Analysis of material, social, and moral governance in natural resource management in southern Namibia
Thomas Falk
Bjoern Vollan
Michael Kirk
Abstract
In southern Namibia ineffective enforcement contributes to natural resource degradation. We analyse the root causes of ineffective enforcement applying diverse methods. In the first step we develop a conceptual framework distinguishing between moral, social, and material enforcement. In the second step we analyse water and rangeland management regulations through the filter of our conceptual framework. In the third step we conduct economic experiments in order to gain additional insights into the characteristics of selected elements of the framework. We observe that social enforcement has the strongest impact on encouraging cooperative behaviour. Water governance in our cases makes more direct use of social enforcement, which is one factor contributing to its relative success compared to rangeland governance. We draw the general conclusion that existing moral and social norms should be considered as starting points for the establishment of formal rules because norms are more costly to establish but cheaper to apply.
Falk T., Vollan B. and Kirk M. (2012) Analysis of material, social, and moral governance in natural resource management in southern Namibia. International Journal of the Commons 6(2): 271-301. 10.18352/ijc.307
@article{Falk2012,
Title = {Analysis of material, social, and moral governance in natural resource management in southern Namibia},
Author = {Falk, Thomas and Vollan, Bjoern and Kirk, Michael},
Editor = {},
Journal = {International Journal of the Commons},
Year = {2012},
Pages = {271-301},
Volume = {6},
Doi = {10.18352/ijc.307},
Abstract = {In southern Namibia ineffective enforcement contributes to natural resource degradation. We analyse the root causes of ineffective enforcement applying diverse methods. In the first step we develop a conceptual framework distinguishing between moral, social, and material enforcement. In the second step we analyse water and rangeland management regulations through the filter of our conceptual framework. In the third step we conduct economic experiments in order to gain additional insights into the characteristics of selected elements of the framework. We observe that social enforcement has the strongest impact on encouraging cooperative behaviour. Water governance in our cases makes more direct use of social enforcement, which is one factor contributing to its relative success compared to rangeland governance. We draw the general conclusion that existing moral and social norms should be considered as starting points for the establishment of formal rules because norms are more costly to establish but cheaper to apply.},
}
TY - JOUR
AU - Falk, Thomas
AU - Vollan, Bjoern
AU - Kirk, Michael
TI - Analysis of material, social, and moral governance in natural resource management in southern Namibia
T2 - International Journal of the Commons
PY - 2012
SP - 271-301
VL - 6
DO - 10.18352/ijc.307
AB - In southern Namibia ineffective enforcement contributes to natural resource degradation. We analyse the root causes of ineffective enforcement applying diverse methods. In the first step we develop a conceptual framework distinguishing between moral, social, and material enforcement. In the second step we analyse water and rangeland management regulations through the filter of our conceptual framework. In the third step we conduct economic experiments in order to gain additional insights into the characteristics of selected elements of the framework. We observe that social enforcement has the strongest impact on encouraging cooperative behaviour. Water governance in our cases makes more direct use of social enforcement, which is one factor contributing to its relative success compared to rangeland governance. We draw the general conclusion that existing moral and social norms should be considered as starting points for the establishment of formal rules because norms are more costly to establish but cheaper to apply.
ER -
