Citation:
Jean-Maries Baland and Jean-Philippe Platteau. Halting the Degradation of Natural Resources: Is there a Role for Rural Communities? (Oxford: Clarencon Press, 1996), 407 pp.
Halting the Degradation of Natural Resources: Is there a Role for Rural Communities? will be of interest to those who seek an understanding of principles for local management of natural resources. The work is divided into two parts, the first of which is an examination of economic reasons for local-level resource management. The second part is an empirical assessment of the feasibility of such management. The authors begin with a clear and concise introduction to their work which carefully lays out its structure. This cannot be improved upon by this author; thus, it will be quoted from extensively.
In the first chapter, an attempt is made at defining what is meant by the optimal use of a natural resources. ... in the real world many resources are clearly over-exploited in ways incompatible with any optimality criterion. The main source of this mismanagement of natural resources is widely known in the literature as the tragedy of the commons' which attributes the inefficiency in resource use to the absence of well-defined property rights. Chapter 2 is devoted to an in-depth analysis of this issue. ...
In Chapter 3, a balanced view is proposed of the various implications of privatization of the commons. It is argued that, even on the basis of the strict criterion of efficiency, privatization of natural resources is not always an appropriate solution. In chapter 4, we call into question the pessimistic view according to which uncoordinated human behaviour inexorably leads to the destruction of the commons, as implied by the tragedy of the commons. It is argued that decentralized mechanisms may possibly prompt agents to avoid the collectively irrational outcome that such destruction amounts to. ...
Chapter 5 first examines the contribution that game theory can make to the understanding of these two problems. In a second step, special attention is paid to heterogeneous situations in which different types of actors interact. In particular, we try to assess the threat to the stability of coordinated solutions that may be caused by a minority of opportunistic actors, both in small and large groups. In chapter 6, we relax the assumption of non-socialized individuals implicit in economic theorizing. More precisely, we envisage the role of moral norms as a possible way of shaping individual preferences and expectations in a way conducive to cooperation. ...
Chapter 7 confronts many of the results of non-cooperative game theory reviewed in the previous chapters with the findings of social experimental psychology. ... Chapter 8 is devoted to the detailed analysis of the possibility of collective regulation of the use of local resources. ... Chapter 9 offers some concluding reflections on the privatization of common property resources.
In Part II, the main lessons drawn from Part I are confronted with the evidence accumulated in field settings, mainly pertaining to traditional village societies in developing countries ... the following questions are addressed ... 1. Do we find in these societies mechanisms or behaviours that have the effect of regulating use of common property resources? ... 2. How can we assess and explain the degree of effectiveness of state intervention in village-level resources? ... 3. Has the ability of traditional village societies in designing and enforcing effective regulatory schemes been affected by recent changes in the broad technological, demographic, social, and political environment in which these societies operate? ... 4. What are the main factors conditioning success of collective action with respect to local-level management of common property resources? ... 5. Do we find intermediary regimes at work that go beyond the conventional distinction between private, state, and community management?
Halting the Degradation of Natural Resources: Is there a Role for Rural Communities? is a carefully organized work which closely examines the topic at hand. While a fair background in economics is required for the reading of Part I, Part two is accessible to the informed reader.