The Comedy of the
Commons?
Common Property Resource Management
Leah S. Horowitz, Ph.D.
leah@env.leeds.ac.uk
Themes today
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Open-access vs. common property
Privatisation
State ownership
Common property theory
Common property resource management (CPRM)
Problems faced by CPRM systems
Case study #1: Cree Indian fisheries as CPRM
systems
Case study #2: Grasslands management in the
Highlands of Ethiopia
Open-access vs. common property
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Hardin, Garrett 1968.
The tragedy of the
commons. Science
162: 1243-1248.
William Forster Lloyd
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compared the English
labor market to a grazing
commons
people keep adding
cows, having babies
overexploitation,
oversaturation
Hardin’s angle
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individual self-interest
“rational” economic behavior
“Freedom in a commons brings ruin for all.”
Two solutions
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State control
privatization
Requirements for privatization
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Divisibility
Equity of
distribution
Long-term interest
State enforcement
State ownership
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Enforcement
External
management
Resentment
Creating
“open-access”
systems
Common property theory
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Hardin’s unjustified assumptions
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resource users are selfish
common resources are open-access
Common property ≠ open access
Common property resources
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restricted to a group
governed by rules
References
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McCay, Bonnie and James M. Acheson (eds.) 1987. The
question of the commons: the culture and ecology of
communal resources. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
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Ostrom, Elinor 1990. Governing the commons: the evolution
of institutions for collective action. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
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Ostrom, Elinor, Thomas Dietz, Nives Dolsak, Paul C. Stern,
Susan Stonich, and Elke U. Weber 2002. The drama of the
commons. Washington: National Academy Press.
Common property resource
management (CPRM)
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Created under
conditions of scarcity
Advantages
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less bureaucratic
inefficiency
local experience
adaptability
acceptance
cost-effectiveness
Requirements for CPRM
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Small user group
Exclusivity
Social network
Expectations
Cultural factors
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values
ideologies
moral code
Communities are systems of social relations
Disadvantages
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Intracommunity
disputes
Difficulties in
setting rules
Inequitable
resource
distribution
Problems faced by CPRM systems
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Technological
innovation
Commercialization
Education
Changing belief
systems
Government
opposition
Case study #1: Cree Indian fisheries
as CPRM systems
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Berkes, Fikret 1987. Common-property resource
management and Cree Indian fisheries in subarctic Canada.
Pp. 66-90 in B. McCay and J.M. Acheson (eds.) 1987. The
question of the commons: the culture and ecology of
communal resources. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
Chisasibi territory, Canada
Beaver and goose management
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Trap-lines and goose
territories
“Beaver boss” or “gooseshooting boss”
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responsibility to manage the
harvesting activity
community can punish him
Fish management
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Abundant
Only used for food
Management
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fishing territories
inexhaustible
disrespectful to manage
scientifically
follow proper procedures, show
respect
code of ethics
Threats to the Cree CPRM systems
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Improved access
Increased
population
Technology
Loss of
traditional
knowledge
Case study #2: Grasslands
management in Ethiopia
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Ashenafi, Zelealem Tefera and N. LeaderWilliams 2006. Indigenous common property
resource management in the central highlands of
Ethiopia. Human Ecology 33(4): 539-563.
Guassa area, Ethiopia
CPRM of the Guassa area
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“Pioneer fathers” forbid settlement, 17th c.
Qero
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headmen responsible for protecting their area
parishes with headman esquire
restrictions on who and when
patrols
punishments
The socialist revolution
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1975: all rural land
to the state
Guassa Committee
Peasant
associations
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by-laws
patrols
punishments
Problems with the new management
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Ineffectiveness
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lack of ownership
interference
drought
weak enforcement
immigration
market
overexploitation
illegal use
Socioeconomic changes
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increased land pressure
villagization
One community member’s
perspective
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It was a taboo and an insult in our forefathers’
time to sell Guassa grass. How can someone sell
something that is not his own property? We got
the Guassa from our forefathers and we should
hand it to our children as we received it. The
situation is different, now the Guassa grass has
become a commodity to sell and buy in the
market. (A 67-year-old informant from
Tesfomentier Peasant Association)