Common property institutions and sustainable governance of resources

Article Abstract:

The literature on common property-based resource management comprises many important studies that seek to specify the conditions under which groups of users will self-organize and sustainably govern resources upon which they depend. Using three of the more comprehensive such studies, and with an extensive review of writings on the commons, this paper demonstrates that the enterprise of generating lists of conditions under which commons are governed sustainably is a flawed and impossibly costly research task. For a way out, the paper examines the relative merits of statistical, comparative, and case study approaches to studying the commons. It ends with a plea for careful research design and sample selection, construction of causal mechanisms, and a shift toward comparative and statistical rather than single-case analyses. Such steps are necessary for a coherent, empirically-relevant theory of the commons. Key words -- common-pool resources, property rights, resource management, sustainability, institutions

United States

---

Empirical evidence on recycling and trade of paper and lead in developed and developing countries

Article Abstract:

In recent decades most countries have experienced substantial increases in recycling. During the same period, international trade of recyclable materials between developed countries and developing countries has also grown. Increasingly, waste materials recovered in developed countries are exported for utilization in developing countries. We investigate the causes of this trend, focusing on two materials: paper and lead. Trade patterns of these materials are analyzed for the developed and developing world. We find that countries that have actively participated in trade of recyclables have higher recycling rates than those with closed recycling systems. Other factors that contribute to the intensity of recycline are geographic and economic conditions. Key words -- recycling, international trade, North-South, industry, economic development

World, Recycling (Waste, etc.), Recycling

---

Primary education quality in francophone sub-Saharan Africa: determinants of learning achievement and efficiency considerations

Article Abstract:

What are the most efficient means to ensure basic learning competencies for a high number of children? This question is analyzed on the basis of the exceptionally rich data set provided by the "Program on the Analysis of Education Systems" (PASEC), standardized and comparable for the five countries Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Madagascar and Senegal. A Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) is used to assess the individual, school level, and national characteristics determining fifth-grade students' achievement in French and mathematics. Special consideration is given to institutional factors. A further question addressed is the possibility of a tradeoff between enrollment and education quality. Key words -- Francophone Africa, primary education, student achievement, efficiency, hierarchical model

Africa

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Building the Tamil Eelam state: Emerging state institutions and forms of governance in LTTE controlled areas in Sri Lanka
• Abstracts: Destination unknown: Rokkasho and the international future of nuclear reprocessing. Nuclear order and disorder
• Abstracts: Developing NATO-Russian relations. American grand strategy in the age of terror. The new Near East
• Abstracts: Iranian Islam and the Faustian bargain of western modernity. The rise of religious nationalism and conflict: Ethnic conflict and revolutionary wars, 1945-2001
• Abstracts: Participatory exclusions, community forestry, and gender: an analysis for South Asia and a conceptual framework

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.