Chapter 8* - Management of CPRs:

Summary

We consider a timeless model of a common property resource (CPR) in which N herdsmen are able to graze their cattle.²⁶⁴ The model has been constructed deliberately along orthodox economics lines. That enables us to study alternative institutions in a sharp way. For example, the model eschews non-linearities in the processes that drive a CPR’s productivity. The model allows us to explore three regulatory regimes for managing CPRs: (i) privatisation of the CPR; (ii) communitarian management; and (iii) state management. In Section 8*.3 we show how features of the socio-ecological world we know can be introduced into the basic model. Only empirical evidence on the significant features of each of the three institutions can tell us how to modify the model. The context will be found to matter. Grazing fields are different from crop fields, and coastal fisheries are different from rain forests. As in all other matters in the socio-ecological world, there is no unambiguous answer.