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Commons as insurance: safety nets or poverty traps?

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  • DELACOTE, PHILIPPE

Abstract

Common property resources are often used by households of developing countries as insurance in case of economic stress. The aim of this paper is to consider the potential poverty-trap implications of this use. If the capacity of the resource is low, or if the population in need of insurance is too large, the households are trapped in CPR extraction activity and cannot get more than their subsistence requirement. In this context, cooperation between households and the introduction of a cooperative insurance mechanism may sustain an equilibrium outside the poverty trap and relax pressure on the resource. Moreover, private insurance schemes could also be a potential solution to this poverty trap.

Suggested Citation

  • Delacote, Philippe, 2009. "Commons as insurance: safety nets or poverty traps?," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 305-322, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:endeec:v:14:y:2009:i:03:p:305-322_00
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    1. Shackleton, C.M. & Garekae, H. & Sardeshpande, M. & Sinasson Sanni, G. & Twine, W.C., 2024. "Non-timber forest products as poverty traps: Fact or fiction?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    2. Augeraud-Véron, Emmanuelle & Fabbri, Giorgio & Schubert, Katheline, 2021. "Volatility-reducing biodiversity conservation under strategic interactions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 190(C).
    3. Pri Perera & Risa Morimoto, 2019. "Poverty, institutions and environmental degradation: Fishing commons governance and the livelihood of rural households amid mangrove deforestation in Puttalam, Sri Lanka," Working Papers 229, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    4. Meyer, Jessica, 2023. "How do forests contribute to food security following a weather shock? Evidence from Malawi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    5. José Daniel López-Barrientos & Ekaterina Viktorovna Gromova & Ekaterina Sergeevna Miroshnichenko, 2020. "Resource Exploitation in a Stochastic Horizon under Two Parametric Interpretations," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-29, July.
    6. Beyene, Abebe D. & Mekonnen, Alemu & Bluffstone, Randall & Tesfaye, Yemiru, 2022. "Does Participatory Forest Management Increase Forest Resource Use to Cope with Shocks? Empirical Evidence from Ethiopia," EfD Discussion Paper 22-12, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    7. Philippe Delacote & Julia Girard & Antoine Leblois, 2019. "Agricultural households' adaptation to weather shocks in Sub-Saharan Africa: What implications for land-use change and deforestation," Working Papers 1902, Chaire Economie du climat.
    8. Combes, Jean-Louis & Delacote, Philippe & Combes Motel, Pascale & Yogo, Thierry Urbain, 2018. "Public spending, credit and natural capital: Does access to capital foster deforestation?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 306-316.
    9. Smith, Harriet Elizabeth & Jones, Daniel & Vollmer, Frank & Baumert, Sophia & Ryan, Casey M. & Woollen, Emily & Lisboa, Sá N. & Carvalho, Mariana & Fisher, Janet A. & Luz, Ana C. & Grundy, Isla M. & P, 2019. "Urban energy transitions and rural income generation: Sustainable opportunities for rural development through charcoal production," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 237-245.
    10. Lopez, Ramon E. & Pastén, Roberto & Gutiérrez Cubillos, Pablo, 2022. "Climate change in times of economic uncertainty: A perverse tragedy of the commons?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 209-225.
    11. Jean-Michel Salles, 2011. "Valuing biodiversity and ecosystem services: why linking economic values with Nature?," Working Papers 11-24, LAMETA, Universtiy of Montpellier, revised Dec 2011.
    12. Mulungu, Kelvin & Kilimani, Nicholas, 2023. "Does forest access reduce reliance on costly shock-coping strategies? Evidence from Malawi," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    13. Andrews, Jeffrey & Borgerhoff Mulder, Monique, 2022. "Forest income and livelihoods on Pemba: A quantitative ethnography," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    14. Zhao, Xiaoxue, 2020. "Land and labor allocation under communal tenure: Theory and evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    15. Shyamsundar, Priya & Ahlroth, Sofia & Kristjanson, Patricia & Onder, Stefanie, 2020. "Supporting pathways to prosperity in forest landscapes – A PRIME framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    16. Nielsen, Martin Reinhardt & Pouliot, Mariève & Kim Bakkegaard, Riyong, 2012. "Combining income and assets measures to include the transitory nature of poverty in assessments of forest dependence: Evidence from the Democratic Republic of Congo," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 37-46.
    17. Gwendoline Promsopha, 2018. "Risk†Coping, Land Tenure And Land Markets: An Overview Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 176-193, February.
    18. Edward B. Barbier & Jacob P. Hochard, 2019. "Poverty-Environment Traps," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(3), pages 1239-1271, November.

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