The Co-Production of Property Rights: Theory and Evidence from a Mixed-Right System in Southern Mexico
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THE CO-PRODUCTION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS: THEORY AND EVIDENCE FROM A MIXED-RIGHT SYSTEM IN SOUTHERN MEXICO. Derek L. Kauneckis Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Political Science, Indiana University June 2005 UMI Number: 3178428 Copyright 2005 by Kauneckis, Derek L. All rights reserved. UMI Microform 3178428 Copyright 2005 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Doctoral Committee: ______________________________ Elinor Ostrom, Ph.D., Chair ______________________________ Matthew Auer, Ph.D. ______________________________ Clark Gibson, Ph.D. ______________________________ Kerry Krutilla, Ph.D. April 18, 2005 ii Copyright 2005 Derek L. Kauneckis ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii Acknowledgements: The research that made this dissertation possible would never have been completed without the support of the Fulbright-Robles Fellowship. During my time at Indiana University support from the Center for the Study of Institutions, Population and Environmental Change (CIPEC), the Workshop in Policy Theory and Policy Analysis and the teaching opportunities offered by both the Department of Political Science and the School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) were critical in financing my way through the program. The intellectual environment and research at the Workshop and CIPEC was the intellectual source of the ideas presented here, and were critically important in their development. I owe thanks to numerous visiting scholars and presenters at the Workshop colloquium from whom I’ve learned so much. I am also grateful for the exceptional faculty instruction I received in the Department of Political Science and SPEA. In particular, I owe an intellectual debt to a number of faculty whom through their teaching and advice provided support and inspiration. Kathryn Firmin-Sellers supplied the theoretical foundation and intellectual inspiration for the research during her New Institutional Economics and Development course. During the early stages of the project, Ken Bickers graciously provided a willing listening ear to half-formed ideas. John Williams encouraged my continuing pursuit of advanced methods and through his dry wit, helped keep things in perspective. His humor and intellect will be missed. Roger Parks was a steady source of support and practical advice, much of which I foolishly ignored. However, those few pieces of advice I did follow, made all the difference. iv The community of graduate students in Political Science and SPEA has also provided a critical source of support and inspiration. I was lucky to be able to learn from the lessons of fellow students as well as a group of committed post-docs. Thanks to Glen Green, Charlie Schweik, Mark Imperial, Susan Raines, Angelica Toniolo, Tanya Hayes, Lilian Marquez- Barrientos, Salvador Espinosa, Esther Mwangi and Krister Andersson for their friendship, advice and the examples they provided. I offer a special thanks to the people who made my field research at the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve possible. Foremost is Rodolfo Lôpez Lôpez of the community of El Carmen Dos, who was my tireless research assistant, and who became a friend. His depth of knowledge and experience in the region was essential for developing my own understanding of local institutions and politics. He has a contagious enthusiasm about sharing the local culture and love of the area that made working with him that much more enjoyable. Kathleen Dowd Gailey, while working at PRONATURA, provided my initial network of contacts in the region and was a constant friend. Jonathan Dowd Gailey kept my ear tuned to global politics, even while my attention was focused on the local micro-level, and was an indispensable source of conversation and debate. Likewise, Claudia Radel, from the Dept. of Geography at Clark University was a valuable colleague and neighbor who helped my adjustment into the local fieldwork setting. While all the staff at PRONATURA deserve thanks for their support, both in the field as well as out; Joanna Andrews, María Andrade Hernández, Juan Carlos Faller and Carmen Salgado, deserve special mention for generously giving their time and patiently answering my questions. A special thanks also goes to Francisco Gurri García, Manual Pat and the staff at ECOSUR Campeche, for providing access to their library, data and a valuable network of scholars working on similar issues. v I am appreciative to Lin and Vincent Ostrom in many ways. Most importantly for having been given the honor of being part of the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. The Workshop is a unique intellectual environment that provides the opportunity to follow one’s curiosity without regard to disciplinary boundaries, while being part of a community of scholars addressing similar puzzles. Additionally, Lin and Vincent, through their generous attention and care for their students, the depth of their intellectual work, and their willingness to engage the world of policy in rigorous and intellectually challenging ways, have provided incredible role models for the type of scholar many of us aspire to. To this day I continue to learn from my reflections on Vincent’s comments during class, even though at the time I did not always fully understand their significance. As an advisor, Lin has provided infinite patience and support. More than anything, I am grateful to have been part of the dynamic intellectual activity that surrounds everything she does. While it has been difficult to keep up, I have become a more mature scholar and better prepared for an academic career because of it. Beyond the incredible scope and depth of her intellectual inquiry, and her ability to effortlessly cross disciplinary boundaries, I have learned the value of collaboration and the strength that a community of scholars provides. Her ability to look beyond the problems that societies face, and instead see the multitude of diverse solutions, is a lesson I hope I’ve retained. My other committee members have also earned my sincerest gratitude. Foremost, Matt has always provided an open door and a generous intellect to discuss ideas. On numerous occasions he has given invaluable professional advice. I deeply appreciate his friendship and support. Kerry was a vital source of intellectual support, and the words of encouragement he offered were critical in getting through the dissertation process. I thank vi Clark for the professional advice he has provided at a number of key junctions of my graduate school experience and for remaining a valuable contributor to the end. My parents, and our extended families, have been tremendously supportive. I am thankful to have been provided the right combination of curiosity, a thirst for knowledge and the hard-headed diligence necessary to succeed in the program. Without their support and continued expression of pride in my accomplishments, I never would have finished. More likely, I never would have started in the first place. Finally, thanks to the one person to whom I owe the most, my partner in life, Iskra. She has provided constant emotional support and words of encouragement at the most critical times. She has the ability to put things back in perspective and force the occasional break from work, even when I don’t see how badly it is needed. I simply cannot image someone with whom better to face life’s adventures. vii Derek Kauneckis THE CO-PRODUCTION OF PROPERTY RIGHTS: THEORY AND EVIDENCE FROM A MIXED-RIGHT SYSTEM IN SOUTHERN MEXICO. Abstract: This dissertation presents a framework for explaining variation in property right institutions as a result of interactions among decision-makers at three levels; formal government actors, the community of right-holders and individual right-holders. It uses a simple game-theoretic model where enforcement is the mechanism linking levels of interaction to the property institution. Property rights are understood as a function of the value of the resource to which a right has been assigned and the cost of enforcement. It recognizes that representatives of formal government, including bureaucrats, regulators and various types of law enforcement and monitoring agents do not uniformly enforce claims to property. Right-holders make decisions about contributions to the production of a property right institution based on expectations of external third-party enforcement, levels of peer-enforcement and their own ability to individually enforce property claims. This combination of different types of enforcement activities determines the structure of rights that ultimately results. The theoretical framework is applied to the empirical case of a mixed-right system among communities bordering a National Park in the southern Mexican state of Campeche. Data collection incorporated a structured survey administered across a selection of twelve communities and semi-structured interviews with public and private agency officials. The results support the institutional economics perspective that resource value is fundamental to viii understanding property right institutions, and that enforcement