The Challenge of Crafting Rules to Change Open Access Resources into Managed Resources

29 Pages Posted: 23 Nov 2008

See all articles by Elinor Ostrom

Elinor Ostrom

Indiana University, Bloomington - Department of Political Science

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: July 2007

Abstract

Designing rules to govern common-pool resources is presented in many environmental treatises as resting on two core assumptions that: (1) resource users are norm-free maximizers of immediate gains who will not cooperate to overcome the commons dilemmas they face, and (2) government officials, on the other hand, have the information and motivation to design efficient and effective rules to sustain the use of common-pool resources over the long run. In this paper I review evidence related to these assumptions that leads one to doubt their validity when applied to smaller to medium-sized common-pool resources where users have opportunities to communicate with one another and learn how to engage in reciprocal behavior. Findings from carefully controlled laboratory experiments are summarized that challenge the first assumption and leads one to have to assume that humans are fallible and boundedly rational. Depending on the context of the situation, individuals may add normative payoffs (positive and negative) to their preference function.

The complexity of using rules as tools to change the structure of commons dilemmas is then discussed, drawing on extensive research on rules in field settings. Viewing all policies as experiments with a probability of failure, I will explore the size and structure of the rule space that individuals have used in previous efforts to govern commons. The final section discusses the likely performance of a series of completely independent resource governance systems or a fully integrated one -- ending with a discussion of the importance of polycentric governance systems.

Keywords: rules, open access, common pool resources, resource management, complexity

Suggested Citation

Ostrom, Elinor, The Challenge of Crafting Rules to Change Open Access Resources into Managed Resources (July 2007). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1304827 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1304827

Elinor Ostrom (Contact Author)

Indiana University, Bloomington - Department of Political Science ( email )

Bloomington, IN
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
308
Abstract Views
2,225
Rank
130,693
PlumX Metrics