Natural Resource Institutions Research Articles

Institutional Management of Mangrove Ecosystems on Small Islands to Support Sustainable Utilization

Introduction: Tanakeke Island is one of the small islands in Indonesia that features mangrove ecosystems. In the 1980s, the area of mangroves on Tanakeke Island was approximately 1,770 hectares. However, between the 1980s and the 2000s, the mangroves were reduced by 60 percent due to uncontrolled exploitation and environmental changes. This paper aims to analyze the institutional linkages related to the current management of the mangrove ecosystem on Tanakeke Island and its impact on the sustainability of mangrove utilization. Research Methods: The analysis utilizes the concept of the dynamics of institutional resource management development (Ostrom, 1990) to assess the state of institutional management of the mangrove ecosystem and its relationship to sustainable use. Results: At the time of this research, Tanakeke Island had established rules governing mangrove utilization and rehabilitation activities. The mapping results indicate that the mangrove ecosystem management institutions on Tanakeke Island are currently in an “institutional self-governing period,” as defined by Ostrom (1990) framework for the dynamic development of natural resource institutions. Conclusion: The findings suggest that these management institutions are progressing toward self-governance, as they have demonstrated the ability to manage mangrove resources independently. At the time of this research, the institutions responsible for managing the mangrove ecosystem on Tanakeke Island support the sustainable utilization of mangroves.

Do natural resource rents aid renewable energy transition in resource‐rich African countries? The roles of institutional quality and its threshold

AbstractTransitioning to a carbon‐neutral renewable energy (REN) option to decarbonize ecosystems and mitigate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the negative impacts of climate change is consistent with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 7 and 13. Scholars have identified natural resource wealth and institutions as critical factors in the REN transition in resource‐rich countries. Financial barriers are arguably the most significant impediments to transitioning to REN, as it is more capital‐intensive and costly to produce, invest in, and use than traditional fossil fuel‐based energy. Meanwhile, weak institutions and corruption in most resource‐rich countries culminate in the resource curse phenomenon and the mismanagement of natural resource wealth. It implies that institutions (weak or strong) modify the natural resource rent contribution to the REN transition. Previous research has paid little attention to the impact of the interplay between natural resources and institutional quality on the REN transition in resource‐rich African countries. This study examines how institutions moderate the contribution of natural resource wealth to accelerating or inhibiting the REN switch in resource‐rich African countries for the period 2000–2021, using fully modified ordinary least squares, a Driscoll–Kraay nonparametric covariance matrix, and moments‐based quantile regression estimators. This study departs from earlier studies by determining the institutional quality threshold above which institutions significantly stimulate natural resource rents to accelerate Africa's REN transition. The findings indicate that institutions in resource‐rich African countries breed inefficient bureaucracies and corruption in natural resource rent administration. These undermine the ability of natural resource incomes to facilitate a shift to renewable energy sources. The threshold analyses indicate that most resource‐rich African countries operate below the institutional quality threshold. This finding corroborates that inefficient institutions abet natural resource rent mismanagement and hinder the channeling of resource income toward the REN transition. The findings' policy implications are robustly articulated and outlined.

Natural resource dependence, policy and institutions for environmental sustainability and African welfare

AbstractIn developing countries, particularly in Africa, dependence on natural resources poses a threat to development, leading to poor health, reduced productivity, and increased poverty among nations. This raises significant concerns for the prospects and welfare of Africa, given the rising environmental pollution. However, the literature on the mitigating effect of policies and institutions for environmental sustainability (PIES) on resource‐dependent countries in Africa is scarce. As a result, this study explores the effects of natural resource dependence and the mediating effect of PIES on under‐five mortality and human development in Africa. This novel hypothesis may contribute to the divergent differences in African welfare. Using a panel of 30 resource‐dependent countries spanning 2005 to 2021 and employing the two‐step dynamic generalized method of moments, the study provides evidence in support of the novel hypothesis. The findings show that dependence on natural resources can be either a blessing or a curse for African countries, depending on the degree to which environmental sustainability is embraced. Furthermore, a heterogeneous analysis demonstrates significant support for countries with high policies and institutions for environmental sustainability in mitigating the negative impacts of natural resource dependence on welfare. The study concludes that dependence on natural resources without environmental sustainability cannot guarantee a balance between the well‐being of the economy and the environment. Therefore, environmental management should not be politically motivated so as to sustainably improve human well‐ being in Africa.

Legitimacy and Wildlife Disease: Should Chronic Wasting Disease be Managed without Government?

Natural resource institutions have embraced a deliberative turn to improve how they solve management problems and promote peacebuilding with and among stakeholders. However, actors who would rather not help decide, understand, evaluate, or implement decisions, or, at least not be dictated to in that regard, pose challenges to democratic governance arrangements. Such an inclination can be prevalent among landowner segments and befuddle efforts to safeguard state trust resources such as wildlife. Specifically, landowners’ decision to self-govern can be problematic for wildlife disease management because voluntarism is critical to curbing the negative effects of disease. Researchers suggest that different types of legitimacy play an important role in explaining obedience, interest, or realized engagement or collaboration. We studied which types of legitimacy drive Texas landowners living in the midst of the deadly and highly infectious chronic wasting disease (CWD) to disengage with state-led disease governance that aims to protect deer, elk, and moose populations. Our survey of 481 landowners revealed that a pathway towards landowner willingness to engage CWD management in Texas requires top-down and bottom-up alignment with conceptions of ideological and consequential legitimacy. Given the results of our study, an evolution in contemporary CWD governance would require elements of both socially constructed instrumentally- and value-rational norms (i.e., CWD management in the right way and for the right reasons) to carve a space for political legitimacy at different levels, with aims of rendering voluntarism to benefit the common good culturally normative.

Natural resource abundance, environmental sustainability, and policies and institutions for environmental sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper examines the effect of natural resource abundance on environmental sustainability while considering the mediation role of policies and institutions for environmental sustainability (PIES). We used 29 sub-Saharan African countries, further disaggregated into 11 resource-rich and 18 resource-poor countries over the period 2005–2017. We find that natural resource abundance improves environmental sustainability by utilizing the System-Generalized Method of Moments (system-GMM) and Panel-Corrected Standard Error (PCSE). We further find that resource-rich countries deteriorate environmental sustainability more than resource-poor economies in SSA. Lastly, we find PIES improve environmental quality or sustainability. We conclude that SSA's natural resource abundance enhances environmental sustainability if PIES are strengthened. We call for stringent and appropriate environmental policies and measures toward environmental sustainability.

Flathead Lake Biological Station: Sentinel of the Lake Since 1899

Flathead Lake Biological Station: Sentinel of the Lake Since 1899

Women's land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: Framework and review of available evidence

This paper reviews the literature on women’s land rights (WLR) and poverty reduction. It uses the Gender, Agriculture and Assets Project (GAAP) conceptual framework to identify pathways by which WLR could reduce poverty and increase wellbeing of women and their households in rural areas. It uses a systematic review search methodology to identify papers for inclusion, but adopts a more synthetic approach to assess the level of agreement and the amount of evidence within this literature. The paper examines the evidence from qualitative as well as quantitative studies on each of these pathways. Owing to the scarcity of experimental studies, the review of empirical work is based mostly on observational studies. We find some evidence on these relationships, but many of the key pathways have not been empirically analyzed. The evidence is strong for relationships between WLR and bargaining power and decision-making on consumption, human capital investment, and intergenerational transfers. There is a high level of agreement, but weaker evidence on the relationship between WLR and natural resource management, government services and institutions, empowerment and domestic violence, resilience and HIV risk, and consumption and food security. There is less agreement and insufficient evidence on the associations between WLR and other livelihoods, and a higher level of agreement, but still limited evidence on associations between WLR and credit, technology adoption, and agricultural productivity. Notably, we find no papers that directly investigate the link between WLR and poverty. Many gaps in the evidence arise from a failure to account for the complexity of land rights regimes, the measurement of land rights at the household level, the lack of attention paid to gender roles, and the lack of studies from countries outside Africa. Many studies are limited by small sample sizes, the lack of credible counterfactuals, lack of attention to endogeneity and selection bias, and possible response bias on questions of domestic violence and empowerment. There are very few rigorous evaluations of reforms that strengthened WLR. The paper concludes that gaps in the evidence should not deter the careful design and implementation of programs and policies to strengthen WLR, given the ongoing land tenure reforms in many countries. Different modalities and mechanisms for strengthening WLR could be tested, with appropriate counterfactuals. Program designers and evaluators can strategically identify pathways and outcomes where evidence gaps exist, and deliberately design studies to close those gaps.

Community Participation in Decentralized Management of Natural Resources in the Southern Region of Mali

<p class="1Body">Decentralized governance of natural resources is considered one of the key strategies for promoting sustainable management of natural resources at local level. Effective decentralized natural resource management requires strong local natural resource institutions. Therefore, strengthening local institutions governing the management of natural resources is one of the core principles of decentralization reforms in Francophone West Africa countries. This study assessed the existing local institutions (rules, norms and or local conventions) governing the management of natural resources and forms of community participation in the development of these natural resource institutions. Our findings showed significant variation within the study sites regarding the level of knowledge of existing local rules and norms governing the management of natural resources by the respondents. Results showed that the level of knowledge of local conventions was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in the district of Bougouni than in the district of Koutiala (a score of 3.16 compared to 1.70 on a scale of 0 to 4).This study shows also that participation was dominated by a small group of individuals, often community leaders and elites. The results suggest that women are marginalized. Presently, the big challenge that faces the institutions governing natural resource use in the study area is the system of representativeness in the community in the development of local rules and norms as community leaders and household heads often dominate, which does not encourage active participation of community members. Therefore, for effective implementation of local natural resource institutions, the interest of key natural resource users should be taken into account. It is also important to promote rules and norms that attempt to protect or strengthen women’s access to natural resources in the community.</p>

The powers of water-user associations: on multiplicity, fluidity, and durability in the Peruvian Andes

In this article we use insights from institutional bricolage and actor network theory to make sense of an Andean water user association (WUA) and its bricoleurs in the Region of Ayacucho, Peru. Rather than being designed and clearly defined, we see natural resource institutions as continuously performed and patched together, through heterogeneous elements and practices, by those that live, experience and enact these institutions every day and by those who make sense of them. We present three cases, three supra-community efforts to secure water livelihoods, in which the Ayacucho water user association is enacted differently. Similar actors and practices like, water law, local customs, water bodies, and ecological services are performed in alternate ways for diverse purposes. It is this range of co-existing performances or enactments and the fluidity of actors and bricoleurs which enables an institution to adapt and adjust. We hold that an Andean WUA can be a bureaucratic imposition, but in many ways the WUA is something else too: a strategic ally; a prerequisite for subsidy consideration, a marketplace for exchanging goods and services and more. In the setting of the contemporary Peruvian Andes, the durability of natural resource institutions can be understood through the fluidity and multiplicity of performances and purposes. This has normative and political implications for researchers and policymakers as to what enactment they consider and target.

Natural resource abundance, institutions and economic growth in Africa

The study analysed the effect of institution on resource curse abundance–economic growth nexus using the system generalised method of moments. The empirical results refute the resource curse hypothesis in Africa. In addition, institutions have dampening effect on the nexus. This stems from the fact that the institutional development level of most African countries is weak. The study also found out that the resource curse hypothesis is not peculiar to oil wealth as indicated in the literature. Lastly, our results do not support the rentier effect as a possible channel of the hypothesis.

Rules, Norms, and Injustice: A Cross-Cultural Study of Perceptions of Justice in Water Institutions

Access to water is often inequitable, and perceived as unjust by stakeholders. Based on qualitative analysis of 135 ethnographic interviews in Bolivia, Fiji, Arizona, and New Zealand, we conduct a cross-cultural analysis to test for shared notions of justice in water institutions (i.e., rules, norms). A key finding is that institutional rules are a common concern in evaluations of justice, but institutional norms were prominent in justice evaluations only in the Bolivia site (where water access problems are most acute). Similarly, while concerns related to distributive and procedural justice were widely shared across community sites, interactional justice was only a salient concern in Bolivia. We propose that the study of water and other natural resource institutions will benefit from an expanded concept of environmental justice that includes interactional injustices and also a more explicit analytic focus on institutional norms, particularly for communities that face resource scarcity and less-developed economic conditions.

The state of the application of ecosystems services in Australia

We review the environmental challenges, cultures and institutions in Australia that have allowed the concept of ecosystem services to be tested and adapted. In some instance the nation has embraced the opportunities offered with ecosystem services forming the core of several large-scale reforms and collaborations that have considered dependence of humans on ecosystems. In other ways, however, the opportunities have been overlooked as Australia lacks effective institutions to consider human–environment interactions holistically and strategically. The term “ecosystem services” appears widely but it is mostly used superficially: often with reference to only a few services. The full suite of services, benefits and beneficiaries if humans and the natural environment are to coexist in the long-term have not been systematically included in decision making and management. Insights are distilled that may be useful in the application of ecosystem services in other parts of the world. Stable and well-funded regional natural resource and river basin management institutions have vital roles. Governance reforms at the national and state (provincial scales) are also needed to apply ecosystem service frameworks and improve accountability for implementation of policy agreements.

Understanding Factors That Influence Stakeholder Trust of Natural Resource Science and Institutions

Building trust between resource users and natural resource institutions is essential when creating conservation policies that rely on stakeholders to be effective. Trust can enable the public and agencies to engage in cooperative behaviors toward shared goals and address shared problems. Despite the increasing attention that trust has received recently in the environmental management literature, the influence that individual cognitive and behavioral factors may play in influencing levels of trust in resource management institutions, and their associated scientific assessments, remains unclear. This paper uses the case of fisheries management in the northeast to explore the relationships between an individual's knowledge of the resource, perceptions of resource health, and participatory experience on levels of trust. Using survey data collected from 244 avid recreational anglers in the Northeast U.S., we test these relationships using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that participation in fisheries management is associated with increased trust across all aspects of fisheries management. In addition, higher ratings of resource health by anglers are associated with higher levels of trust of state and regional institutions, but not federal institutions or scientific methods.

It takes more than a village: the challenges of co-management in Uganda's fishery and forestry sectors

Decentralisation policies in least developed countries have emerged in response to failed centralised natural resource governance programmes because high-value natural resources are distributed unequally, with central governments often reaping more than local-level users. Current natural resource governance institutions have been created to remedy the problems that central governments formerly posed. Here, we argue that Uganda's forestry and fishery resources are biologically diverse and thus amenable to current decentralised management programmes, provided that there is compromise between market values and local cultural and subsistence values and uses. We observe, however, Uganda's current institutional arrangement favours the former over the latter and determine that successful natural resource decentralisation requires strengthening local-level natural resource institutions with increased fiscal flow, enforcement, monitoring and judicial powers. A strong and reliable partnership between local-level resource users and the central government is necessary for this to occur.

The politics of space in Borana Oromo, Ethiopia: demographics, elections, identity and customary institutions

This article addresses the protracted state of political violence in and around the Borana and Guji zones of Oromia region after the introduction of ethnic federalism in Ethiopia. To account for the persistence of the conflict, we must elaborate on the connections between ethnic identity, natural resource and customary institutions by introducing the notion of “primary identity”. Since the turn of the millennium there is in Ethiopia a theoretically grounded attempt to co-opt customary institutions and elders into modern governance, particularly in the pastoral sector. Field-research focused on the interplay of customary and modern politics during two electoral events, the 2004 referendum organised to solve the border issue between the Somali Regional State and Oromia, and the 2005 national elections. Analysis of local political dynamics indicates that the strategy of the federal government was shaped by the need to control the insurgency of the Oromo Liberation Front. Local political motivations also played a role. The combination of these two factors resulted in systematic abuse of human rights and the manipulation of development and refugees policies, involving an informal “demographic politics of space” that displaced the Borana Oromo from a large area of their customary territory, relegating them into a state of permanent food dependency. It is argued that the restoration and strengthening of customary governance holds the best prospect for improving this situation.

Cursing the Blessings? Natural Resource Abundance, Institutions, and Economic Growth

Since Sachs and Warner’s [Sachs, J. D., & Warner, A. M. (1995a). Natural resource abundance and economic growth. NBER working paper, no. 5398] contribution, there has been a lively debate on the so-called natural resource curse. This paper re-examines the effects of natural resource abundance on economic growth using new measures of resource endowment and considering the role of institutional quality. We find a positive direct empirical relationship between natural resource abundance and economic growth. In both OLS and 2SLS regressions, the positive resource effects are particularly strong for subsoil wealth. Our results also show no evidence of negative indirect effects of natural resources through the institutional channel.

MEASURING TRANSACTION COSTS: DIVERGING APPROACHES, CONTENDING PRACTICES

This paper brings order to the vast conceptual and empirical literature on measuring transaction costs. It critically reviews the broad and diverse landscape of the field of transaction costs measurement, ranging from financial economics, Williamsonian transaction cost economics, the transaction sector, non-marketed transaction costs, environmental economics and natural resource management, institutions and development, and the economics of identity. Three sources of and three approaches to transaction costs are identified. Though the literature as a whole appears in disarray, each research program is driven by its own internal dynamics between conceptual and empirical challenges. The paper proposes that a systematic investigation of the light that the concept of transaction cost sheds on the structure of production stands out as a most promising approach to move the field forward.

Cursing the Blessings? Natural Resource Abundance, Institutions, and Economic Growth

Since Sachs and Warner's (1995a) contribution, there has been a lively debate on the so-called natural resource curse. This paper re-examines the effects of natural resource abundance on economic growth using new measures of resource endowment and considering the role of institutional quality. We find a positive direct empirical relationship between natural resource abundance and economic growth. In both OLS and 2SLS regressions, the positive resource effects are particularly strong for subsoil wealth. Our results also show no evidence of negative indirect effects off-natural resources through the institutional channel.

Command and control in natural resource management: Revisiting Holling and Meffe

Command and control in natural resource management: Revisiting Holling and Meffe

A step back as donors shift institution building from the public to the “private” sector

Frustrated with public sectors in developing countries, donors have shifted support to nonprofit nongovernmental organizations. This paper questions the preferability of the nonprofit or public sector from the donor and host country perspectives. Case study experience from agriculture and natural resource institutions in Ecuador and the Dominican Republic is presented to expand upon current thinking about the role of the nonprofit sector. Nonprofits are found to possess substantially increased flexibility for donor purposes and avoid many of the pitfalls of the political process. They are, however, subject to free-rider problems and bear no responsibility to the general public.