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Explaining the de facto Open-access of Public Property Commons

Author

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  • Junaid Alam Memon

    (Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, Islamabad)

  • Gopal B. Thapa

    (Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand)

Abstract

Public property common pool resources in many developing countries are often portrayed in dismal states allegedly due to governments’ inability to manage them in a sustainable manner. While this explanation may have some merit, it is certainly inadequate. Instead, we argue that public property commons degrade partially because governments, in their attempt to obtain an overall societal balance, sometime accord low priority to some resources and bestow their ownership to an apparently unconcerned agency. While this tendency is deliberate, it results for a de jure public property commons to exhibit a de facto open-access status. Based on policy and institutional analyses of mangrove management in Pakistan, we bring such a case for theoretical debate on the issue and favour partial right regimes as a relatively better way of defining rights regimes for complex resources such as forests and wetlands including mangroves.

Suggested Citation

  • Junaid Alam Memon & Gopal B. Thapa, 2015. "Explaining the de facto Open-access of Public Property Commons," PIDE-Working Papers 2015:114, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:pid:wpaper:2015:114
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    File URL: https://www.pide.org.pk/pdf/Working%20Paper/WorkingPaper-114.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eric A. Coleman, 2009. "Institutional factors affecting biophysical outcomes in forest management," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(1), pages 122-146.
    2. Edella Schlager & Elinor Ostrom, 1992. "Property-Rights Regimes and Natural Resources: A Conceptual Analysis," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 68(3), pages 249-262.
    3. Huitric, Miriam & Folke, Carl & Kautsky, Nils, 2002. "Development and government policies of the shrimp farming industry in Thailand in relation to mangrove ecosystems," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 441-455, March.
    4. Daniel W. Bromley, 1997. "Constitutional Political Economy: Property Claims In A Dynamic World," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 15(4), pages 43-54, October.
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    Keywords

    Public Property Commons; Mangroves; Indus Delta; Policy Analysis; Institutional Analysis;
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