Property Regime and Grazing Policy: Adaptations to Institutional Change in Grassland China

Abstract

"This paper analyzes farmers' adaptations to grassland related institutional change, mainly on grassland reform and grazing policy change. Institutions of Sustainability (IoS) Framework is employed for institutional analysis to understand the way local people respond to institutional change and the reasons underlying decision making processes. The findings reveal that existing institutional setting fail to balance the economic, social and environmental systems. The exclusion of locals from current policy making process and unstable policy jointly puts grassland users in decision making dilemmas."