MAKING THE COMMONS WORK Theory Practie, aridPolcy Daniel W Bromley General Editor MAKING THE COMMONS WORK A publication of the International Center for Self-Governance The mission of the International Center for Self-Governance is to encourage men and women in developing countries to achieve the self­ governing and entrepreneurial way of life. In addition to publishing the finest academic studies, such as Making the Commons Work, ICSG also provides practical materials in a variety of readily accessible formats. In Fall 1993, a complete set of training materials based on the conceptual framework and case studies in this book will be available, including manuals, learning tools, and interactive tasks and games. For more information on ICSG or its publications, training materials, and videos, please contact: ICSG 243 Kearny Street San Francisco, CA 94108 USA (415) 981-5353 MAKING THE COMMONS 'WORK Theory, Practice, andPohAy Daniel W Bromley General Editor Coeditors David Feeny Margaret A. McKean Pauline Peters Jere L. Gilles Ronald J. Oakerson C. Ford Runge James T. Thomson IE PRESS Institute for Contemporary Studies San Francisco, California 1992 Institute for Contemporary Studies This book is a publication of the International Center for Self- Governance, dedicated to promoting tile self-governing and entrepre­ neurial way of life around the world. Tile Center is affiliated with the Institute for Contemporary Studies, a nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy research organization. The analyses, conclusions, and opinions expressed in ICS Press publications are those of the authors and not necesarily those of the Institute for Contemporary Studies, or of the Institute's officers, directors, or others associated with, er funding, its work. Publication of this book was funded by the U.S. Agency for Interna­ tional Development. Some chapters in this book are revised arid updated versions of works first presented at the Conference on Common Property Resource Management (1985), which was sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council. Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quota­ tions in critical articles and reviews. Inquiries, book orders, and catalog requests should be addressed to ICS Press, 243 Kearny Street, San Francisco, CA 94108. (415) 981-5353. Fax (415) 986-4878. For book orders and catalog requests call toll free in the contiguous United States: (800) 326-0263. Distributed to the trade by National Book Network, Lanham, Maryland. Project editor: Barbara Beidler Kendrick Copyeditor: J. M. B. Edwards Proofreader: Barbara Ferenstein Indexer: Patricia Ruggiero Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Making the commons work : theory, practice, and policy / Daniel W. Bromley, general editor ; coeditors David Feeny . let al.]. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 1-55815-19,-2. -- ISBN 1-55815-217-2 (pbk.) 1. Commons. I. Bromley, Daniel W., 1940-. II. Feeny, David, 1948- . HD1286.M35 1992 333.2-dc2O 92-24880 CIP Contents List of Tables vii List of Figures ix Foreword Robert B. Hawkins, Jr. x Part 1: Common Property as an Institution 1. The Commons, Property, and Common-Property Regimes 3 Daniel W. Bromley 2. Common Property and Collective Action in Economic Development 17 C. Ford Runge 3. Analyzing the Commons: A Framework 41 Ronald J. Oakerson Part 2: Case Studies of Common-Property Regimes 4. Management of Traditional Common Lands (Iriaichi) in Japan 63 Margaret A. McKean 5. Commonfield Agriculture: The Andes and Medieval England Compared 99 Bruce M. S. Campbell and Ricardo A. Godoy 6. Institutional Dynamics: The Evolution and Dissolution of Common-Property Resource Management 129 James T Thonison, David Feeny, and Ronald . Oakerson 7. Success and Failure in Marine Coastal Fisheries of Turkey 161 Fikret Berkes 8. Sea Tenure in Bahia, Brazil 183 John Cordell and MargaretA. McKean vi Contents 9. Common-Property Resource Management in South Indian Villages 207 Robert Wade 10. Oukaimedene, Morocco: A High Mountain Agdal 229 Jere L. Gill's, Abdellah Hanontnjdi, and Aohaimed Mahdi 11. The Management and Use of Common-Property Resources in Tamil Nadu, India 247 Piers Blaikie, Johni Harriss, and Adam Pain Part 3: Toward a Theory of the Commons 12. Where Do We Go from Here? Implications for the Research Agenda 267 David Feeny 13. The Rudiments of a Theory of the Origins, Survival, and Performance of Common-Property Institutions 293 Elinor Ostron Index 319 About the Contributors 333 List of Tables 2.1 The Prisoner's Dilemma 22 6.1 Major Changes in the Thai System of Property Rights in Land, 1800-1982 146 7.1 Description of Five Fisheries in the Study Area, Southern Turkey, 1983 165 7.2 Changes in Catch and Catch per Unit of Effort (CPUE) of Ta~ucu Cooperative Fishermen after Entry of Shrimp Trawlers, Starting 1983, into Their Area 177 10.1 Use of Agdal Camps by Valley of Origin, Rhiraya Households 239 11.1 Changes in Land-Use Patterns Relevant to Common- Property Resources, Tainil Nadu, 1961-1962, 1969­ 1970, and 1981-1982 249 11.2 Changes in Livestock Population, Tamil Nadu, 1961­ 1982 261 12.1 Examples of Studies on the Management of Common- Property Resources, Classified by Research Design 269 13.1 Variables Mentioned by Case Authors as Being Associated with the Emergence of Appropriator Organizations 299 List of Figures 2.1 Relationships between Benefits and Cooperation 24 2.2 Number of Agents Choosing to Cooperate 28 3.1 A Framework for Analyzing the Commons 53 3.2 A Dynamic Framework 56 4.1 Iriaichi Surrounding the Communities of Yamanaka, Hirano, and Nagaike 67 7.1 The Study Area, Showing the Five Fisheries 164 8.1 Fishing Territories of Southern Bahia 187 10.1 Location of the Rhiraya Territory and Oukaimedene Agdal 231 11.1 Common-Property Resources (CPRs) Mentioned in This Chapter 248 Foreword A common historical myth holds that Europe's peasants and yeomen who worked the commons were inefficient cultivators, and that it took the forced enclosure movements of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, turning the commons into private property, to bring efficiency and increased productivity to agriculture. Like yesterday's nobili, 3; contempo­ rary social scientists often take a jaund-ced view of common-property institutions, again making the commons an object of derision and "re­ form." Theorists decrying the "tragedy of the commons" rely on the arid reasoning of the "prisoner's dilemma" to demonstrate the impossibility of long-lasting voluntary cooperation or effective collective action. The conf-ibutors to Making the Comnions Work take a fresh approach, emphasizing not the tragedy but the possibilities of the commons, both in theory and in practice. Drawing on case studies from countries around the world, they develop a new set of constructs to explain how small-scale common-property systems can be successful and durable. The message this book delivers is especially meaningful for today's public policy debate over natural resources. This debate usually takes for granted that natural resources should be owned either privately or by the state. The former promises us efficiency, but often at the cost of commu­ nity and democratic values. The latter claims to address these values, but often at the cost of efficiency, as bureaucracy takes its inevitable toll, destroying community and self-governing values. Making the Commons Work gives us a third path to consider: common­ property ownership by self-governing associations ,ilocal users. The studies in this book illustrife the utility of governing resources as common property-from forests to fisheries, grazing land to shared irrigation systems-around the globe. The theoretical implications gleaned from these examples carry important lessons for all areas of the world, both developing and developed. Most important, this book shows that people on the local level can handle complex social and economic issues successfully and equitably, xii Foreword sometimes for hundreds of years. Often, economic aid to developing countries has ignored these small-scale but effective local institutions, mistakenly relying instead on privatization or state ownership to solve development and natural resource problems. Even in the developed world, political and economic "progress" too often seems to result in stripping creativity, power, and initiative from average citizens. The evidence and arguments presented in this book show that this need not, and should not, happen. Many difficult problems can be ameliorated or solved by empowering those most directly involved witL sufficient author­ ity to devise and enforce small-scale, community solutions. Robert B. Hawkins, Jr. President Institute for Contemporary Studies PART 1 Common Property as an Institution The Commons, Property, and Common-Property Regimes Daniel W Bromley There can be no more important aspect of scholarship than the business of concepts and language. If scholars use the same words or terms to describe fundamentally different situations, ideas, or phenomena, then progress in understanding is impeded rather than advanced. In the literature on natural resources and environmental policy, it would be difficult to find an idea (that is, a concept) as misunderstood as "com­ mons" or "common property." The mischief that arises from the continu­ ing failure to understand common property is perverse in both scholarly discussions and public policy formulation. On the former front, scholars will show no hesitancy to expound on the problems inherent in common property without the benefit of first defining "property," and without betraying any understanding of the historical and contemporary facts surrounding common-property regimes. On the practical side, they will show equal confidence in advising all who will listen about how to "solve" the so-called tragedy of the commons. This mischief is then perpetuated among politicians who, as Keynes put it, are under the thrall of some now­ defunct economist.