Ostrom, Hardin and the commons: A critical appreciation and a revisionist view

Araral, Eduardo

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2013.07.011

Cited by 153 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…There were not glaring spatial mismatches between the scale of the governance system and the scale of the resource. Group size was difficult to assess in this case, since it is not clear what group is relevant to measure, but in contrast to Araral's (2014) argument that large group size makes collective action unfeasible, we did not see clear relationships between group size and outcomes. Several sources argue that not all factors from CPR theory need be present for a case to be successful (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

“…Previous scholarship on the matter (e.g. Keohane and Ostrom 1995;Dietz et al 2003;Stern 2011;Araral 2014) has provided conflicting answers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Common-Pool Resource (CPR) theory, as applied to forestry, largely focuses on the prospect for collective action to solve commons dilemmas at the local or village level (Tucker 2010;Araral 2014). While Land Use and Cover Change (LUCC) scholarship focuses on large-scale drivers of forest cover change, it is largely silent on the role of policy and governance (Rudel 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…First, with nearly 100 million hectares of forest remaining, Indonesian forests are an example of large-scale Common Pool Resource (i.e. a resource typified by rivalrous consumption and difficult exclusion) with global importance (Barr et al 2006;Araral 2014). These forests represent the world's third largest tropical forested area, contain 23 GT of carbon stocks (Van der Werf et al 2009), and 2 of 25 global biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Evaluating the utility of common-pool resource theory for understanding forest governance and outcomes in Indonesia between 1965 and 2012

Fleischman¹,

Loken²,

García-López³

et al. 2014

Int J Commons

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While Common Pool Resource (CPR) theory has been widely applied to forestry, there are few examples of using the theory to study largescale governance. In this paper we test the applicability of CPR theory to understanding forest governance and outcomes in Indonesia between 1965 and 2012. Indonesia contains one of the world's largest tropical forests, and experienced rapid deforestation during this time frame, with forest cover dropping from close to 85% to less than 50%. Using a mixture of within case comparison and process tracing methods, we identify key variables that influenced the levels of deforestation during two time periods: before 1998, when governance was dominated by the dictatorship of President Suharto, Evaluating the utility of common-pool resource theory 305 and after 1998, when democratic governance and political decentralization were initiated, and deforestation rates fell and then rose again. Our results point to the value of CPR theory in identifying important variables that influence sustainability at large scales, however they also illustrate important limitations of CPR theory for the study of forests with large spatial extent and large numbers of users. The presence and absence of key variables from CPR theory did emerge as important causes of deforestation. However, some variables, such as strong leadership and local rule-making, appeared to work in the opposite direction as predicted by CPR theory. In addition, key variables that may have influenced deforestation rates are not well captured in CPR theory. These include the intention of the governance system, the presence of clientelistic politics, the influences of international politics and markets, and the influence of top-down governance. Given that CPR theory does not fully explain the case at hand, its applicability, as is, to large-scale commons should be treated with some caution.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 49%

“…Previous scholarship on the matter (e.g. Keohane and Ostrom 1995;Dietz et al 2003;Stern 2011;Araral 2014) has provided conflicting answers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Evaluating the utility of common-pool resource theory for understanding forest governance and outcomes in Indonesia between 1965 and 2012

Fleischman¹,

Loken²,

García-López³

et al. 2014

Int J Commons

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Chuenpagdee and Jentoft (2013) suggest that power imbalances can constitute an important governability problem and even bring the entire governing process to a halt. According to Araral (2014), productive cooperation in the regional commons in the presence of asymmetric power relations is extremely difficult.…”

Section: Power Imbalancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limits to the Governability of Transboundary Fisheries: Implications for Small-Scale Fishers in Northern Sri Lanka and Beyond

Scholtens

2015

MARE Publication Series

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Transboundary fisheries are a worldwide phenomenon that has considerable impact on small-scale fisheries. This chapter explores governability problems of transboundary fisheries in connection with small-scale fishers' marginality. Insights are derived by studying the practice of transboundary fishing in the Palk Bay, South Asia, where a sizable Indian trawler fleet impedes Sri Lankan small-scale fishers from carrying out their occupation. By analyzing the features of the fisheries systems and the fragmented governance practices, this chapter raises six issues that challenge the overall system's governability: 1) mismatch between the scale of governance and the scale of the problem; 2) high level of institutional fragmentation with limited cross-linkages; 3) actors' strategic framing of the nature, causes and solution to the problem; 4) power imbalances between Sri Lankan and Indian fishers; 5) deep politicization that has linked fisheries issues to higher level ethnic and geopolitical conflicts; and 6) path dependency of the trawl sector. I conclude that while co-governance is in theory crucial for transboundary governance to be more responsive to the situation at hand, governability analysis explains why constructive collaborative practices are difficult, if not impossible, to create in practice in this case 2 .

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Actor perceptions of polycentricity in wind power governance

2018

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Wind power development as an alternative to fossil fuels or nuclear energy is currently a challenge for many countries. Wind power development often leads to conflicts between different actors. This case study examines conflict about wind power projects in forested landscapes in Rhineland‐Palatinate, Germany, and Maine, USA. Specifically, actor perspectives on polycentric governance and its legitimacy to manage such complex conflicts were evaluated based on 40 qualitative, semistructured interviews with actors engaged in wind power decisions from various sectors. Polycentric governance has been advocated by many to alleviate conflicts and arrive at sustainable solutions in complex resource management settings. Polycentric governance systems of wind power issues were regarded positively and considered as having high legitimacy by interview participants. Even though individuals had varied perceptions, the combined perceptions of the two polycentric systems in Rhineland‐Palatinate and Maine and the factors that constitute legitimacy in wind power governance were similar in both cases.

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Ostrom, Hardin and the commons: A critical appreciation and a revisionist view

Cited by 153 publications

References 25 publications

Evaluating the utility of common-pool resource theory for understanding forest governance and outcomes in Indonesia between 1965 and 2012

Evaluating the utility of common-pool resource theory for understanding forest governance and outcomes in Indonesia between 1965 and 2012

Limits to the Governability of Transboundary Fisheries: Implications for Small-Scale Fishers in Northern Sri Lanka and Beyond

Actor perceptions of polycentricity in wind power governance

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