Foresters Kerala were chosen using purposive sampling to cover various types of custodianship and communities in the district of Thrissur. This district houses the most famous sacred grove in Kerala and is known for consecrating sacred groves and expunging spirits. A field survey employing an observation schedule and semi-structured interviews were undertaken focusing on the biophysical, socio-cultural, and institutional aspects of the SNS. Understanding the relationship between grove ecosystems and stakeholder communities was the objective of the study. The management of SNS in the study sites does not show much evidence of collective action. There is a tendency of SNS to become 'club goods' over a period of time. Regardless of types of custodianship, SNS exhibit properties of common-pool resources from an ecological point of view. Even when customarily managed along caste lines, access was not physically restricted. Recent constructions of concrete boundaries around SNS, conversion of groves to temples, and increasing intensity and frequency of rituals have changed the socio-cultural and ecological character of these spaces. The study shows that the perspective of the commons is inadequate to capture the underlying power dynamics of institutions of SNS. Understanding the transformation of SNS from being 'open' and inclusive to closed and elitist temple spaces need a different language of political ecology.

Grazing livestock on commonly managed pastures is a widespread practice in post-socialist countries such as Azerbaijan and Georgia. Despite the value of livestock as an important income source for rural households, commonly managed pastures frequently show signs of degradation, pointing to shortcomings in the joint management of common pool resources in those countries. Among other factors, the success of common management crucially depends on the cooperation and self-organization capacity of stakeholders. Especially in post-socialist countries, their capacity and willingness to cooperate in natural resource management is said to be low due to previous experiences of forced cooperation during the socialist period. In this paper, we investigate stakeholders’ capacity to cooperate in natural resource management in two post-socialist countries drawing on a framed field experiment for common pasture use. The analysis of group and individual participant performances show that groups are indeed capable of managing experimental pastures sustainably, especially if participants have the possibility to communicate which, in addition, is positively affecting cooperation. However, we find significant differences in participant performances and decisions between both countries, pointing to differing experiences with real-world pasture scarcity, common pasture management, as well as to differences in social capital endowment and cultural context factors.

In this editorial we assess 50 years’ worth of peer-reviewed publications to establish traditions and trends in the study of the commons. Based on this assessment, we provide a sketch of how IJC and its editors can continue to contribute to the development of the field.

Limited capacity of government on drinking water supply has demanded the implementation of Community Based Water Supply System, one of them in the form of a Drinking Water User Association (Hippam). An important issue in community-based water supply is sustainability, from which institutions play a critical factor in the sustained provision of drinking water. Institutions relate to management, maintenance and financing systems, and contribute to technology selection and decision making. The purpose of this study is to explore the institutional conditions as a determinant factor for the sustainability of community-based water management. The study also aims to develop a framework for sustainable institutional assessment in community-based drinking water supply. In this study Hippam Mandiri Arjowinangun (HMA) in Malang City, East Java Province was chosen as a case study. HMA has been operating since 1994. The sustainability of HMA regarding applying the principles of institutional support for sustainability was very interesting as a case. The research method applied qualitative research by comparing the benchmark of institutional principles of sustainability with institutional principles applied to HMA. The result shows that HMA has applied the principles of institutional support for sustainability. However, some issues should be addressed in the HMA sustainability include the delineation of the water source boundary, specific attributes for the users, and the rules of water utilization. The study has also produced an assessment framework for the sustainability of community-based drinking water supply systems from the institutional perspective.

This paper aims to propose a methodological approach based on the theory of the commons and the complex socio-ecological systems, which is allowing the analysis of community-based tourism using their natural resources collectively. Tourism is increasingly greater presence in rural areas and although many tourism projects are improvised and poorly organized action, there are cases where it has established with some success. To get it, many times the self-governance that rural communities have collectively developed around natural resources could be a key factor. This document is intended as a methodological framework that aims to facilitate analysis of the factors that determine why certain communities achieve collective self-manage their natural resources in tourism, while others fail or stagnate.

Institutions play a significant role in stabilizing large-scale cooperation in common pool resource management. Without restrictions to govern human behaviour, most natural resources are vulnerable to overexploitation. This study used a sample size of 336 households and community-level data from 30 communities around Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe, to analyse the relationship between institutions and biodiversity outcomes in community-based wildlife conservation. Our results suggest a much stronger effect of institutions on biodiversity outcomes via the intermediacy of cooperation. Overall, the performance of most communities was below the desired level of institutional attributes that matter for conservation. Good institutions are an important ingredient for cooperation in the respective communities. Disaggregating the metric measure of institutions into its components shows that governance, monitoring and enforcement are more important for increased cooperation, while fairness of institutions seems to work against cooperation. Cooperation increases with trust and group size, and is also higher in communities that have endogenized punishment as opposed to communities that still rely on external enforcement of rules and regulations. Cooperation declines as we move from communal areas into the resettlement schemes and with increasing size of the resource system. A very strong positive relationship exists between cooperation and biodiversity outcomes implying that communities with elevated levels of cooperation are associated with a healthy wildlife population. Biodiversity outcomes are more successful in communities that either received wildlife management training, share information or those that are located far away from urban areas and are not very close to the boundary of the game park. Erecting an electric fence, the household head’s age, number of years in school and number of years living in the area negatively affects biodiversity outcomes. One policy implication of this study is to increase autonomy in CAMPFIRE communities so that they are able to invest in good institutions, which allows them to self-organize and to manage wildlife sustainably.

We analyze ownership of public goods in a repeated game focusing on common ownership. Under common ownership an owner's access to the public good cannot be restricted by other owners. We find that under common ownership both the value of the relationship and the gain from deviation are high. Common ownership can provide the best incentives for cooperation when the value of the public good cannot be increased much by maintenance investments or the maintenance costs are sufficiently convex. We argue that these conditions are satisfied in Ostrom's field studies of irrigation systems and common lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated the coupled social and ecological dynamics of swidden agriculture through a common property resource field experiment framed as a game with realistic social norms and ecological dynamics. We tested the hypothesis that community social norms related to labor reciprocity and graduated sanctioning may encourage sustainable swidden cultivation. We played the game with 150 people from two Q'eqchi' Maya villages in southern Belize where swidden agriculture is common. We found that when the game mimics local social norms related to agricultural labor exchange, clearing requests decrease and a statistical analysis indicates that players sanctioned one another in order to decrease resource use and increase sustainability. We validated our results using qualitative methods, post-game surveys, and interviews, and we conclude that cultural and social norms related to labor exchange improve the sustainability of swidden agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the economic factors that lead to the formation of multilateral environmental agreements, focusing on the likelihood a pair of countries enters into an agreement as well as the number of agreements they share using a near universe of agreements. Two countries are more likely to have an agreement and have more of them if they are economically larger and of similar economic size, closer in distance, have a preferential trade agreement, and trade more. Results are strongest for agreements involving a small number of countries, consistent with a hypothesis that agreements are formed to manage common pool resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the name of the production zone to differentiate agricultural products has a longstanding tradition. Theory suggests that some of these names have a market value as they represent the common reputation of the producers and thus may contribute to dissolving the information asymmetry between producers and consumers. This study takes the example of the Hungarian off-trade wine market to show that price premia are attainable by using some GIs. It is revealed that group homogeneity is an essential factor of collective decisions on higher quality standards, which are important drives of price premia. Moreover, barriers to entry and the quality of the demarcated area are al so related to the prices attainable by using GIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English abstract: US cities and towns on the border with Mexico tend to have below-average incomes, while Mexican border cities and towns tend to be above the average of Mexico. Social scientists have not explained these differences from national averages in a convincing way. Nor have they described the characteristics of border cities and towns in ways that differentiate them from cities and towns in the interiors of their respective nation. The key to both puzzles is the fact that the institutional environment in the US–Mexico border region is binational in origin. Mexican institutions create externalities in the United States and vice versa. Recognition of this fact is a first step in dealing with the international public goods and common pool resources of the border region. Spanish abstract: Ciudades y pueblos a ambos lados de la frontera México–EE. UU. comparten características que las hacen diferentes de las comunidades en el interior de sus respectivas naciones. Por ejemplo, las diferencias de ingresos transfronterizos son más pequeñas que las diferencias nacionales y cada lado está fuertemente influenciado por políticas y eventos que se originan en el otro lado. Hay tres razones principales para estos efectos: proximidad, redes y externalidades. Este ensayo utiliza la perspectiva de economía institucional para argumentar que el ambiente institucional de las ciudades y pueblos fronterizos es binacional. El reconocimiento de este hecho es un primer paso en la gestión de los bienes públicos internacionales y los recursos comunes de la región fronteriza. English abstract: US cities and towns on the border with Mexico tend to have below-average incomes, while Mexican border cities and towns tend to be above the average of Mexico. Social scientists have not explained these differences from national averages in a convincing way. Nor have they described the characteristics of border cities and towns in ways that differentiate them from cities and towns in the interiors of their respective nation. The key to both puzzles is the fact that the institutional environment in the US–Mexico border region is binational in origin. Mexican institutions create externalities in the United States and vice versa. Recognition of this fact is a first step in dealing with the international public goods and common pool resources of the border region. Spanish abstract: Ciudades y pueblos a ambos lados de la frontera México–EE. UU. comparten características que las hacen diferentes de las comunidades en el interior de sus respectivas naciones. Por ejemplo, las diferencias de ingresos transfronterizos son más pequeñas que las diferencias nacionales y cada lado está fuertemente influenciado por políticas y eventos que se originan en el otro lado. Hay tres razones principales para estos efectos: proximidad, redes y externalidades. Este ensayo utiliza la perspectiva de economía institucional para argumentar que el ambiente institucional de las ciudades y pueblos fronterizos es binacional. El reconocimiento de este hecho es un primer paso en la gestión de los bienes públicos internacionales y los recursos comunes de la región fronteriza. French abstract: Villes et villages des deux côtés de la frontière américano-mexicaine partagent des caractéristiques qui les différencient des communautés à l'intérieur de leurs nations respectives. Par exemple, les écarts de revenu de part et d'autre de la frontière sont plus réduits que les différences nationales, et chaque côté est fortement influencé par les politiques et les événements qui proviennent de l'autre côté. Trois raisons principales expliquent ces effets : la proximité, les réseaux et les externalités. Cet essai utilise la perspective de l'économie institutionnelle et soutient que l'environnement institutionnel des villes frontalières est binational. Cette reconnaissance est une première étape pour la gestion des biens publics internationaux et des ressources communes de la région frontalière. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transboundary environmental commons are usually conceived in terms of the spatial arrangements that govern transboundary resources and coordinate responses to cross-border environmental threats and crises. Borders in this context tend to be viewed as relatively stable institutions in the administration of geographically dispersed resources with well-defined properties by a jurisdictionally divided collective of users. In practice, however, the transboundary commons defy such clear spatial resolution. This paper contributes to emerging scholarship on the transboundary commons by showing how processes of commoning and b/ordering are continually changing in relation to each other to generate flexible new geographies of conservation practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On a planet experiencing global environmental change, the governance of natural resources depends on sustained collective action by diverse populations. Engaging in such collective action can only build upon the foundation of human cognition in social– ecological settings. To help understand this foundation, we assess the effect of cognitive abilities on the management of a common pool resource. We present evidence that two functionally distinct cognitive abilities, general and social intelligence, improve the ability of groups to manage a common pool resource. Groups high in both forms of intelligence engage in more effective collective action that is also more consistent, despite social or ecological change. This result provides a foundation for integrating the effects of cognitive abilities with other dimensions of cognitive diversity to explain when groups will and will not sustainably govern natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicts in the management of renewable natural resources are situations in which actors have diverging opinions on issues of natural resource use. In the literature, among the causal factors for conflicts discussed are resource wealth or scarcity and the role of governance. The evidence, however, is contradictory. In order to analyze the role of governance in more detail, we propose a combined analysis of property rights and conflicts. In this way, an improved understanding of the causes of local conflicts over renewable natural resources can be achieved. We use comparative case study data from pasture management in the Caucasus region, first, to classify conflicts according to the bundle of property rights approach and, second, to explore how the causal factors resource scarcity and current governance contribute to those conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grazing livestock on commonly managed pastures is a widespread practice in post-socialist countries such as Azerbaijan and Georgia. Despite the value of livestock as an important income source for rural households, commonly managed pastures frequently show signs of degradation, pointing to shortcomings in the joint management of common pool resources in those countries. Among other factors, the success of common management crucially depends on the cooperation and self-organization capacity of stakeholders. Especially in post-socialist countries, their capacity and willingness to cooperate in natural resource management is said to be low due to previous experiences of forced cooperation during the socialist period. In this paper, we investigate stakeholders' capacity to cooperate in natural resource management in two post-socialist countries drawing on a framed field experiment for common pasture use. The analysis of group and individual participant performances show that groups are indeed capable of managing experimental pastures sustainably, especially if participants have the possibility to communicate which, in addition, is positively affecting cooperation. However, we find significant differences in participant performances and decisions between both countries, pointing to differing experiences with real-world pasture scarcity, common pasture management, as well as to differences in social capital endowment and cultural context factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aid of a lab experiment, we explored how imperfect monitoring and punishment networks impacted appropriation, punishment and beliefs in a common pool resource appropriation dilemma. We studied the differences between the complete network (with perfect monitoring and punishment, in which everyone can observe and punish everyone else) and two 'imperfect' networks (that systematically reduce the number of subjects who could monitor and punish others): the directed and undirected circle networks. We found that free riders were punished in all treatments, but the network topology impacted the type of punishment: the undirected circle induced more severe punishment and prosocial punishment compared to the other two networks. Both imperfect networks were more efficient because the larger punishment capacity available in the complete network elicited higher punishment amount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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External actor interventions in community forest management (CFM) attempt to support communities with developing forest institutions and/or improving their livelihoods portfolio. Common pool resource (CPR) scholars argue that forest institutions are required to prevent overharvesting of the forest resource stock (appropriation dilemma), and to encourage investment in its maintenance (provision dilemma). The sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) has been widely used to analyse the influence of interventions on rural livelihoods portfolios. As interventions in CFM span the academic divide between CPR and SLA literatures, analysis of such interventions through either a CPR or SLA lens risks overlooking intervention activities, significant outcomes of the intervention, and the interplay between these outcomes. We propose here an analytical framework which combines CPR and SLA insights and ascertain its applicability by analysing interventions in a forest dependent community in Andhra Pradesh, India. We developed multiple indicators to measure the community’s ability to deal with appropriation and provision dilemmas, and their livelihoods portfolio. Using data from forest plots, household questionnaires, focus group meetings and interviews, we analysed the intervention approaches, activities and outcomes. Our results show that a community’s ability to deal with appropriation and provision dilemmas both affects, and is affected by its livelihoods portfolio. These intricate and dynamic interplays strongly influence the direct and indirect outcomes of intervention activities. Incorporating the synergy between the CPR and SLA perspectives in our analytical framework led us to a much more nuanced understanding of intervention approaches, activities and outcomes than would have otherwise been gained from a single perspective framework.

This paper proposes a property rights perspective to interpret institutional regime shifts in the provision of freshwater ecosystem services. Institutional regime shifts are conceived as persistent changes in the structure and function of a system. Property rights are viewed as an important component of institutional regimes. The paper draws on a case study of flow regulation on the Pongolo Floodplain in South Africa to illustrate the central role of property rights in mediating institutional regime shifts. The case study illustrates that there are many combinations of property rights that underpin institutional regime shifts in the provision of freshwater ecosystem services. It provides useful insights into the consequences of failing to recognize, establish and enforce bundles of rights. A major thrust of the case study is that the nature and context of property rights are important in determining the long-term provision of these services. By examining the configurations of property rights that have governed the Pongola River floodplain over the years, the paper demonstrates the importance of explicitly defining and categorizing the range of rights.

Differences in governance relationships and community efforts to remove an exotic, rapidly spreading invasive plant, the-mile-a-minute weed ('Mikania' 'micrantha'), are explored in five case study community forests in the subtropical region of Chitwan, Nepal. An institutional analysis informs an examination of the de jure (formal) versus de facto (on the ground) institutions and actor relationships relevant to Mikania removal efforts. Contrary to the expectations set by the de jure situation, we find heterogeneous governance relationships and norms related to Mikania management across community forests. Content analysis of interview data illuminates reoccurring themes and their implications for social and ecological outcomes in the communities. Complex governance relationships and regular discussion of distrust of government and non-government officials help explain collective action efforts and management decisions. The content analysis suggests that Mikania is impacting people’s daily lives but the degree of severity and the response to the disruption varies substantially and is heavily affected by other problems experienced by community forest members. Our results indicate that understanding how the de facto, or on the ground situation, differs from the de jure institutions may be vital in structuring successful efforts to manage invasive species and understanding collective action problems related to other social-ecological threats. We present data-informed propositions about common pool resource management and invasive species. This study contributes to a better scientific understanding of how institutions mediate social-ecological challenges influencing common pool resources more broadly.

The incidence of conflicts among communities over the collection of Yarsagumba, the high value caterpillar fungus, has increased after the Government of Nepal has lifted a ban on its collection and trade in 2001. In most cases, conflicts over Yarsagumba harvesting persist either between locals and outsiders, or between collectors within a local community. In the Api Nampa Conservation Area in Darchula District, Nepal, conflicts are primarily caused by the competition for control over resources. The rights of the indigenous Shauka community(migratory herders), the Api Nampa Conservation Authority, and the non-Shauka communities of lower villages are at odds due to a lack of clarity, and the absence of coordination regarding the access to resources in the landscape. The Shauka community has restricted the Yarsagumba collection by ‘outsiders’ to specific and limited areas of their community forest and traditional grazing land. The lowland, non-Shauka community who are dissatisfied with the restrictions have excluded the Shauka people from the utilization of their winter pasture for animal grazing possible through the introduction of a community forestry programme. In this conflict, both communities suffer as the migratory lifestyle of the Shauka has been adversely affected, and earnings of the lowland community from Yarsagumba collection have been reduced. This is a no-win situation. Our study suggests that the Government of Nepal should prepare a national Yarsagumba management policy and local Yarsagumba management guidelines to address conflicts by clearly defining the roles, responsibilities and rights of local institutions and actors, while ensuring the provision of particular services in the community forestry programme to distant and seasonal users.

Co-management has shown great promise in achieving social and ecological goals worldwide. Despite its potential, significant challenges are faced during governance transformations shifting from traditional approaches to fisheries management to co-management systems. Several factors make Hawai‘i an excellent opportunity to study the barriers associated with implementing co-management systems. Hawai‘i implements many of the same types of regulatory and fisheries programs found elsewhere in the U.S., yet it also possesses a unique legacy of customary management systems. In addition, a legal pathway has existed for nearly two decades that allows communities to partner with the State of Hawai‘i to co-manage nearshore coral reef fisheries. Despite the presence of this enabling legislation, extensive community interest in this approach across the archipelago, and significant NGO/Foundation support, co-management implementation remains limited. This study uses a mixed methods approach that relies on semi-structured interviews and archival data sources to conduct an institutional analysis of transaction and transformation costs. These costs serve as barriers to co-management implementation. The study identifies several social and organizational barriers preventing co-management implementation including: governmental structure and operations; planning and administrative processes; organized opposition from special interests; and consensus building processes. The institutional analysis further reveals a wide range of transaction and transformation costs associated with this governance transformation that prevent adoption of co-management. We conclude by identifying some actions that can help reduce these implementation barriers to co-management transitions and prevent conservation stalemates.

Abstract Background Shared facilities are not recognised as improved sanitation due to challenges of maintenance as they easily can be avenues for the spread of diseases. Thus there is need to evaluate the quality of shared facilities, especially in informal settlements, where they are commonly used. A shared facility can be equated to a common good whose management depends on the users. If users do not work collectively towards keeping the facility clean, it is likely that the quality may depreciate due to lack of maintenance. This study examined the quality of shared sanitation facilities and used the common pool resource (CPR) management principles to examine the determinants of shared sanitation quality in the informal settlements of Kisumu, Kenya. Methods Using a multiple case study design, the study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. In both phases, users of shared sanitation facilities were interviewed, while shared sanitation facilities were inspected. Shared sanitation quality was a score which was the dependent variable in a regression analysis. Interviews during the qualitative stage were aimed at understanding management practices of shared sanitation users. Qualitative data was analysed thematically by following the CPR principles. Results Shared facilities, most of which were dirty, were shared by an average of eight households, and their quality decreased with an increase in the number of households sharing. The effect of numbers on quality is explained by behaviour reflected in the CPR principles, as it was easier to define boundaries of shared facilities when there were fewer users who cooperated towards improving their shared sanitation facility. Other factors, such as defined management systems, cooperation, collective decision making, and social norms, also played a role in influencing the behaviour of users towards keeping shared facilities clean and functional. Conclusion Apart from hardware factors, quality of shared sanitation is largely due to group behaviour of users. The CPR principles form a crucial lens through which the dynamics of shared sanitation facilities in informal settlements can be understood. Development and policy efforts should incorporate group behaviour as they determine the quality of shared sanitation facilities.

Using Aristotle’s definition of the tragedy as a metaphor, the essay interprets the tragedy of the commons to highlight the critical role and socio-political importance of the emotions of fear and pity for its resolution and for furthering personal and collective 'eudaimonia' (good life) 'of' and 'in' the commons. Synthesizing the Aristotelian scholarship with pertinent contemporary literature, it presents Aristotle’s engagement with the commons, emotions and virtues, discusses the key notions of the tragedy and offers an Aristotelian rendering of the tragedy of the commons applying a dramaturgical-interpretivist approach. The emotions-driven learning process of catharsis clarifies the causality of the tragedy, motivates action, forms virtuous citizens, ‘cleans’/relieves/purifies the commons of their ills, thus, engendering their catharsis. The comparison of the Aristotelian-inspired with the contemporary institutionalist, moral and phronetic approaches reveals their commonalities and differences. The analysis suggests that emotions should be integrated into current approaches or they might be synthesized into an 'emotions-centered institutionalist-phronetic approach' to the study and governance of the commons. Education of and in the emotions to influence the perception of commons dilemmas, values and morals, coupled with institutional arrangements grounded on phronesis and sufficiency, emerge as contemporary policy priorities. Future interdisciplinary research directions conclude the essay.

Large marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly being established to contribute to global conservation targets but present an immense challenge for managers as they seek to govern human interactions with the environment over a vast geographical expanse. These challenges are further compounded by the remote location of some MPAs, which magnify the costs of management activities. However, large size and remoteness alone may be insufficient to achieve conservation outcomes in the absence of critical management functions such as environmental monitoring and enforcement. The Australian subantarctic Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) Marine Reserve is among the world’s most remote MPAs with notoriously harsh oceanographic conditions, and yet the region’s rich mammal and fish resources have been exploited intermittently since the mid-1800s. More recently, the development of lucrative international markets for Patagonian toothfish, sold as Chilean seabass, led to the growth in both legal and illegal fishing. In 2002, to conserve the unique ecology and biodiversity in the area, Australia declared a 65,000 km2 MPA around HIMI. Worldwide, government agencies have, however, struggled to develop cost-effective institutional arrangements for conservation. This paper therefore draws upon the social-ecological systems meta-analysis database (SESMAD) to characterize the structure of conservation governance and outcomes in the HIMI Marine Reserve. The Marine Reserve has generally been successful in supporting a sustainable fishery while addressing threats to biodiversity. The remote and isolated nature of the Marine Reserve was critical to its success, but also benefited greatly from collaborations between managers and the fishing industry. Commercial fishers keep watch over the Reserve while fishing, report any observations of illegal fishing (none since 2006/07), and have at times been asked to verify remote observation of potential illegal fishing vessels. The industry also undertakes annual ecological surveys in the MPA, allowing managers to track environmental trends. The fishing industry itself highlights the importance of industry participation in conservation planning, strengthened by secure access to resources via statutory fishing rights, which provide critical incentives to invest in conservation. We therefore reflect on the potential application of this case to other remote large MPAs, highlighting potential directions for future research.

The choice of natural resources policies involves stakeholders’ participation with their logical determinants. However, it should not be necessarily that these logical determinants converge on a consensus decision. How to structure the contradictions ? The deliberative approach answers this question with methodological support for debate. Integraal deliberative method has been implemented to formulate a policy in a common pool resource program. The purpose of this report is to present the analysis of the outcomes from this implementation.

This paper seeks to document the experiences of and challenges experienced by farmers resettled according to the communal/villagised model of resettlement in Upper Guruve district in Zimbabwe. The paper is based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork conducted from 2009 to 2017. Almost two decades have passed since Zimbabwe's popular and yet controversial Fast Track Land Reform Programme was introduced in 2000. An analysis of the experiences of resettled farmers reveals challenges borne out of unresolved tenurial rights, unforeseen generational population pressures and conflict erupting between resettled farmers and existing residents from nearby communal areas. This has birthed competition over resources, boundary conflicts and contestations over authority, ultimately leading to livelihood fragility. Compounding the resettled farmers' predicament is the recent discovery of minerals, the mining of which destroys their farms. The paper addresses the three interrelated issues of tenurial conflicts, challenges faced by resettled farmers, and the major contributors of livelihoods fragility in order to examine the causes, context and implications of livelihood fragility on resettled farmers in Upper Guruve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural resource conservation concerns have been prevalent around the world, and a range of solutions has been implemented to prevent their depletion. This paper brings together the literature on the commons and on behavioral principles to understand how traditional communities' management of common pool resources can contribute to this discussion. More specifically, it highlights how these communities can offer lessons to governments on how to develop and manage environmental policies to ensure sustainable development. Whereas Ostrom's work focuses on investigating how local communities succeed at managing common pool resources without external interference, behavior analysis can explain how cultural practices are selected. Through this combined framework, we investigate the practices of an extractive reserve (RESEX) in Brazil. A RESEX is an area of land, generally state owned, where access and use rights, including natural resource extraction, are allocated to local groups. The RESEX Mãe Grande de Curuçá is an example of common pool resource management that uses governmental tools to benefit the community. Fisherfolks are able to successfully conserve one of their main sources of livelihood: the fiddler crab. Finally, this paper describes and behavioral interactions regarding the conservation of resources that governments may want to consider. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many different fields of knowledge approach social problems such as the overuse of resources necessary for human development and survival. Joining that enterprise, behavior analysts strive for a clear description of the contingencies that select problematic cultural practices or prevent the spread of solutional patterns of behavior. This description ought to encompass the reinforcement contingencies that operate not only at the ontogenetic level but also at the cultural level. For that enterprise, especially when one looks at the possible overuse of common pool resources, a dialogue with Elinor Ostrom's work is valuable. This article aims to describe and analyze the selection of different cultural practices in the case of the production of açaí berries in the Brazilian Amazon. In the past, caboclo communities in the Amazon region harvested and consumed the fruit in sustainable common pool management. The boom in the economy in the last 50 years has led to new practices. This paper argues that the profit of this market has selected new interlocked behavioral contingencies that may have different long-term natural effects, such as environmental erosion, and social costs, such as the exclusion of the traditional populations and the limiting of the low-income population's access to the product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "tragedy of the commons" describes the depletion of resources when appropriated by a group of people acting individually. Since the phenomenon was described by Hardin (1968, "The Tragedy of the Commons," Science, 162, 1243–1248), scholars have agreed that the only ways to avoid depletion of resources are private ownership and external governmental control. Elinor Ostrom (2005, Understanding Institutional Diversity, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press) identified a 3rd solution to the tragedy of the commons. She analyzed multiple small communities lasting hundreds and even thousands of years in which the appropriators themselves managed their common pool resources without external governmental control or privatization. Later, Ostrom developed additional principles to analyze more complex social systems. We integrate behavioral and cultural selection perspectives with her work. We analyze appropriators' management of common pool resources in terms of metacontingencies and macrocontingencies operating within larger systems. As an illustration, we applied the integration of Ostrom's institutional framework and culturo-behavioral selection perspectives to appropriators' management of invasive species in an inland lake in Michigan. The appropriators were residents who formed part of a nonprofit association dedicated to sustaining the welfare of their lake. We concluded that the 2 perspectives are complementary and helpful in the management of common pool resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Governance mechanisms to reclassify common land can originate either from within a village or from the state. • We find that economic inequality and privatization of common land through village governance mechanism have a non-monotonic relationship. • However, greater inequality leads to greater state-facilitated leasing of common land within villages. • Multiple dimensions of inequality (including social heterogeneity) must be accounted for to establish a robust relationship between economic inequality and loss of commons. Economic inequality determines collective goods provisioning as well as common pool resources outcomes. However, there is little theoretical or empirical understanding of how (if) inequality influences loss of commons. Using a comprehensive nationally representative dataset from India, we show why this relationship is ambiguous when local commons are governed under an incomplete decentralization regime where higher levels of government retain substantial residuary powers. We establish a non-monotonic relationship between economic inequality and local privatization of the commons within villages. However, economic inequality increases the likelihood of state-facilitated leasing of commons to private interests. We also delineate the role of social heterogeneity in alienation of commons. We use several empirical strategies to establish the robustness of our findings and mitigate possible endogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using Aristotle's definition of the tragedy as a metaphor, the essay interprets the tragedy of the commons to highlight the critical role and socio-political importance of the emotions of fear and pity for its resolution and for furthering personal and collective eudaimonia (good life) of and in the commons. Synthesizing the Aristotelian scholarship with pertinent contemporary literature, it presents Aristotle's engagement with the commons, emotions and virtues, discusses the key notions of the tragedy and offers an Aristotelian rendering of the tragedy of the commons applying a dramaturgical-interpretivist approach. The emotions-driven learning process of catharsis clarifies the causality of the tragedy, motivates action, forms virtuous citizens, 'cleans'/relieves/purifies the commons of their ills, thus, engendering their catharsis. The comparison of the Aristotelian-inspired with the contemporary institutionalist, moral and phronetic approaches reveals their commonalities and differences. The analysis suggests that emotions should be integrated into current approaches or they might be synthesized into an emotions-centered institutionalist-phronetic approach to the study and governance of the commons. Education of and in the emotions to influence the perception of commons dilemmas, values and morals, coupled with institutional arrangements grounded on phronesis and sufficiency, emerge as contemporary policy priorities. Future interdisciplinary research directions conclude the essay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the challenges of the labour market in the post-socialist period. It discusses the issues related to the physical properties of the post-socialists labour force and the social and legal framework in which it operates. Labor traditionally is considered to be a private good in the economic literature, possessing the properties of high excludability and rivalry. We argue that in the post-socialist period, labour looks more like a common pool resource system rather than a private good. In the absence of appropriate legal and social structures, such a system is likely to operate under the conditions of open access. In the long run, this could lead to a depletion of this resource. We argue that looking at labour in the frame of common pool resource, first we can justify better the use of the traditional instruments for intervention at the labour market, and second, this could help to develop a more efficient system for preserving and development of the labour force in the long run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Complex social-ecological systems (SES), especially systems with common pool resources, often exhibit system dynamics characterized by emergence, where system properties cannot be fully explained by input variables. This causes challenges when it comes to explaining resource use problems because problem dynamics can differ from case to case despite similar input variables. Archetype analysis with its focus on identifying building blocks of nature-society relations might provide a means to tackle emergence and complexity in the analysis of resource use problems in SES. Using data from inter- and transdisciplinary research investigating comparative case studies on common village pasture management in the Caucasus region, we use the archetype approach with a focus on system archetypes that place particular emphasis on recognizing recurrent structures and internal dynamics. We apply three system archetypes, the Tragedy of the Commons, Shifting the Burden, and Success to the Successful, to different aspects of interlinked management problems that occur repeatedly in the case study data. Using SES variables characterizing the cases, we discuss variable combinations that may trigger specific dynamics. Moreover, we explore interlinkages between archetypical problems and discuss possible solutions based on self-governance. We find that the archetype approach with a focus on system archetypes resulted in consistent explanations of problem dynamics leading to important additional insights into root causes and internal archetypical dynamics compared with existing knowledge. Regarding problem solutions and policy recommendations, we show that viewing archetypical problems as interlinked in their actual case-study context leads to different recommendations than when each archetype is viewed on its own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an open system, system resources are managed by the contributors themselves. Because the participation needs to be voluntary and contributors true utility will remain unmonitored, proper communication among the participants is essential. In the discussed common-pool resource (CPR) problem, all the members need not be contributors, but the non-excludable component of the resource is required to be multiplied with each of the member's rivalrous component, and all these products are needed to be summed up to calculate the overall resource requirement. This characteristic applies to a typical power system optimization problem, where, if a customer group installs a common dynamic voltage restorer, voltage improvement can be treated as non-excludable quantity, while the peak load of individual customers can be treated as rivalrous quantity. In this work, we consider, the participants sharing the CPR contribute to form an open system to capitalize on ‘economy of scale’, while discouraging the unilateral free-riding benefit. Considering the benefit and average production cost curve represented by piecewise linear functions we have shown that the utility function is convex. Furthermore, for the given problem, we have numerically calculated the utility distribution scheme by solving an optimization problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely recognized that coupled socio-ecological dynamics can be qualitatively different from the dynamics of social or ecological systems in isolation from one another. The influence of the type of ecological dynamics on the dynamics of the larger socio-ecological system is less well studied, however. Here, we carry out such a comparison using a mathematical model of a common pool resource problem. A population must make decisions about harvesting a renewable resource. Individuals may either be cooperators, who harvest at a sustainable level, or defectors, who overharvest. Cooperators punish defectors through social ostracism. Individuals can switch strategies according to the costs and benefits of harvesting and the strength of social ostracism. These mechanisms are represented by a differential equation for social dynamics, which is coupled to three different types of resource dynamics: logistic growth, constant inflow, and threshold growth. We find that when human influence is sufficiently weak, the form of resource dynamics leaves a strong imprint on the socio-ecological dynamics, and human social dynamics are qualitatively very different from resource dynamics. However, stronger human influence introduces a broad intermediate parameter regime where dynamical patterns converge to a common type: the three types of ecological systems exhibit similar dynamics, but also, social and ecological dynamics mirror one another. This regime of strong human influence includes generation of stable limit cycles at high rates of social learning. Such oscillations are a consequence of stronger coupling and are reminiscent of synchrony in other fields, such as the classic problem of coupled oscillators. Socio-ecological convergence has implications for how we understand and manage complex socio-ecological systems. In an era of growing human influence on ecological systems, further empirical and theoretical work is required to determine whether socio-ecological convergence is present in real systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Power imbalances can be hidden when they manifest through inaction instead of action. • Augmenting the IAD using power theory reveals important constraints on collaboration. • This approach reveals how visible, hidden and invisible power shapes CPR governance. • Neoliberal contexts limit collaboration in creating outcomes that challenge industry. Collaborative governance is often used as a strategy to address seemingly intractable common pool resource (CPR) problems. However, significant power imbalances can constrain the creation, adoption and implementation of socially and environmentally desirable policies. This study integrates theory on power with the institutional analysis and design (IAD) framework in order to provide a conceptual framework for examining power that is not captured through the IAD's focus on action situations. We examined the use of collaboration in CPR governance contexts characterized by significant power imbalances. Two Canadian collaborative processes that involve large energy industry interests were studied. We assessed the ability of these collaborative processes to address social and environmental goals. Results revealed significant hidden power dynamics related to inaction and non-decisions. Collaboration was unable to produce progressive outcomes because of i) the restriction of the collaborative agenda by powerful actors; ii) selective enforcement of rules; and; iii) a broader neoliberal context that inherently favoured increasing resource extraction. These findings indicate that the achievement of progressive social and environmental outcomes through collaboration is constrained where powerful resource industries are present as participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tourism is among the largest global market forces driving both environmental and sociocultural change, and indigenous peoples residing in biodiverse regions are particularly vulnerable to this change. As indigenous people engage with global markets, questions arise regarding how different forms of tourism privilege particular indigenous knowledge, and how local communities proactively leverage their knowledge to improve the social and environmental outcomes of tourism. The aim of this ethnographic case study in the region around Misahuallí, Ecuador is to provide a thick description of the tourism-related social, cultural, and environmental changes being faced by this indigenous community, itself a microcosm of the challenges being faced by indigenous communities across the globe. Common pool resource theory and the concepts of subtractability and non-excludability are invoked to analyze the ways that tourism influences the management of traditional cultural knowledge, and alternatively, how this knowledge influences the ways that tourism manifests in the local community. This novel application of traditional ecological knowledge and common pool resource theory to tourism research provides a critical link between these theories, and it extends existing analyses of tourism's influence on common pool environmental resources to common pool cultural resources, in this case, traditional knowledge in Kichwa communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]