Problem dimensions
Problem dimensions
The question of which system of rules – together with the appropriate organisational forms for their practical implementation – should underlie the use, management and conservation of natural resources leads to a series of existential research questions. It is often the consequences of institutional failures which threaten people and their natural livelihoods: resource degradation such as soil erosion and desertification, pollution and loss of freshwater resources, loss of biodiversity and genetic resources, clearing of forests and fish population decline, climate change, exhaustion of fossil fuels and the related bioenergy problematic, in addition to poverty, hunger and under-development, as well as institutional upheaval in many, and not only post-socialist, countries. All of these are challenges which motivate a better understanding and better formation of an institutional resource economics and the institutions of sustainability. You can read more about the Problem Dimensions and the related research projects here
You can read more about selected questions in institutional resource
economics here:
Climate Change, Requirements for Mitigation and Adaptation
|
According to data provided by the „Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change“, the global mean temperature has increased by 0.74 °C (± 0.18 °C) during the last century. The trend is increasing: the first decade of the third millennium has been warmer than the 1990s, which have been warmer than the 1980s (IPCC).
This problem dimension has been addressed in the following research projects:
|
Water shortage and contamination; waste water and sanitation
|
Agriculture has historically been the single largest user of fresh water resources. If limited in its temporal and spatial availability, water has at the same time been the most important obstacle to agricultural development. Water is a pivotal input to plant production and animal husbandry. Surface and subsurface water bodies are also important sinks for a number of agricultural wastes including organic manure, mineral fertilizers and pesticides. The local manifestations of the water cycle are a key determinant for a complex system of micro-climatic conditions faced by agricultural production. This problem dimension has been addressed in the following research projects:
|
Environmental Impact of Agricultural Production and Different Cultivation Systems
|
The cultivation of genetically modified crops (GM crops) in European agriculture opens up a new problem dimension. As the actors involved hold different interests on this issue and frame the problem accordingly, there is a fundamental need for addressing the question of rivalry and coexistence in this context. Already back in 2003, the European Commission published recommendations on how to conceptualize the coexistence between the different agricultural production systems – conventional, organic and GM crop farming. In the context of these guidelines, farmers and consumers shall be given the freedom of choice to select between these three options.
According to the European guidelines, coexistence is defined as a merely economic issue, including only those GM crops which have obtained a market approval through positive risk assessment. In line with Regulation 1830/2003, a labelling threshold of 0.9% for adventitious and technically unavoidable GM traces applies. In order to guarantee lower GM traces and thus to prevent the produce from being labelled, several measures can be taken, such as the installation of isolation distances between neighbouring maize fields which reduce the probability of cross-pollination. According to the German Act on Genetic Engineering (Gentechnik-Gesetz, GenTG), isolation distances of 150 m between a GM maize field and a conventional maize field apply in Germany. This distance is increased up to 300 m between a GM maize field and an organic maize field reflecting a higher degree of protection of organic produce from GM traces. From a scientific point of view, the question arises whether the actors involved in Germany actually hold the same perception on coexistence as the European Commission. An entirely new institutional framework may be needed to reconcile all interests. This problem dimension is addressed in subproject 11 on cooperative and hierarchical forms of institutional change in the case of GM crop cultivation in Germany, which is part of the DFG-funded cooperative project “Structural Change in the Agricultural Sector (SiAg)”. Publications
Environmental Consequences of Intensive Agricultural Practices
This results in important research issues Institutional Resource Economics has to address as it deals with the systems of rules and relationships between actors influencing the use of natural resources. Appropriate social rules and the expected economic use of natural resources have a significant influence on the forms of intensive agricultural production and its environmental consequences. |
This problem dimension has been addressed in the following research projects:
-
INTRO-Organic Farming
Institutions and Transaction Costs in Organic Farming
-
LABOR
Labour Organization and the Adoption of Integrated Pest Management
-
SIAG
FG 986: Structural Change in Agriculture - Sub-project 11: Cooperative and Hierarchical Forms of Institutional Change (SIAG)e
Interference with Fish Stocks, Wildlife, and Forests
Fish, forest and wildlife resources and their habitats play a major role in global carbon cycle and preservation of biodiversity. These resources are under massive exploitation pressure because of their extractive characteristics constituting common pool goods. Research in the field of institutional economics indicates sustainable appropriation, use and conservation not only by central government control but also by variety and complexity of multilevel formal and informal institutions of manifold governance structures (Gibson et al. 2000; Ostrom 1999, 2005; Hagedorn 2002, 2008; Bromley 2009).
Nevertheless, world´s fish, forest and wildlife resources are currently experiencing deep degradation. Up to 25% of deep sea fish species suffer from a high level of depletion and 52% are almost below an acceptable level (FAO 2007). Furthermore, up to 80% of fish species of economic interest are overfished (FAO 2007). In inland waters, one of the most serious threats for wild freshwater species are user demand driven stocking measures with hatchery-bred fish potentially resulting in irreversible repercussions for aquatic biodiversity (Eby 2006).
Forest resources are experiencing great challenges due to deforestation and forest degradation. The conversion of tropical forest into agricultural land is a major driver of forest loss (FAO 2010). National and international efforts within the last few decades to reduce forest loss –while having some impact – have however failed to substantially slow down the loss of the world´s forests (Pfaff et al. 2010). Around 13 million hectares of forest were converted to other uses or disappeared through natural causes each year in the last decade (FAO 2010).
In the European area, game is strongly influenced by habitat conditions shaped through heterogeneous user demands and preferences, causing simultaneously wildlife damage. In Germany, the so-called hunting associations manage the problem of this negative external effect (Rauchenecker 2010). In many parts of Africa and Asia, the most immediate threat to wildlife are unsustainable hunting and trading in wildlife and wildlife products, and human-wildlife conflict (FAO 2007). A challenge for policy-makers is to balance conservation of wildlife resources with the livelihood requirements of local populations (FAO 2007). Because of growing human access to wildlife habitat, game changes social and reproduction behaviour. These factors influence degree and level of wildlife damage.
This problem dimension has been addressed in the following research projects:
-
VIETNAM
Devolution of Forest Management in Vietnam -
ADAPTFISH-2
Adaptive Dynamics and Management of Coupled Social-Ecological Systems Exemplified by Recreational Fisheries
Literature:
Bromley, Daniel W. (2009). Abdicating Responsibility: the Deceits of Fisheries Policy. Fisheries 34 (6):280-290.
Eby, L. A.; Roach W. J.; Crowder, L. B.; Stanford, J. A. (2006) Effects of Stocking-Up Freshwater Food Webs. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21(10):576-584.
FAO (2007). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2006. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
FAO (2007). State of the World`s Forests. Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, Rome.
FAO (2010). Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010, Main Report. FAO Forestry Paper 163. Rome.
Gibson, C., McKean, M., Ostrom, E. (2000). People and Forest: Communities, Institutions and Forest. Massachusetts, USA. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Global Witness (2007). Independent Forest Monitoring in Nicaragua: Second Summary Report of Activities. Washington DC, USA. Global Witness Publishing Inc.
Hagedorn, Konrad (2008). Particular Requirements for Institutional Analysis in Nature-Related Sectors. European Review of Agricultural Economics 35 (3), 357-384.
Hagedorn, Konrad; Arzt, Katja and Peters, Ursula (2002). Institutional Arrangements for En¬vironmental Co-operatives: A conceptual Framework. Environmental and Institutional Change. In: Hagedorn, Konrad (ed.). Environmental Cooperation and Institutional Change. Theories and Policies for European Agriculture. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 3 25.
Ostrom, Elinor. (2000). Reformulating the Commons. Swiss Political Science Review 6(1), 29-52.
Ostrom, Elinor (2005). Understanding Institutional Diversity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Pfaff, A.; Sills, E.; Amacher, G.; Coren, M.; Lawlor, K.; Streck., C. (2010). Policy Impacts on Deforestation. Lessons Learned from Past Experiences to Inform New Initiatives. Nicholas Institute Report, Duke University. NI R 10-02
Katharina Rauchenecker (2010). Institutioneller Wandel im Bereich Jagd und Wildtiermanagement – Das Beispiel der Jagdgenossenschaften. Institutional Change in Agricultural and Natural Resources, Vol. 42. Aachen: Shaker.
Environmental Consequences of Intensive Agricultural Production Practices
The agricultural sector has a key function to ensure global food security. On the one hand, intensive agricultural production allows a steady increase of global harvests and provides and increases security of supply. On the other hand, the agricultural economy, compared with other economic sectors, has the greatest impact on the use of natural resources that may often lead to exploitation and degradation, but also to its preservation. Intensive agricultural production based on high input of chemicals and energy often leads to increasing uniformity, both regarding the products and the modes of production. Negative externalities such as loss of natural habitats by the expansion of agricultural land and the associated impact on biodiversity, soil degradation such as erosion, depletion and pollution of natural water resources and climatic changes are only a few examples of this problem area. Global value chains and the associated environmental burdens add new challenges at local and global level. Developments such as rising living standards in growing economies and increasing population, extended use of renewable energy from biomass and climate change reinforce these challenges.
This results in important research issues Institutional Resource Economics has to address as it deals with the systems of rules and relationships between actors influencing the use of natural resources. Appropriate social rules and the expected economic use of natural resources have a significant influence on the forms of intensive agricultural production and its environmental consequences. In the Division of Resource Economics this problem dimension is addressed in the following research project:
|
Issues of Economic Development and Developmental Cooperation
|
In development studies there is an emerging consensus on the importance of institutions – systems of societal rules – in economic development and social change. One example is recognition of non-codified property rights in natural resources by the state held by traditional users of tropical forests. This recognition often proves essential to reduce the vulnerability of their livelihood. Based on the general acknowledgement of the importance of institutions three different research threads developed. The first treats institutions as the independent variable and inquires the relationship between a given set of institutions and observed societal outcomes – be they aspired or considered in the need of change. The second research thread inverts the approach adopted by the first and analyses the question of how and by what drivers institutions change. That is, institutions become the dependent variable. One aspect covered under this research thread is the relationship between progressive legal reforms and prevailing and persistent social structures. This question assumes particular importance when legal reforms aim to strengthen the social position of marginalised groups. The third research thread investigates the possibility of fostering institutional change by third parties. The identification of criteria for efforts to change institutions is an important aspect covered by this research thread. Institutional research in this field critically discusses “institutional transplants”, that is, the transfer of institutional innovations that generated desired social outcomes in a given situation to other societal contexts. The question of adapted solutions assumes high importance in this regard. This problem dimension has been addressed in the following research projects:
|
Transformation of autocratic and socialist systems
|
During the last three decades, not only socialist countries with centrally planned economies, but also numerous autocratic regimes went through fundamental processes of institutional change. The question arises whether these transition processes are actually leading to sustainable systems, in particular as regards the use of natural resources and the protection of the natural environment. Environmental protection and resource governance in autocratic and socialist systems is often merely production-oriented and centrally organised. This has been considered the reason for unsustainable use of natural resources and their significant degradation. Accordingly, we often find we often water and air pollution by industry and agriculture, soil erosion and contamination, decrease of area under forest, in particular natural ones, in autocratic and socialist states. Similarly, nature conservation is also predominantly under central governance of in these countries. This problem dimension has been addressed in the following research projects:
|
Soil Degradation und Desertification including Land Conversion
|
Soil as a basis for human life serves as a natural habitat for human beings, plants and animals, as well as a factor for production. It is a filtration media for solid and liquid matter, carbon sink and it goes through several transformation processes such as conversion and decomposition (Blum 2008). Against the background of the rapid global population increase and technical progress that took place in the process of economic development, soil is under increasing pressure. Main consequences are degradation due to agricultural production, desertification caused by long dry periods and high land conversion due to increasing urbanization. This problem dimension has been addressed in the following research projects:
References
|
Transformation of autocratic and socialist systems
During the last three decades, not only socialist countries with centrally planned economies, but also numerous autocratic regimes went through fundamental processes of institutional change. The question arises whether these transition processes are actually leading to sustainable systems, in particular as regards the use of natural resources and the protection of the natural environment. Environmental protection and resource governance in autocratic and socialist systems is often merely production-oriented and centrally organised. This has been considered the reason for unsustainable use of natural resources and their significant degradation. Accordingly, we often find we often water and air pollution by industry and agriculture, soil erosion and contamination, decrease of area under forest, in particular natural ones, in autocratic and socialist states. Similarly, nature conservation is also predominantly under central governance of in these countries.
The transition process which started at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s has changed political regimes and economic systems. This strongly influenced the system of environmental protection and natural resource management which was reorganised or even replaced by more polycentric structures. As research results on Central and Eastern European countries as well as post-Soviet European and Central Asian states indicate, institutional change in the field of the use and protection of natural resources often occurs with active participation of international organizations, such as the European Union and the World Bank, which in particular promote decentralized management. This experience illustrates that the transition process is usually changes property rights on natural resources, above all land and water, with a strong preference for private property regimes. In contrast, institutional reforms for public goods or common pool resources which prevail in the area of environmental services and natural resources and often require common or public property regimes often received less attention. New bureaucracies, in particular at regional and local level, have been established, but also a revival of informal institutions, which have been lost in the centralized systems, took place. Moreover, transition countries increasingly foster international integration by joining international agreements for the protection of the natural environment and sustainable use of natural resources. Institutional change in this field has proven not to be a straightforward process. It faces obstacles which arise at various administrative levels and have different reasons ranging from incompliance of policy target group and weak policy enforcement. As a result, revival of ecosystems and shift towards sustainable use of natural resources can often not keep pace with the speed of environmental degradation. Meeting the challenge of twofold transition, i.e. transforming a socialist and centrally planned system towards polycentric governance and a sustainable social-ecological system, is not equally successful in all transition countries. In the Division of Resource Economics this problem dimension is addressed in the following research projects:
|
Depletion of Fossil Energy Resources and the Provision of Renewable Energy
The exploitation of the stocks of fossil based resources is at dangerously high levels now. As far as crude oil is concerned, the maximum point of extraction i.e. the so-called peak oil has already been exceeded (Energie Watch Group 2008) and the security of supply appears to be a serious worry (IEA 2009). At the same time the capacity of the earth’s atmosphere to absorb greenhouse gases is limited, and any excess will stretch the impacts of climate change beyond manageable limits (IPCC 2007). In the recent past, renewable energy has emerged as an important option to mitigate supply problems and also simultaneously aid economic development.
In the academic and policy debates, issues related to the demand for energy, renewable re-sources, changing lifestyles, consumption patterns and the interactions among these, have only now gained popularity, thereby also bringing to light the conflicting dimensions contained within these. Such complex issues range from the conflicting patterns of competitiveness between the factors of production for solar, wind, earth, geothermal and bio-energy use up to their displacement and risk effects. For example, biomass cultivation für energy production shares the same production factors as agricultural food production (e.g. land and water) leading to land use tradeoffs. Biomass production also requires intensive agricultural practic-es, thus increasing the use of pesticides and fertilizers. Moreover, by distorting agricultural price incentives, they can potentially lead to income inequalities. These interdependencies arise due to the particular nature of transactions and need to be regularized through appro-priate sets of rules, i.e. institutions.
Although energy efficiency and increased share of renewable energy are considered im-portant so as to restrict climate change, there is still no concrete evidence that a shift to bio-mass production indeed has a positive mitigating impact. There are opportunity costs in terms of reduced food supply due to the diversion of common factors of production. On the contrary, the demand gap due to reduced food production may lead to further aggressive use of other greenhouse gas intensive production techniques, leading to a net increase in the quantum of such gases. Therefore, considering the current world food situation, a further question arises whether the production of bio-energy needs to be subjected to certain norms so that it not only serves the purpose of checking climate change but also does not prove detrimental to global food supply?
The work of the Department of Resource Economics focuses its research on such dilemmas as well the subsequent development of formal and informal rules needed to resolve or govern them on a sustained basis.
This problem dimension has been addressed in the following research projects:
-
MEGACITY 2
Climate and Energy in a Complex Transition Process Towards Sustainable Hyderabad. Mitigation and adaptation strategies by changing institutions, governance structures, life styles and consumption patterns
Institutional Change and Governance Reform in Social-ecological Systems
|
Inhalt in Bearbeitung
|
This problem dimension has been addressed in the following research projects:
PINE (Transcoop)
Promotion of Institutions for Natural Resource and Environmental Management in Central and Eastern Europe
Bahro-Archive
Reworking the Scientific Bequest of Rudolf Bahro
Mann, Carsten: Dynamics of governance regimes and reciprocal influence with policy instruments
Otto-Banaszak, Ilona: From Government to Governance: Problems and Tensions in Transition to Polycentric Governance of Natural Resources
Pinto Siabato, Flavio: Institutions for the Sustainability of the Economic and the Ecological Systems from a Perspective of Complex Systems
Schleyer, Christian: Market-based instruments as components of institutional arrangements for the provision of ecosystem services – The example of land use measures for climate- and nature-protection in cultural landscapes in Central Europe
Schlüter, Maja: Mechanisms of resilience in coupled social-ecological systems - examples from irrigation and fisheries
Theesfeld, Insa: tba.
Thiel, Andreas: Shaping the scale of natural resource governance
Zikos, Dimitrios: Resource Scarcity, Competition and the Relationship between Conflict and Cooperation. The Role of Institutions in Shaping the Outcome
