Common Property Rights Research Articles

The Role of Collective Action and Identity in the Preservation of Irrigation Access in Dacope, Bangladesh

Agriculture is one of the most culturally and economically important livelihood activities of the Ganges River Delta. In recent years, coastal communities have experienced longer dry seasons and salinity intrusion, which is exacerbated by registration errors in land tenure that have led to increasing encroachment by external interests in the Dacope sub-district of Bangladesh. These challenges threaten to undermine the sustainability of smallholder access to canals that are collectively managed as common-pool resources (CPR). This paper explores how identity and collective action may empower farmers to secure irrigation access in the face of external pressures. Drawing primarily on qualitative data collected through focus group discussions with farmers in Dacope, our findings reveal that identity serves as a powerful force driving collective action and the sustainability of the agricultural community. A shared occupational identity fosters a sense of belonging and collective responsibility among farmers to maintain water flow through construction, annual dredging, and temporary dry-season protections. However, despite a strong commitment to maintaining their irrigation system, challenges remain in farmers’ ability to combat the powerful interests of wealthier members of the community that threaten to undermine the viability of the irrigation commons. Thus, formal support through policy and legislative avenues is also necessary to safeguard common property rights against the threat of privatization and illegal occupation of canals. These findings further underscore the need for more research on how collective identity may strengthen collective action, livelihoods, and sustainability in the absence of strong institutional arrangements that uphold community rights and access to common-pool resources.

Land reallocation and collective action in the commons: Application of social-ecological system framework with evidence from rural China

There is already a rich literature on collective action surrounding irrigation systems, which constitutes a significant mainstream knowledge system in the field of collective action. However, within this mainstream knowledge system, little attention has been paid to the impact of land reallocation with demographic changes on collective action. This form of land reallocation is a unique phenomenon under the common property rights in China, which is rare in the world. Based on the theoretical framework of social-ecological systems and survey data obtained from 4809 households in 16 provinces of rural China, the empirical results indicate a significant adverse influence of volatile land reallocation on collective action related to irrigation, which is mediated by land transfer, average parcel size, and village disputes. These results underline the need for secure land tenure to foster collective action in rural areas. This research contributes new variables and empirical evidence from China to the field of collective action research. Additionally, this study broadens the scope of the traditional economic focus of agriculture on land reallocation by encompassing the realm of commons governance.

The Concept of Common Property at the Present Stage

Common property as a legal category of Russian law plays an important role in property relations with the participation of many persons — owners (civil law community). The paper examines the provisions of the Russian civil legislation concerning common property, in particular the owners of immovable property, adopted in order to implement the Concept of Development of Civil Legislation in 2009. In addition, dwells on the issues of common property of members of an investment partnership, peasant (farmer) unions and other corporate associations. The paper analyzes the concept of «common property» at the present stage and defines its characteristic features. Special attention is paid to the issue of the mixed nature of ownership of common property. The author explains the rights of owners in relation to common property, including property, managerial and information rights. The author substantiates a truncated possibility of implementing the classical triad of the rights of the owner (possession, use and disposal) in relation to the property in question. The paper examines the procedure for exercising the powers of the owner of common property, disposing of objects from the common property (including their transfer and alienation to third parties), as well as the consequences of violating the rights and legitimate interests of persons arising from transactions with common property. In conclusion, the author’s concept of common property is defined by referring it to the civil law community — the collective owner. The paper proposes approaches to the legal assessment of the content of the owner’s competence, possible areas of application of the category under consideration and the functional suitability of common property.

Gender gaps in land rights: Explaining different measures and why households differ in Myanmar

AbstractMeasuring and understanding gender differences in property rights is key to informing policy decisions and guiding investments aimed at fostering gender equality. However, there are a myriad ways of assessing property rights. Firstly, we assess which indicators to use and why it matters, focusing on rural Myanmar. Myanmar provides an interesting setting, as a large part of the population customarily follows joint property rights in marriage and upon dissolution of marriage and inheritance. However, documented property rights are in the household head's name – usually a male household member. We find that capturing de facto transfer rights is essential, but understanding discrepancies between reported transfer rights and documented rights will be key to policymakers. Capturing agricultural decision‐making should remain a priority for agricultural projects. Second, we perform household‐ and intra‐household level analyses to explore why we find joint land rights in some, but not all, households; and why some household members have less land rights than others. A common property rights regime positively reinforces women's land rights, but incompletely so. Within households, a person's role in the household, age, and key life cycle events such as parenthood and marriage are key determinants of having land rights.

Urban enclosure, neighbourhood commons, and community participation willingness: Evidence from Shanghai, China

While the neighbourhood has been recognised as the basic unit for civic engagement and social cohesion, debates have emerged regarding the social and political implications of the territorial enclosure of urban neighbourhoods. In post-reform China, the tradition of urban enclosure has persisted, but its potential effects on community participation have not been fully studied. Using a household survey collected across different types of inner-city neighbourhoods in Shanghai, this study examines how enclosed neighbourhood commons provide physical, social, and institutional sources for residents’ community participation. The findings show that neighbourhood commons play an important role in increasing residents’ willingness to participate in collective decision-making and action-taking. However, the mechanism differs in some ways from both the common-ownership-based private governance and the bottom-up commoning actions. Instead, territorial enclosure of urban commons is a state strategy for effective urban governance. The case of Shanghai, therefore, offers an understanding of community participation in gated communities beyond common property rights and illustrates the importance of a context-dependent analysis of the multidimensional relationships between neighbourhood commons and participation.

Responsibilities of Land Deed Officials In Disputes of Making Deeds of Sale and Purchase of Inherited Land

The purpose of this study is to find out the PPAT's responsibility in making the deed of sale and purchase of jointly owned land rights (boedel) which is in dispute and to find out the efforts of PPAT in completing the deed of sale and purchase of land which is still in the status of joint property rights (boedel). The research method used is sociological juridical, research based on a principle of law or regulation that applies to the reality that occurs in society or in practice as it is. The results of the study found that the PPAT's responsibility was in making the deed of sale and purchase of landShared Property Rights (Boedel) Those Who Are Still Disputingwill not continue in making the deed of sale and purchase when one of them still objected or is still in dispute because it is already contained in the laws and regulations but in other studies will still accept the disputed on the condition that mediation must be carried out so that the problem can be solved and PPAT's efforts in completing the deed of sale and purchase of land common property rights, namely by conducting deliberation.

Analysing land use/land cover changes and its dynamics using remote sensing and GIS in Gubalafito district, Northeastern Ethiopia

Mapping and quantifying the status of Land use/Land cover (LULC) changes and drivers of change are important for identifying vulnerable areas for change and designing sustainable ecosystem services. This study analyzed the status of LULC changes and key drivers of change for the last 30 years through a combination of remote sensing and GIS with the surveying of the local community understanding of LULC patterns and drivers in the Gubalafto district, Northeastern Ethiopia. Five major LULC types (cultivated and settlement, forest cover, grazing land, bush land and bare land) from Landsat images of 1986, 2000, and 2016 were mapped. The results demonstrated that cultivated and settlement constituted the most extensive type of LULC in the study area and increased by 9% extent. It also revealed that a substantial expansion of bush land and bare land areas during the past 30 years. On the other hand, LULC classes that has high environmental importance such as grazing land and forest cover have reduced drastically through time with expanding cultivated and settlement during the same period. The grazing land in 1986 was about 11.1% of the total study area, and it had decreased to 5.7% in 2016. In contrast, cultivated and settlement increased from 45.6% in 1986 to 49.5% in 2016. Bush land increased from 14.8 to 21% in the same period, while forest cover declined from 8.9 to 2% in the same period. The root causes for LULC changes in this particular area include population growth, land tenure insecurity, and common property rights, persistent poverty, climate change, and lack of public awareness. Therefore, the causes for LULC changes have to be controlled, and sustainable resources use is essential; else, these scarce natural resource bases will soon be lost and will no longer be able to play their contribution in sustainable ecosystem services.Article HighlightsForest cover and grazing lands declined rapidly.Fluctuating trends in cultivated and settlement, bush land and bare land.Population pressure and associated demand are the main causes behind LULC changes in the study area.

Land Cover Change in the Blue Nile River Headwaters: Farmers’ Perceptions, Pressures, and Satellite-Based Mapping

The headwaters of the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia contain fragile mountain ecosystems and are highly susceptible to land degradation that impacts water quality and flow dynamics in a major transboundary river system. This study evaluates the status of land use/cover (LULC) change and key drivers of change over the past 31 years through a combination of satellite remote sensing and surveying of the local understanding of LULC patterns and drivers. Seven major LULC types (forest land, plantation forest, grazing land, agriculture land, bush and shrub land, bare land, and water bodies) from Landsat images of 1986, 1994, 2007, and 2017 were mapped. Agriculture and plantation forest land use/cover types increased by 21.4% and 368.8%, respectively, while other land use/cover types showed a decreasing trend: water body by 50.0%, bare land by 7.9%, grassland by 41.7%, forest by 28.9%, and bush and shrubland by 38.4%. Overall, 34.6% of the landscape experienced at least one LULC transition over the past 31 years, with 15.3% representing the net change and 19.3% representing the swap change. The percentage change in plantation forest land increased with an increasing altitude and slope gradient during the study period. The mapped LULC changes are consistent with the pressures reported by local residents. They are also consistent with root causes that include population growth, land tenure and common property rights, persistent poverty, weak enforcement of rules and low levels of extension services, a lack of public awareness, and poor infrastructure. Hence, the drivers for LULC should be controlled, and sustainable resources use is required; otherwise, these resources will soon be lost and will no longer be able to play their role in socioeconomic development and environmental sustainability.

Integrating endemic medicinal plants into the global value chains: the ecological degradation challenges and opportunities

Though innovations for sustainable management of natural resources have emerged over time, the rising demand for nature based health solutions and integration of endemic flora into global value chains could have adverse impacts on ecosystems. The ecological risks in the exploitation of the wild endemic medicinal plant resources are exacerbated by a myriad of agrotechnological risks and challenges that highly constrain their domestication. Successful exploitation and commercialisation of medicinal plants thus require a clear understanding of their demand and production systems or value chain analysis. Accordingly there is need for innovative approaches towards their integration into global value chains. Since quality and safety, traceability, certification, as well as consumer tastes and preferences are critical drivers in purchasing decisions by global consumers, they are inadvertently exploited to weaken Indigenous knowledge (IK), undermine common property rights and entrench value chains that favour a few elite buyers. This tend to create pervasive incentives for overexploitation of medicinal plant resources and environmental degradation. Potential solution lies in the recognition of drivers of vulnerability to environmental degradation and the innovative use of policy bricolage, feedback loops and interactions between knowledge, power and agency on one hand, and collective action and property rights institutions on the other hand. We conceptualise a framework that can mediate a transformational agenda and enhance systematic understanding of sustainability lenses in endemic medicinal plant resources value chains. This could strengthen IK, enhance collective action and promote participation of local actors with positive impact on the utilisation and integration of endemic medicinal plant resources into global value chains.

Complex property rights and Coasean bargaining in natural resource management

ABSTRACT This paper contributes to the debate on whether private or common property rights are better for advancing the sustainable management of natural resources. This contest between public and private ownership is often exaggerated, we claim, because in the real world, complex entitlements with varying degrees of privateness/publicness prevail. Property rights belonging to families, companies, clubs, corporations, and communities are simultaneously common to the members/shareholders and private to the entities. We call these entitlements private-common entitlements. When we acknowledge this complexity, it becomes evident that neither private nor common ownership rights are alone responsible for resource depletion. Instead, depletion is caused by freeriding or evading the payment of the full price of natural resources. This invites Coase’s solution to resource allocation. Therefore, the key problem is whether and how Coasean bargaining is employed to allocate ownership over resources threatened by depletion. We contribute to the debate by showing that Coase’s approach promotes not only economically efficient but also ecologically sustainable resource management. Often, this approach would lead to the establishment of largely private property or control rights by largely collective/public entities. We apply this theoretical framework to the development of a ski resort in Pirin Mountain, Bulgaria.

Assessment of Sustainable Utilization of Ecosystem Services in Different Stages of Mangrove Forest Restoration at Klong Khone Sub-district, Samut Songkhram Province, Thailand

Understanding the function of the ecological restoration of mangrove forests leads to appropriate sustainable utilization (SU) of ecosystem services (ES) during development stages of mangrove ecosystem for sustaining the local livelihood and maintaining the mangrove ecological production. The study aims to identify the SU which was changed relying a development of ES at Klong Khone (KK) Sub-district, Samut Songkhram Province, Thailand. The SU was collected by in-depth interview with 20 key respondents, questionnaires survey with 140 fishermen and statistical scientific data on developed mangrove forest areas. Descriptive statistics and event analysis were employed to analyze the data. The study found that bottom-up management tools based on a local people’s participation were applied to determine a way of harvest of ES. An application of these local tools including a common property right, land use zoning, application of local knowledge, human resources, and financial and technological transfer resulted in different utilizing activities of ES during the development of mangrove forest restoration stages. The results showed that the ES produced during mangrove stand initiation stage were mainly harvested for food (90%) and during the young forest regrowth stage (87%) (N = 140). They were also widely used for operating aquaculture during mangrove stand initiation stage (39%), but they were harvested with more concerns about environmental impacts during the young forest regrowth stage (47%) (N = 140). The cultural services during young forest regrowth stage were increasingly utilized for diversified incomes from ecotourism (46%) and education learning program (50%) (N = 140). The ES from developed mangrove forest were harvested effectively based on an application of SU tools which were locally developed by local people’s participation. The SU tools can be proposed and applied in other communities where have similar ecological, social and cultural conditions as KK sub-district to support the SU of ES.

Research on the Influence of the Mode of Home with Joint Property Rights on the Commercial House Prices Based on Synthetic Control Methods——Taking Huangshi City as An Example

By the synthetic control method and monthly panel data of 21 cities from March 2008 to December 2014, this paper analyzes the effects of the mode of housing with common property rights and regulation policy on commodity housing prices of Huangshi City and the sensitivity of housing prices to policies. The results show that the effect of the mode of home with joint property rights on the commodity house price of Huangshi City is not significant, which shows that the commodity house price of Huangshi City is less sensitive to the related regulatory policies. Therefore, this paper suggests that the government should establish new special housing management institutions or adjust, improve the responsibilities of the existing housing management institutions, expand the number of applicants for home with common property rights, especially for those who have the prominent contributions to the society, which can be allowed to apply the housing with the joint property rights even if they are in the middle income level, restructure or standardize the existing management system, laws and regulations and set up an effective management system for participating in the construction and management of home with common property rights.

Zajednički pravno-vlasnički režim kao moguće rješenje ekoloških problema

The following paper provides an overview of the relationship that exists between different property-right regimes and the problem of over exploitation of ecological and other natural resources as a whole. New theoretical insights, developed especially by Elinor Ostrum, indicate the superiority of common property as a regime for managing these resources. When it is known that common property shows superiority evem in new platform technologies, then it is clear why this topic deserves such a brief overview that would further encourage research of this kind in our country as well. The paper especially points out the set of conditions under which joint ownership can be superior compared to private and state regime. Rules for designing a good regime of common property rights are also discussed.

The 1927 Radio Act as Pre-emption of Common Law Property Rights

The 1927 Radio Act imposed a new legal regime for radio spectrum: The Act established administrative allocations according to the “public interest.” This reform has been credited by the U.S. Supreme Court with bringing order out of chaos and thereby averting endemic market failure. Ronald Coase challenged the logic of the resulting regulatory policy but not its historical origins: He attributed the regime shift to policy makers’ failure to grasp the possibility of ownership rights in frequencies. An alternative interpretation, however, explains the Radio Act as a measure that was designed to block such property rules. The legal history and market data tend to support the latter.

TOWARDS A TAXONOMY FOR PUBLIC AND COMMON PROPERTY

AbstractThis article argues that public property rights should be recognised as a separate category of property interest, different and distinct from private and common property interests and conferring distinctive rights and obligations on both “owners” and members of the public. It develops a taxonomy to differentiate private, public and common property rights. The article concludes that it is a mistake to think in terms of “private property”, “common property” or “public property”. The division and allocation of resource entitlements in land can result in private, common and public property rights subsisting over the same land simultaneously, in different combinations and at different times. The categorisation of property interests in land (as private, common or public) may also shift and change from time to time. The article considers the importance of distinguishing between private, common and public property interests for developing new strategies for environmental governance, and for implementing the effective protection of natural resources.

A comparison of freshwater fisheries management in the USA and Japan

The USA and Japan differ in their approaches to managing inland recreational fisheries. The USA uses a public property rights regime whereby access rights are assigned to the states, which manage the fishery resource for the public good. Japan uses a common property rights regime whereby access rights for waterways are assigned to fishery unions, which manage the resource for the benefit of their members. Members of fishery unions are likely to develop an emotional attachment to the fishery that results in few regulation violations or illegal fish introductions. The USA would benefit from actions that promote such a caretaker attitude toward the environment. Habitat improvement is a major activity in the USA but is less prevalent in Japan where stocking is the dominant management activity. Catch-and-release angling, size restrictions, and employment of professional fisheries biologists are more prevalent in the USA compared to Japan. The USA has a tax on fishing equipment that funds management activities whereas such a funding source is lacking in Japan. Despite differences in management regimes, both countries face similar challenges in recruiting new anglers and meeting the conflicting mandates to enhance sport fisheries while conserving native species.

Recreational Rights to the Dry Sand Beach in Florida: Property, Custom and Controversy

At the close of the 2018 legislative session Florida Governor Rick Scott signed HB 631 into law. Included in the bill, which addressed a number of issues relating to actions for ejectment from real property, was an amendment to the Florida Community Planning Act entitled “Establishment of Recreational Customary Use.” The new statute immediately created a sandstorm of controversy as the media seized on what many in the public perceived to be a land grab over the public’s right to recreate on Florida’s sandy beaches. As it turns out, the story is considerably more nuanced, and neither the advocates on both sides nor the media did the public any favors in the commentary and reporting on this issue. However, both the background to the legislation and subsequent events indicate that the public is rightly concerned about efforts to limit recreational access, some of which have been spurred or exacerbated by what had been a largely localized controversy. This paper begins by briefly describing the history of the current controversy, which had its origins in Walton County, Florida. The conflict centers on arguments about the public’s right to use the dry sand beach -- that area of the beach that is between the line of vegetation and the mean high tide line, and is often privately owned. We then discuss the broader legal context that gives rise to boundary disputes along dynamic shorelines and provide the essential policy-relevant facts concerning public and private sandy beach ownership. In order to fully understand the legal basis for the public’s claim of right to use the sandy beaches and the legislative response, we summarize the history of the relevant legal doctrine – known as customary use -- that came over from England during the post-colonial era and made its way into the law of a number of states, including Florida. We offer a detailed review of the Florida Supreme Court’s landmark case on the customary use doctrine along with subsequent lower court cases interpreting it. We then attempt to identify the legal issues that have created widespread confusion regarding the interplay among the common law property rights at issue, local ordinances that recognize and regulate those rights, and particularly, the state legislation that precipitated the widespread attention to and conflict over this issue -- HB 631, now codified in Fla. Stat. 163.035. After flagging several legal issues at the heart of the conflict, we provide an annotated summary of the statute that describes the interpretive issues it raises or may raise. We conclude by discussing some of the options available to the Florida legislature to resolve the sandstorm of controversy that HB 631 engendered.

Managing natural resources: Coasean bargaining versus Ostromian rules of common governance

The purpose of this paper is to explore the forms of ownership over natural resources according to the theories of Coase and Ostrom. Coase’s work is regarded as a theoretical basis for establishing private ownership over natural resources, whereas Ostrom’s theory is considered the most influential one supporting common/collective ownership. The key research question of the paper is whether the two theories are indeed opposite and contradictory. The novelty of our approach is that we account for the nature of common property rights in light of Buchanan’s theory of clubs, thereby showing that the opposition between the concepts of Coase and Ostrom is exaggerated. The point is that ownership is generally considered only in its most extreme forms – purely private and purely public. By referring to Buchanan, we show that in contexts of common/collective entitlements with varying degrees of publicness/privateness, Coasean bargaining and Ostromian rules of common/collective governance can coexist and work together effectively. On this basis, this research proposes a framework for defining policies for managing natural resources.

The Continuing Relevance of Common Law Property Rights and Remedies in Addressing Environmental Challenges

Environmental protection and natural resources management is today dominated by legislative measures and administrative procedures. Enforcement and penalty regimes for environmental damage and the management of natural resources are all highly regulated. Nevertheless, there remains the oft-neglected realm of common law rules and procedures available to individuals and public interest groups, and indeed government, as alternate or supplementary mechanisms to enforce rights and obligations, to guide the implementation and interpretation of environmental regulation, and to provide new avenues for addressing environmental challenges. The common law, particularly in the areas of tort and property, has demonstrated remarkable adaptability in addressing novel environmental threats and in innovating to protect environmental values and incentivize ecologically-sustainable development of natural resources. This article is intended to provide a review of the historical and current contribution of the common law, focusing particularly on property law concepts and property-related torts, and to explore the future potential of those mechanisms in contributing to environmental protection and environmentally-sustainable development. The article draws on cases and developments in a number of similar common law jurisdictions, including Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Navigating customary law and state fishing legislation to create effective fisheries governance in India

When customary legal systems exist alongside state regulations, individuals can choose between these different frameworks to support their claims to resources. Research suggests that such framework switching to maximize self-interest weakens and challenges resource management. Multiple legal systems are at work in India's fisheries and this study examines how they work to govern conflict over purse-seine fishing in the Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra State. Through participant observations, interviews and state fishing law reviews, this study finds evidence of strong customary legal systems, operating through local cultural practices, to protect common property rights, equitable access, ethical and ecological concerns. In contrast, state legislation appears weak because it addresses issues of local concern, such as equitable access, at a slow pace and over such a large scale as to be absent. Consequently, multiple legal systems in these fisheries do not create a management challenge that follows a predictable path towards resource degradation. Instead informal, customary rules applied alongside formal state legislation interact in complex ways that create opportunities for effective co-management.