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  • Working Paper
    In Praise of the Commons: Another Case Study
    (2001) Tietzel, Manfred
    Subsequently published under the same title in the European Journal of Law and Economics, 12: 159-171 2001. "Common-pool allocation systems do not have the best of reputations in economic literature, since they are normally connected with the dissipation of rents. The present case study argues that in the case of procurement and allocation of human organ transplants a reciprocal common-pool allocation system is superior other systems, including market allocation."
  • Working Paper
    Non-Transferable Utility Values of Voting Games
    (1987) Gardner, Roy
    "A voting game is a non-transferable utility (NTU) game with a simple game structure. When the Shapley-Shubik index of a simple game is strictly positive, then the corresponding voting game has a strict NTU value. Moreover, the Shapley-Shubik index is the unique NTU value for a certain class of voting games. These results lead to a solution of the problem of a group choosing its leader."
  • Working Paper
    Ring Statement: Realising Sustainable Development
    (2007) Ring Alliance of Policy Research Organisations
    "Half a generation has passed since the Rio Summit laid out its ambitious plan for a more equitable and sustainable global future. In that heady and hopeful time, governments first began to see how sustainable development might work in practice, agreeing goals based on the recommendations of Gro Harlem Brundtland’s World Commission on Environment and Development. Yet two decades on, there is little evidence that the scale of action at any level is a match for the magnitude of the problems facing us all. We need to deal with the root causes – but make a major shift in the way we do it, by building sustainability from the bottom up."
  • Working Paper
    The Understanding of Institutions and their Link to Resource Management from a New Institutionalism Perspective
    (2002) Haller, Tobias
    "This paper looks at the theory of the New Institutionalism and how it helps to understand livelihood strategies and institutional change in regard to resource management. This economic theory makes use of methodological individualism and looks at the role formal and informal institutions (rules, norms, values and laws) play in lowering or rising transaction costs in resource management. The paper argues that this approach is a useful tool in order to discuss livelihood strategies. The New Institutionalism looks at historic changes and at power questions (bargaining power of individuals or groups) that are so crucial in the debate on natural resource management. One of the themes useful to illustrate the position of the New Institutionalism is the debate on common property resource management where the notion of the Tragedy of the Commons can be critically questioned. This is done by showing cases where institutions work in order to regulate a sustainable use of common property resources and cases where such rules are absent or do not work (Ostrom 1990). The approach is interesting because it also focuses on the role of the state and external economic, political, demographic and technical changes and how these influence prices for goods and the terms of trade (changes in relative prices). These prices then have an influence on the local level and lead to changes in informal, local institutions, organisation, ideology and bargaining power (Ensminger 1992). In order to illustrate the approach and its use an illustrative example on the institutional changes in African floodplain wetlands is given in the paper."
  • Working Paper
    Defining Nature as a Common Pool Resource
    (2012) Rosenbloom, Johnathan D.
    "One of the many ways in which we attempt to study resource use and conservation is to define natural resources as 'common pool resources.' Yet in a broad sense we can understand nature more generally as a common pool resource with which we maintain a special relationship. This definition incorporates several legal, behavioral, and ecological concepts that seek to capture the intricate and complex place where nature and the governance of nature collide. Once we apply the common pool resource definition to nature, we commit to viewing nature through five distinct and specific lenses that are embedded in the common pool resource framework. This chapter explores these commitments in an effort to establish a foundation for related research on how these common pool resource-specific lenses may influence the management of nature. The chapter begins with a short background on common pool resources and the understanding of them in the legal literature. The chapter then turns to five conceptual commitments we make by labeling nature as a common pool resource. An exploration of the commitments reveals that they have both intended and unintended consequences on the way we view nature. Those consequences, in turn, have both positive and negative implications for the management of nature. Further, regardless of whether the commitments help facilitate positive or negative approaches to nature management, each commitment places limiting and potentially harmful constraints on the broader perspective with which we should view nature. The chapter concludes by raising the question of whether this limited perspective fully considers pertinent characteristics inherent in nature and whether we should think more broadly when defining nature."
  • Working Paper
    Coalitions and the Organization of Multiple-Stakeholder Action: A Case Study of Agricultural Research and Extension in Rajasthan, India
    (1998) Alsop, Ruth
    "Decentralization implies an increase in the number of stakeholders involved in the design and implementation of interventions. This paper draws upon the experience of a multi-stakeholder program in India which has sought to increase the contribution of rainfed agriculture to rural household's economic portfolios. The strategy has been one of enhancing government research and extension service provision through collaboration and coalition building between NGOs and government line departments. Evidence from the last four years demonstrates that coalitions are appropriate vehicles for managing interaction among multiple and diverse organizations. However, as fluid entities without permanent governance systems, coalitions require formalized support mechanisms to function effectively. The value to project designers and policy makers of this paper lies primarily in the description and analysis of the 'nested' organizational support system which developed to fulfill the every day needs of the coalition in Rajasthan. Its secondary value lies in the discussion of conceptual and practical aspects of building and supporting coalitions."
  • Working Paper
    Gender, Social Capital and Information Exchange in Rural Uganda
    (2006) Katungi, Enid; Edmeades, Svetlana; Smale, Melinda
    Changing agricultural research and extension systems mean that informal mechanisms of information diffusion are often the primary source of information about improved seed and practices for farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. This paper investigates the interactions between gender, social capital and information exchange in rural Uganda. Within the framework of farmer-to-farmer models, we conceptualize the informal information diffusion process to comprise social capital accumulation and information exchange. We assume that each agent participates in information exchange with a fixed (predetermined) level of social capital and examine how endowments of social capital influence information exchange, paying close attention to gender differences. A multinomial logit model is used to analyze multiple participation choices of information exchange facing the farmer. Findings demonstrate that social capital is an important factor in information exchange, with men generally having better access to social capital than women. We also find strong evidence in support of group-based technology dissemination systems.
  • Working Paper
    The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Off-Farm Employment and Earnings in Rural China
    (2010) Huang, Jikun; Zhi, Huayong; Huang, Zhurong; Rozelle, Scott; Giles, John
    "This paper examines the effect of the financial crisis on off-farm employment of China’s rural labor force. Using a national representative data set collected from across China, the paper finds that there was a substantial impact. By April 2009 the reduction in off-farm employment as a result of the crises was 6.8 percent of the rural labor force. Monthly earnings also declined. However, while it is estimated that 49 million were laid-off between October 2008 and April 2009, half of them were re-hired in off-farm work by April 2009. By August 2009, less than 2 percent of the rural labor force was unemployed due to the crisis. The robust recovery appears to have helped avoid instability."
  • Working Paper
    Common Property, Collective Action and Ecology
    (1990) Herring, Ronald J.
    "The Joint Committee on South Asia has been working for a number of years, mostly in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, on a project concerning applications of the venerable 'tragedy of the commons' model to specific instances of environmental degradation in South Asia. Several publications are in progress, focused on the case of the Sundarbans coastal ecosystem bridging India and Bangladesh. It is proposed to extend that work geographically, conceptually and theoretically in the form of a project which will involve both broader paradigmatic and methodological perspectives and integration with policy analysis. The conference in Bangalore is seen as an Intellectual extension of that work and the first stage of a larger collaboration across disciplines and resources."
  • Working Paper
    Bolivia Stands Up for Common Wealth
    (2010) Bollier, David
    "Evo Morales's bold bet against privatization pays off."