Cooperative Behavior and Common Pool Resources : Experimental Evidence from Community Forest User Groups in Nepal

Bluffstone, Randy ; Dannenberg, Astrid ; Martinsson, Peter ; Jha, Prakash ; Bista, Rjesh

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: DIVERGENCE;    FOREST DEGRADATION;    FOREST MANAGEMENT OUTCOMES;    FISH;    COMMUNITY FORESTS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7323
RP-ID  :  WPS7323

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper examines whether cooperativebehavior by respondents measured as contributions in aone-shot public goods game correlates with reportedpro-forest collective action behaviors. All the outcomesanalyzed are costly in terms of time, land, or money. Thestudy finds significant evidence that more cooperativeindividuals (or those who believe their group members willcooperate) engage in collective action behaviors thatsupport common forests, once the analysis is adjusted fordemographic factors, wealth, and location. Those whocontribute more in the public goods experiment are found tobe more likely to have planted trees in community forestsduring the previous month and to have invested in biogas.They also have planted more trees on their own farms andspent more time monitoring community forests. As cooperationappears to be highly conditional on beliefs about others’cooperation, these results suggest that policies to supportcooperation and strengthen local governance could beimportant for collective action and economic outcomesassociated with forest resources. As forest management andquality in developing countries is particularly importantfor climate change policy, these results suggest thatinternational efforts such as the United NationsCollaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions fromDeforestation and Forest Degradation should pay particularattention to supporting governance and cooperation at thelocal level.