PRIORITIES FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH Five Papers on Selected Research Topics Commissioned by the Harvard Institute for International Development Papers by: R. Albert Berry Sara S. Berry Louise P. Fortmann H. Jeffrey Leonard Jon R. Moris Edited by: Merilee S. Prindle S. Tjip Walker February 1984 Prepared by the Harvard Institute for International Development for the Office of Rural Development Bureau for Science and Technology, USAID under Project Number 931-10Y6 9 PRIORITIES FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH Five Papers on Selected Research Topics Commissioned by the Harvard Institute for International Development Papers by: R. Albert Berry Sara S. Berry Louise P. Fortmann H. Jeffrey Leonard Jon R. Moris Edited by: Merilee S. Grindle S. Tjip Walker February 1984 Prepared by the Harvard Institute for International Development for the Office of Rural Development Bureau for Science and Technology, USAID under Project Number 931-1056 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CONTRIBUTORS xii I. RESEARCH PRIORITIES ON EMPLOYMENT AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT IN 1 RURAL REGIONS R. Albert Berry Introduction 1 Characteristics of Rural Non-Farm Enterprises 2 The Importance of Research on RNAE 4 Research Directions 10 Digression: On the Appropriate Definition of "Rural" in the Context of Research on RNAE 32 Notes on Research Orgauization and Methodology 34 ** Issues Raised During the October Workshop 39 II. SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT: A 42 FRAMEWORK FOR POLICY RESEARCH H. Jeffrey Leonard Introduction 42 Review of Fxisting Research 53 An Agenda for Future Research 59 Research Recommendations 79 ** Issues Raised During the October Workshop 94 III. INSTITUTIONAL CHOICE FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT 97 Jon R. Moris Introduction 97 Why Study Institutional Choice? 97 Research Strategies ill Problematic Aspects of Organizational Research 127 Research Priorities 139 ** Issues Raised During the October Workshop 180 IV. RURAL INCORPORATION 184 Louise P. Fortmann Introduction 184 What is Rural Incorporation? 186 Some Characteristics nf Rural Incorporation 187 A Brief Taxonomy of ..al Incorporation 190 The Results of Incorporation 200 Disincorporation 204 Reincorporation 208 The Relevance of Rural Incorporation to the Development Problems of the Next Decade 210 What Should Be Studied? 214 Summary 217 ** Issues Raised During the October Workshop 224 V. HOUSEHOLDS, DECISION i-AKING, AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: 228 DO WE NEED TO K(NOW MORE? Sara S. Berry Introduction 228 Decision Making Analysis: A Description 229 Decision Making Analysis: A Critique 232 Households and Agrarian Change 237 Conclusion: What Needs to Be Studied? 246 ** Issues Raised During the October Workshop 254 OCTOBER WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS 257 INTRODUCTION "In a decade, what social science topics will we wish we had begun research on today?" This question about the social sciences and rural development has served as a central theme of a project on re­ search priorities for the future carried out by the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) under contract with the Office of I Rural Development, for USAID. As an initial response to the ques­ t!on, a team at ID drafted a report suggesting 28 issues in which important research investments could be made to enhance understanding of rural development needs and processes (see Cohen, Grindle, and Thomas, 1983). That report served as a discussion paper for a workshop held in Washington, D.C. on June 2-3, 1983 and for a meeting with staff of the Office of Multisectoral Development on June 16, 1983. On the basis of those discussions, five topics were identified as areas that merited further consideration for future research in­ vestments by USAID. Academic specialists on each of these topics wera commissioned to write papers in which they would explore the impor­ tance of the topic and how it might fruitfully be addressed through research. Preliminary papers prepared by five scholars were presented at a workshop in Washington, D.C. on October 20-21, 1983. The final papers on the priority areas and a summary of important issues raised during the October workshop are included in this report. 1. Formerly the Office of Multisectoral Development. Each of the papers is intended to be a "think piece" about an important topic for rural development research. The paper writers were asked to discuss: 1'o the central concepts and major theoretic frameworks and debates related to the topic; 2) promising perspectives on the topic that would encourage thinking about processes of change, public policy, sources of variation, and appropriate roles for donor agencies; and 3) the type of research on the topic needed to build a useful knowledge base for scholars and practitioners in the future. The papers are intended to provide direction about how a research effort on each of the topics might be organized in terms of the central questions it would address and the forms of research that should be undertaken. The papers address a common theme about the context of rural development initiatives in the future. The authors are agreed that change, a process that has become a central featur. of rural areas in the third world, will accelerate in the tuture. Rural areas through­ out Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East will be increas­ ingly affected by population pressure, resource scarcities, and incor­ poration into broader social, economic, and political structures. While the future may offer new technologies and organizational innova­ tions to address new rural development needs, in all likelihood it will also place further heavy burdens on rural families and the renew­ able natural resources they depend on for their livelihood. Social scientists and rural development practitioners therefore need to be concerned about developing the analytic tools and knowledge needed to address the central problems created by rapid change. iii. Two of the papers in this report address problems that are clearly destined to be critical to development because of the impact of rapid change on rural areas and peoples. In the first two contri­ butions to this report, Albert Berry provides insight into why the creation of employment and enterprise opportunities will be critical to addressing rural needs in the future and Jeffrey Leonard presents a strong case for the importance of research on the human and institu­ tional dimensions of environmental degradation and natural resource management. A third paper, written by Jon Moris, argues that the ability to address these and other important future-oriented problems will depend on knowing more about alternative institutional arrange­ ments for pursuing rural development objectives. Two other papers address the issue of rapid change more directly by presenting frame­ works and approaches for understanding its causes and consequences. Thus, Louise Fortmann develops a conceptual model of the process of rural incorporation, while Sara Berry indicates the importance of micro level research as a means of understanding how change is affecting rural inhabitants. The discussion surrounding the presentation of these papers at the October workshop yielded many substantive insights--most of which have been incorporated into the revised papers presented here. The discussion also raised a series of issues relating to AID sponsorship of social science research. One issue of iportance was that of the practical "pay off" to investments in research. As might be expected in a workshop that included iadividuals with reponsibilities for iv. program design and implementation, there was discussion of the need for knowledge-generation and theory to be linked to future practical applications in each of the five priority areas. The participants from AID recognized the need to add to the knowledge from which they could draw, but also stressed that abstract theory was generally not helpful to them in their program design and management roles. The academic participants agreed on the importance of distilling the program and policy guidance of future research, but cautioned that a lack of theoretical complexity and comprehensiveness had been respon­ sible for much of the uneven record of social science contribution to rural development to date. Added to the theory/practice issue was a discussion of the rel­ ative merits of social science and biophysical sciences in contribut­ ing to rural development. An emphasis on technical solutions to rural development has left social scientists--be they academics or practi­ tioners-searching for new insights that would direct attention to the social dimensions of rural development. However, during the workshop discussions, both paper presenters and discussants were sober about the potential of any research undertakings, including those proposed in the five papers, to bring dramatic and rapid solutions to the problems of rural areas. Indeed, preoccupation with a seatch for such solutions was perceived as unwise, for it would divert attention from the arduous task of addressing the complex and difficult problems that rural inhabitants will face in the future. These problems must be understood in terms of their roots in the present and the past. There V. was consensus that further developing this understanding is a vital contribution that the social sciences can make to the future of rural development. The five papers were considered to be an important step in identifying priority research directions. Their central propositions are presented below. Two Major Problems Resulting from Rapid Change In a