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EERC<br />

Theme: CPRs and Forests<br />

EERC Working Paper Series: CPR-2<br />

CPR Institutions in West Bengal:<br />

An Analysis of Environment Economic Interface<br />

R N Bhattacharya<br />

Kalyani University, West Bengal<br />

MOEF IGIDR WORLD BANK


Final Report<br />

CPR INSTITUTIONS IN WEST BENGAL<br />

An Analysis of the Environment-Economy Interface<br />

Principal Investigator<br />

Dr. Rabindra Nath Bhattacharya<br />

Professor, Dept. of Economics,<br />

Kalyani University.<br />

Co-Investigator<br />

Zakir Husain<br />

Lecturer, Department of Economics,<br />

Rabindra Bharati University,<br />

Kolkata.<br />

Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research<br />

Goregaon (East), Mumbai. 400 065, INDIA.<br />

The World Bank Aided<br />

“India : Environment Management Capacity Building”<br />

Technical Assistance Project<br />

2002<br />

2


CPR INSTITUTIONS IN WEST BENGAL<br />

An Analysis of the Environment-Economy Interface<br />

Principal Investigator<br />

Dr. Rabindra Nath Bhattacharya<br />

Professor, Dept. of Economics,<br />

Kalyani University.<br />

Co-Investigator<br />

Zakir Husain<br />

Lecturer, Department of Economics,<br />

Rabindra Bharati University,<br />

Kolkata.<br />

3


CPR INSTITUTIONS<br />

IN<br />

WEST BENGAL<br />

4<br />

An Analysis<br />

of the<br />

Environment-Economy<br />

Interface


TABLE OF CONTENTS<br />

List of Tables c-d<br />

List of Figures d<br />

List of Project Personnel e<br />

Executive Summary I-VI<br />

Acknowledgements VII-VIII<br />

Chapter 1: Introduction 1-20<br />

1.1: Definition of CPRs 1<br />

1.2: Importance of CPRs in Rural Economy 2<br />

1.3: CPRs and the Rural Poor 4<br />

1.4: Decline in CPRs 4<br />

1.5: Inter-Generation versus Intra-Generation Equity 7<br />

1.6: Open Access versus Community Based management 7<br />

1.7: Advantages of Communal Management 10<br />

1.8: Research Problem and Its Importance 12<br />

1.9: Research Methodolgy 14<br />

1.10: Survey Areas 16<br />

1.11: Scheme of Work 18<br />

Chapter 2: Survey of Literature 21-34<br />

2.1: Tragedy of the Commons 21<br />

2.2: Co-operation and Iterated Game Theory 23<br />

2.3: Underlying Frame of Ostrom’s Theory 24<br />

2.4: Ostrom’s Design Principles 27<br />

2.5: Ostrom’s Influence on Subsequent Writings 29<br />

2.6: Some Recent Criticism of Ostrom’s Theory 31<br />

2.7: Contextual Factors 33<br />

Chapter 3: Forest Conservation - Two Contrasting Experiences 35-53<br />

3.1: Forest Resources 35<br />

3.2: Belemath – A Success Story 37<br />

3.2.a: Socio-economic Characteristics of Belemath 37<br />

3.2.b: History of Forest Use 38<br />

3.2.c: Dependence of the Community on Forests 41<br />

3.2.d: Functioning of the Forest Protection Committee 43<br />

3.3: An Analysis of Collective Action 45<br />

3.4: Matha - A Dysfunctional Regime 47<br />

3.4.a: Socio-economic Features of Matha 47<br />

3.4.b: Evolution of Forest Protection Committees 48<br />

3.4.c: Pattern of Forest Use 51<br />

Chapter 4: Fishermen’s Co-operative in Calcutta 54-72<br />

4.1: Importance of Water Bodies 54<br />

4.2: Bon Hooghly 55<br />

a


4.2.a: Socio-economic Features of Respondents 55<br />

4.2.b: Evolution of the Co-operative 56<br />

4.3: Ensuring Sustainability 63<br />

4.4: Conflict and Its Resolution 66<br />

4.5: Changing Dimensions of Sustainability in the Long Run 69<br />

4.6: A Note on the Charcharia Fishermen’s Co-operative 70<br />

4.6.a: Origin of the Co-operative 70<br />

4.6.b: Characteristics of the Harvesting Process 71<br />

4.6.c: Impact of Resource Regime 71<br />

4.6.d: Influence of Contextual Factors 71<br />

Chapter 5: A Community Owned water Body in Hazamdihi 73-84<br />

5.1: Background of the Resource Community 73<br />

5.2: Evolution of the resource management system 74<br />

5.3: Property Rights and their Changes 76<br />

5.4: Political economy of the Management System 79<br />

5.5: Resource and Villagers 84<br />

Chapter 6: Comparing Our Cases 85-104<br />

6.1: Looking Back 85<br />

6.2: A Common Methodological Framework 85<br />

6.2.a: Technical and Physical Attributes of the Resource 86<br />

6.2.b: Decision Making Arrangements 88<br />

6.2.c: Patterns of Intersection within the Community 92<br />

6.2.d: Outcome of the Resource Regime 94<br />

6.3: Testing Our Hypotheses 98<br />

6.3.a: Central Hypothesis 99<br />

6.3.b: Testing Our Sub-hypotheses 100<br />

6.4: Collective Action and It’s Constraints 103<br />

Chapter 7: Theories, Evidences and Policies 105-128<br />

7.1: CPR Use as a Collective Action 105<br />

7.2: CPR Games and Co-operation 110<br />

7.3: Beyond Prisoner’s Dilemma 113<br />

7.3.a: Bankura (Hazamdihi): Another Dimension 121<br />

7.4: Looking For a Policy 122<br />

Appendix A: Statistical Tables A-H<br />

Appendix B: Results of Contingent Valuation Exercise I-J<br />

Reference K-P<br />

b


LIST OF TABLES<br />

1.1: Classification of Private, Public and Common Property Resources 2<br />

1.2: Share of Gross Income from CPRs to Gross Income of Poor<br />

Households<br />

5<br />

1.3: Decline in CPRs in Selected Villages in Karnataka 7<br />

1.4: Types of Resource Regimes 11<br />

1.5: Description of Survey Sites 21<br />

2.1: Accrual of Costs/Benefits to Resource Users and Community 27<br />

2.2: Tragedy of the Commons in a Game Theoretic Framework 28<br />

2.3: Design Principles for successful Collective Action 36<br />

3.1: Land Holdings in Belemath 44<br />

3.2: Grass Root Indicators of Resource Related Development 46<br />

3.3: Role of Panchayat in Generating Environmental Consciousness 47<br />

3.4: Dependence of Income from CPRs 48<br />

3.5: Itemwise Dependence on CPRs in Belemath 48<br />

3.6: Incidence of Defection in Belemath 51<br />

3.7: Pattern of Land Holdings 55<br />

3.8: Grass Root Indicators of Development 56<br />

3.9: Incidence of Defection of Villagers 57<br />

3.10: Dependence of Income from CPRs 59<br />

3.11: Item-wise Dependence on CPRs in Matha 59<br />

4.1: District of Origin 63<br />

4.2: Reasons for Coming to Bon Hooghly 64<br />

4.3: Allocation of Duties and Associated Salaries 68<br />

4.4: Benefits from Co-operative 70<br />

4.5: Direct and Indirect Benefits to Members 71<br />

4.6: Relative Importance of Income from Co-operative 72<br />

4.7: Results of OLS Regression of Fish Sales on Fish Seed 76<br />

4.8: Relative Importance of Fishing and Boating in Generating<br />

Revenue<br />

81<br />

5.1: Caste Profile of Population 85<br />

5.2: Distribution of Population according to Income 86<br />

5.3:Population Engaged in Different Occupations 86<br />

5.4: Resource Use and Associated Property Rights 89<br />

5.5: Land Holding Distribution 93<br />

5.6: Relation between Caste and Land Holding 94<br />

5.7: Pond Use according to Caste 96<br />

5.8: Pond Use by Different Income Groups 96<br />

5.9: Information Received according to Caste 97<br />

c


5.10: Awareness of Resource conditions 98<br />

7.1: General Form of Two Person Collective Action Game 127<br />

7.2: Multi Person Prisoners’ Dilemma 130<br />

7.3: Multi Person Chicken 131<br />

7.4: Multi person Assurance Game 132<br />

7.5: Pay-off to Co-operation with Different Numbers of Co-operating<br />

Player<br />

140<br />

7.6: Pay-off to Nested assurance Games 143<br />

LIST OF FIGURES<br />

1.1: Dynamic Trajectory of Property Rights 12<br />

4.1: Net Profit and Revenue from Pisiculture and Boating Activities 65<br />

4.2: Trends in Seed Purchase, Fish sales and Value added 72<br />

d


List of Project Personnel<br />

Principal Investigator<br />

Dr. R.N. Bhattacharya,<br />

Professor, Dept. of Economics,<br />

Kalyani University<br />

Email: rnbeco@yahoo.com<br />

Co-Investigator<br />

Zakir Husain,<br />

Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Economics,<br />

Rabindra Bharati University.<br />

Email: zakir@vsnl.net<br />

Research Fellows<br />

Samrat Goswami<br />

Arijit Roy<br />

Sucharita Roy<br />

Ashish Kumar Sarkar<br />

Debalina Saha<br />

Field Investigators<br />

Samsul Akhtar<br />

Debatra Dey<br />

Sahidur Rahman<br />

Mukul Kundu<br />

Sandeep Kumar Panja<br />

Palash Kumar Roy<br />

Mithu Ranjan Sarkar<br />

e


Background to the Problem<br />

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY<br />

Common Property Resources (CPRs) are an important form of natural resources.<br />

The following features characterize these resources:<br />

a) Consumption generates externalities in the form of subtraction from the total<br />

stock of resource;<br />

b) It is difficult to apply the exclusion principle.<br />

Such resources perform an important function in both production and consumption of<br />

rural households. They are also an important source of employment and form an<br />

essential component of the social security system. Finally, in many cases, resource<br />

users have themselves established rules to exclude outsiders and control resource<br />

use. The creation of such common property resource institutions has ensured<br />

sustainability of such resources.<br />

Objectives of Project<br />

Our objective was to analyse the process of evolution of CPR institutions as a<br />

response to resource degradation.<br />

Short-term Objectives<br />

Collective action is necessary to create new CPR regimes or modify existing ones.<br />

We sought to examine the factors that were relevant in this process –either<br />

encouraging collective action, or hindering such attempts.<br />

Long-term Objectives<br />

This would enable us to demarcate areas where meaningful policy intervention can<br />

help to enhance the indigenous capacity to manage the environment.<br />

I


Hypothesis<br />

Our project focussed on the process of creation of CPR institutions and its changes<br />

in response to changes within and outside the community. Our hypotheses thus<br />

related to the creation and evolution of CPR institutions.<br />

Central Hypothesis<br />

Our central hypothesis was that the awareness of the problem of resource<br />

degradation would generate processes leading to collective action and the<br />

emergence of sustainable communal management systems. This means that we are<br />

interpreting the emergence of CPR institutions as a collective response to the<br />

degradation of the environmental resource base. This collective action is manifested<br />

through the supply of appropriate institutions.<br />

Sub-Hypotheses<br />

The process of evolution of CPR institutions was linked to several factpors. Our sub-<br />

hypotheses was related to these factors. I.e. in identifying the factors affecting<br />

collective action and the direction of causality.<br />

1. The resource appropriators perceive that the resource is being degraded and this<br />

can lead to disaster;<br />

2. The resource appropriators acknowledge their role in creating this crisis, i.e. they<br />

acknowledge that outcomes are jointly produced and can be avoided by changes in<br />

their existing behaviour;<br />

3. Pro-social norms directed towards arresting the process of degradation and<br />

activated;<br />

4. Economic cost of cooperation are low;<br />

5. Social and economic conditions of agents are more or less uniform and<br />

recurrently shared (i.e. agents have mutually consistent expectations);<br />

6. The expected flow of net benefit is an important determinant of the institutional<br />

form of the property regime;<br />

II


7. Another determinant of the institutional form of the CPR regime is the physical<br />

characteristics of the resource in question;<br />

8. The feed backs to resource conserving behaviour are positive;<br />

9. Situational factors, like a temporary fall in income may lead to defection;<br />

10. Such defection will be tolerated up to certain limits without punishment. However,<br />

the contingent fulfilment of the threat will have to be credible.<br />

Methodology Employed<br />

For our purpose we decided to use an empirical approach. We examined four CPR<br />

institutions in detail, and another CPR regime cursorily.<br />

Database<br />

Since our study relates to the historical development of institutions, we relied on<br />

primary data. This data was collected based on field surveys undertaken in five<br />

areas.<br />

Survey Sites<br />

We have undertaken surveys in the following areas: Belemath in the district of<br />

Burdwan (forest resource), Matha in the district of Purulia (forest resource),<br />

Hazamdihi in the district of Bankura (water body), and two fishermen’s co-operative<br />

in Bon Hooghly and Charcharia in Calcutta (water body).<br />

We selected the site partly to enable us to make comparisons across resources, and<br />

between management systems for the same resource. In the case of forests we<br />

studied a co-produced management regime – Forest Protection Committees. Both<br />

the survey sites were basically similar to each other with regard to their socio-<br />

economic background. Both were poor villages, with low level of literacy. The main<br />

occupation was agriculture. Dependence on forests was high in both cases. The only<br />

difference was that the population in Matha was tribal, while that in Belemath was<br />

mixed. These two studies formed an interesting contrast as – despite their<br />

similarities – the performance of the regimes was different in these villages: in<br />

Matha, it was a failure, while in Belemath it was a success.<br />

III


The other three sites studied are similar with regard to the resource. However, while<br />

the regimes in Charcharia and Bon Hooghly are formal Fishermen’s Co-operative,<br />

that in Hazamdihi is a multi-use water body managed informally by the village. The<br />

cases of the formal co-operative are also important in view of their location – both<br />

are situated in an urban belt, within the Calcutta Metropolitan Area. Hazamdihi, in<br />

contrast, is in the poor under-developed district of Babnkura.<br />

Methodology of Field Survey<br />

Our survey methods consisted of interviewing community members using a<br />

structured questionnaire. In view of the historical nature of the information required<br />

we also employed non-conventional techniques like group discussions<br />

Sample Size<br />

We have not relied on sampling but attempted to interview all members (census<br />

enumeration). However, in all cases, some members were not available during our<br />

survey. In such cases we simply interviewed the available population.<br />

The group discussion was undertaken with about 8-10 members at a time in each of<br />

the villages in the three villages. In the case of the co-operative, participants of the<br />

group discussion were chosen randomly with replacement. To factor out the view of<br />

a particular individual being repeated we identified participant repeatedly joining such<br />

discussions.<br />

Theoretical Framework<br />

The data so collected was integrated using the Oakerson framework. The<br />

conclusions from our empirical study were then contrasted with the results of game<br />

theoretic models.<br />

Findings<br />

Our central hypothesis is not validated by our survey. The emergence of CPR<br />

regimes does not seem to be related to the onset of resource degradation problem.<br />

In Matha, degradation did not evoke any response from the community. Although the<br />

IV


water bodies were being managed with varying degrees of success, in none of these<br />

cases was the resource threatened.<br />

Our central hypothesis had been divided into several components. We analyse the<br />

validity of each of these sub-hypotheses below.<br />

1. We have seen that the emergence of CPR institutions is not always linked to<br />

degradation issues. Our first sub-hypothesis is therefore invalid. This will affect the<br />

other sub-hypotheses that were linked sequentially to each other.<br />

2. Outcomes need not always be joint. Further, interdependence may be manifested<br />

across generations – especially in the case of forests. However, some amount of<br />

reciprocity is needed to foster co-operation.<br />

3. We found an absence of normative or institutional constraints to free riding<br />

attempts in all our case studies.<br />

4. Low economic costs of co-operation was significant in explaining success in Bon<br />

Hooghly, Charcharia and Hazamdihi. In the case of Belemath, the reduction in<br />

income due to co-operation was low. In the case of Matha, the high costs of co-<br />

operation appeared to significantly inhibit co-operation.<br />

5. Heterogeneity remains a contested factor in explaining collective action. This is<br />

line with the conclusions of recent works on this area.<br />

6. The surplus from the resource has determined the choice of the regime in each<br />

case – though it has not affected its efficiency.<br />

7. The physical feature of the resource is an important factor explaining the range of<br />

possible forms of regimes is set by the nature of the resource.<br />

8. Feedbacks either in the form of visible restoration or stable income flows is an<br />

important factor contributing to the success of the regimes in Belemath, Bon<br />

Hooghly, Charcharia and Hazamdihi.<br />

9. Despite the success of these regimes, we found that transgressions of the rules<br />

were also present. Such violations were due to temporary fall in income. A seasonal<br />

pattern of defection was observed in both Belemath and Matha.<br />

V


10. The community that did not normally take any action tolerated such violations.<br />

However, reputation was used to judge whether such behaviours was temporary or a<br />

manifestation of deviant behaviour. Only in case of the later, sanctioning was<br />

applied.<br />

Game Theoretic Structure<br />

Collective action problems come in diverse forms, and there is no unique best<br />

solution to all of them. The nature of the problem and its solution method thus needs<br />

to be approached from the perspective of the type of game played. However, we<br />

have observed that a unique type of game may be unable to capture the nature of<br />

the problem in all its entirety and hence we experimented with several proximate<br />

game structures.<br />

Policy Implications<br />

Our theories and experiences based on the case studies show that in many<br />

situations, though not always, co-ordination and leadership problems play a<br />

dominant role. When poor people overexploit local natural resources even when they<br />

are aware of the ecological impact of their actions, it is often because they face<br />

acute subsistence constraints, which lead them to discount streams of future benefits<br />

heavily. They generally need externally provided economic incentives to be induced<br />

to conserve their resources. External catalytic role by State via local level institutions<br />

can play a significant role here. Even a political party, as we have seen, can act as a<br />

catalytic agent. Trust and co-ordination can be created under impulse of catalytic<br />

agents who often come from outside the community. All these imply that in many<br />

situations state intervention could be reshaped to institutionalize collaboration<br />

between state administration and local resource users. The precise mode of such<br />

partnership will, of course, depend on the specific contextual factors.<br />

VI


Acknowledgements<br />

We would like to express our debts – accumulated in diverse ways – to a host of<br />

persons.<br />

Firstly, to the all those who assisted us during our field surveys and the respondents<br />

who patiently tolerated our insistent questioning. Specifically, we would like to thank<br />

the following persons:<br />

Mehboob Zahedi (Member of Parliament, Katwa Constituency), Krishnachandra<br />

Halder (ex-Minister, Excise Tax), Syed Mosih (Executive Officer, Burdwan Zila<br />

Parishad), Jan-E-Alam (ex-Executive Officer, Forest and Land Reform Permanent<br />

Committee, Burdwan Zila Parishad), Kader Molla (Vice President, All India Krishak<br />

Sabha, Amarpur Branch), Nanigopal Chakraborty (ex-District Magistrate, Purulia),<br />

Bon Hooghly Fishermen Co-operative Society, Ujjal Chatterjee (Ex-Municipal<br />

Commissioner, Kolkata Municipal Corporation), Krishna Mondol (Charcharia<br />

Fishermen’s Co-operative Society), Prof. Satya Mondol (Siliguri College),<br />

Krishnapada Mondol (President, Sholana of Hazamdihi).<br />

Ahmed Management Technologies, especially Nabarun Bhattacharya, prepared the<br />

software for the analysis of the data collected during our field surveys.<br />

Secondly, we would like to thank Dr. U. Sankar, Dr. Jyoti Parikh, Dr. Gopal<br />

Kadekodi, Dr. Kanchan Chopra, Dr. Sudarshan Iyengar, and Dr. Robin Mukherjee for<br />

their valuable comments and suggestions offered not only during the project review<br />

workshops but during discussions on various issues at various occasions. We would<br />

also like to express our gratitude to all participants of the Proposal Review and<br />

Project Review Workshops. Dr. Kartar Singh, our Peer Reviewer, made various<br />

valuable suggestions which sharpened the thrust of our work. The usual disclaimer<br />

applies.<br />

There were many persons in Kalyani University who helped us in various ways with<br />

the administration and finance of the project: Shyamal Pal (Research Fellow), Sunil<br />

Haldar, Dibakar Hawladar, Swaraj Ghosh (Head Clerk), Ashutosh Debnath and<br />

Apurba Chakraborty (Finance Section). Abhijit Brahmachari, Research Assistant,<br />

VII


also helped us with our Accounts. Our colleagues also deserve mention for their<br />

support and advice.<br />

Last, but not the least, we would like to thank all the Research Fellows and Field<br />

Investigators without whose help the project would not have been completed.<br />

VIII


Section 1.1: Definition of CPRs<br />

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION<br />

Man interacts with natural resources and natural environments through a variety of<br />

property rights. By property rights we, like many others, mean not a relation between<br />

individuals and the object owned (in this case the environmental natural resource),<br />

but between the individual(s) and a legally/socially endorsed stream of benefits<br />

arising from the resource. One can therefore have ‘property’ in things supposedly<br />

‘owned’ by someone else. By ‘rights’ we imply the capability of the claimants to the<br />

property to secure acknowledgement to honour the claim by ‘others’ who do not<br />

have such claims. Such claims and duties may be codified through either written law<br />

or unwritten custom. Property rights are embedded and evolve in specific social,<br />

political and ecological and economic contexts.<br />

We can, therefore, think about a spectrum of property right regimes for natural<br />

resources. Common property regime is one such regime within this spectrum.<br />

Common Property Resources (CPRs) are those "resources which are collectively<br />

used by a group of people” (Pasha, 1992). Alternately they can be defined as<br />

“those (non-exclusive resources) in which a group of people have coequal use<br />

rights. Membership in the group of co-owners is typically conferred by membership in<br />

some other group, generally a group whose central purpose is not the use or<br />

administration of the resource (per se), such as a village, a tribe, etc. “ (Jodha,<br />

1990). Even if the legal ownership of the resource rests with some other agency<br />

(waste lands may belong to the Revenue Department of the State), the resource<br />

community exploits the resource as if they are the de facto owners.<br />

From these definitions two characteristics of CPRs stand out: consumption of the<br />

resources are rival, the principle of exclusion cannot be applied. By rival<br />

consumption we mean that exploitation of the resource by one individual reduces the<br />

stock of resource, thereby affecting consumption by others. In other words,<br />

exploitation of CPRs generates externalities in the shape of reduced consumption -<br />

either in the present, or (which is more common) in the future. Now a local<br />

community - a group of people, a village, a few neighbouring villages, etc, may<br />

1


exploit the resource. Such resources are referred to as local commons, as opposed<br />

to global commons, which are exploited by nations.<br />

Inapplicability of the principle of exclusion refers to the fact that a resource user<br />

cannot be prevented from utilizing the resource even if he does not pay for it. The<br />

reason for this is that that each resource user is a co-owner, having equal rights<br />

of usage.<br />

Using these two characteristics, we can classify all goods into four categories as<br />

follows (Musgrave & Musgrave, 1989).<br />

Table 1.1: Classification of Private, Public and Common Property Resources<br />

Characteristic Exclusion Feasible Exclusion Not Feasible<br />

Rival Consumption 1 2<br />

Non Rival Consumption 3 4<br />

Resources in category 1 refer to privately owned resources, while those in<br />

categories 3 and 4 are public goods (with 4 referring to `pure’ public goods), and<br />

those in category 2 are CPRs. Such resources are of various types : community<br />

pastures, community forests, waste lands, common dumping and threshing<br />

grounds, village ponds, rivers, aquifers, etc.<br />

Section 1.2: Importance of CPRs in Rural Economy<br />

CPRs have historically played an important role in the rural economy :<br />

“In the past the peasants who had small pieces of land, who couldn’t eke out<br />

enough from it for their survival, use to eat fruits from their nearby forests and used<br />

to collect leaves, flowers and dried tree branches, and by selling these to others<br />

supplemented their income. They also used to maintain a couple of cows, goats and<br />

were living happily in their villages depending on the village common grazing<br />

land.” (Jyotibha Phule, Shetkaryacha Asad, qtd. in Kothari, Singh & Suri, 1996).<br />

2


CPRs perform various functions in the rural economy - physical supply of products<br />

(fuel, fodder, water, manure, etc.), employment generation (in collection of the<br />

products of CPRs), income generation (from collection of CPR products and from<br />

that portion of animal husbandry which is attributable to grazing on common land)<br />

and asset accumulation (directly, or complementing the private resource based<br />

activities). In addition there are other contributions by CPRs - which are seldom<br />

recognized as they constitute a part of the daily routine of villagers - which are briefly<br />

indicated below (Jodha, 1986):<br />

[1] The demographic pressure on land has led to the per capita land holdings of<br />

Indian farmers being very low. This calls for efficient utilization of the scarce land<br />

holdings. By supplying fodder and grazing space, CPRs help to economize on land<br />

use.<br />

[2] Ground water reservoirs, dry beds of rivers/tanks used for off-season cropping<br />

and rivulets and tanks used to collect irrigation water, are an important<br />

complement to private property based farming systems.<br />

[3] In dry regions the farming system is based on an integrated production strategy<br />

involving crops, livestock, and trees/bushes. The inclusion of the latter component<br />

ensures the viability of the farming system by reducing its sensitivity to variability in<br />

rainfall. Village forests, grazing lands, rivulets, and watershed drainages play a<br />

significant role in this strategy.<br />

[4] During crisis periods (like droughts) CPRs cushion the fall in the standard of<br />

living of the poor farmers by providing physical supplies (food/fibre items, for<br />

instance), and generating employment and income.<br />

[5] The impact of rural inequalities are greatly minimized by CPRs as the poor can<br />

supplement their meager resources free of cost from CPRs.<br />

[6] CPRs also contribute to the quantity and quality of nutrition of the poor by<br />

facilitating his food gathering from forests, ponds, and other sources, thereby<br />

strengthening his self- provisioning system (Rudra, et al, 1991).<br />

3


[7] CPRs help to maintain the ecological balance by way of checking soil erosion,<br />

deforestation and siltation.<br />

[8] The commons all along allowed wives and mothers to combine child rearing and<br />

domestic activities with attempts to augment family income by exploiting traditional<br />

rights on CPRs.<br />

Thus, CPRs form an integral component of the rural environmental base and they<br />

are of special importance to the rural poor.<br />

Section 1.3: CPRs and the Rural Poor<br />

Non-poor households have been found to derive greater benefits from CPRs in<br />

terms of absolute income (Jodha, 1986, 1990; Pasha, 1992). The relative importance<br />

of income from CPRs in the budget, however, is greater for the poorer households.<br />

Jodha (1986) has estimated that the average income per household per annum<br />

from CPRs ranges from Rs. 447 to Rs. 831, which represented about 15-23 % of<br />

total household income of the rural poor. The corresponding proportion for non-poor<br />

households was only 1-3 %.<br />

In another study (Pasha, 1992) it was found that the proportion of income from<br />

CPRs was 10 % for the rural poor - in contrast to 6.2 % for the non-poor (see Table<br />

1) :<br />

Table 1.2: Share of Gross Income From CPRs to Gross Income of Poor Households<br />

Type of Village Gross Income per<br />

Household (Rs.)<br />

Gross Income from<br />

CPRs per Household<br />

(Rs.)<br />

Percentage of Gross<br />

Income from CPRs<br />

per Household<br />

Developed 8666 626 7.2<br />

Medium 7066 906 12.8<br />

Backward 8932 726 8.1<br />

All Villages 7918 794 10.0<br />

4<br />

Source : Pasha (1992)


The greater dependence of poor households on CPRs can be attributed to<br />

several factors :<br />

[1] The land-man and land-animal ratios for poor households are typically low. In<br />

such circumstances, access to CPRs provide an important means to adjust the<br />

factor proportions.<br />

[2] During drought, or other crisis periods, when productivity of rural resources fall<br />

drastically, the richer households depend on their cash reserves for sustenance.<br />

Poorer households lack such reserves and have to depend upon CPRs for their<br />

subsistence.<br />

[3] The extraction costs of CPRs are generally low and require only labor power.<br />

Since poorer households have surplus labor (with low opportunity cost),<br />

dependence on CPRs is consistent with their labor endowments, and is economically<br />

rational.<br />

[4] The value of products from CPRs may be quite low. In that case it may not<br />

be profitable for the richer households to exploit the CPR. But poorer households<br />

having surplus labor with zero alternative cost can exploit the resource, specially as<br />

the nature of most of CPR-based activities is such that they can be indulged in<br />

without sacrificing alternative employment.<br />

Section 1.4: Decline in CPRs<br />

Decline of CPRs can occur in three ways :<br />

[a] Physical loss of resources, due to construction of infrastructure.<br />

[b] Detoriation of physical productivity (i.e. quality) of the resource.<br />

[c] Changes in the usage and property rights of CPRs.<br />

For the moment we concentrate on only the third cause. In a village level study in<br />

Karnataka (Pasha, 1991) it was estimated that the area under CPRs declined<br />

from 6999 acres (35.6% of the geographical area of the villages covered) to 4654<br />

acres - a decline of 23.7%. The main cause of this decline was privatization, by both<br />

the rich and the poor. About 52% of the land lost, was appropriated by the rich<br />

5


households. The poor households obtained 25.6% of the land lost through<br />

Government redistribution programs, and encroached illegally on a further 22.4% of<br />

the CPR land lost (see Table 3).<br />

Table 1.3: Decline in CPRs in Selected Villages in Karnataka<br />

1. Total number of villages 14<br />

2. Total geographical area (acres) 19644.8<br />

3. Total CPRs available in the past 6999<br />

4. Percentage of CPR land available in the past 35.6<br />

5. Total CPRs available at present (acres) 4654<br />

6. Percentage of CPR land presently available 23.7<br />

7. Total CPRs lost 2345<br />

8. CPRs enroached by the poor 525<br />

9. Percentage of CPR land enroached by poor 22.4<br />

10. CPRs distributed to poor by Government 600<br />

11. Percentage of CPR land distributed by Govternment to poor 25.6<br />

12. CPRs enroached by rich 1220<br />

13. Percentage of CPR land enroached by rich 52.0<br />

14. CPRs taken up for development under social forestry programs 740<br />

15. Percentage of land taken up for development under social forestry programs 10.6<br />

Source: Pasha, 1992<br />

It is clear from the above table that privatization is the main form of decline in CPRs,<br />

a conclusion borne out by other studies (Singh, 1986; Jodha, 1990; Dasgupta,<br />

1989). Moreover, this trend has been actively supported by the Government as<br />

part of an integrated strategy to alleviate poverty.<br />

In reality, however, the impact on the poor has been the opposite of what was<br />

intended. The reason is that the lack of complementary factors and economic<br />

distress forced the transfer of a major part of the land distributed under land<br />

reform and other programs from the poor to the non-poor. Consequently, the loss of<br />

access to CPRs (due to appropriation by the poor) could not be compensated by an<br />

increase in privately owned land.<br />

This process of disentitlement has adversely affected the economic status of the<br />

rural poor. However, the increase in intra-generation inequity has been justified on<br />

grounds of environmental sustainability and efficiency.<br />

6


Section 1.5: Inter-generation versus Intra-generation Equity<br />

The assumption behind this approach is that common property resources are<br />

generally over-exploited and consumed in an unsustainable manner. Privatization<br />

of the CPRs is therefore suggested as a possible solution to check their degradation<br />

and ensure their physical rehabilitation. The crux of the argument is that intra-<br />

generation inequity is a necessary cost to prevent the emergence of inter-generation<br />

inequity.<br />

This argument is based on the “Tragedy of the Commons” paradigm. Early writers on<br />

the commons believed that the inability to apply the exclusion principle due to the<br />

high cost involved would lead to the entry of users beyond the optimal level. This<br />

would lead to the dissipation of responsibility of maintaining and conserving the<br />

resource, and lead to their over-exploitation and ultimate degradation. The most<br />

influential statement – and, indeed, the coining of the term ”Tragedy of the<br />

Commons” was made by Garett Hardin (1968), based on an analysis of the<br />

destruction of the common grazing lands of Medieval England.<br />

The “Tragedy of the Commons” model had a strong influence on economists and<br />

policy makers in the 1960 and 1970s. In fact, we can even find remnant of this<br />

influence in, for instance, the writings of Gabriela Chicilinsky (1994), and in some of<br />

the modern day legislation relating to forests (Baland and Platteau, 1994). However,<br />

despite it’s popularity, there were some weaknesses in the conceptual underpinnings<br />

of the model.<br />

Section 1.6: Open Access versus Community Based<br />

Management<br />

The traditional approach to the commons dilemma assumes that common property<br />

resources are not owned by any one: they are free goods, or non-property 1 . This<br />

approach views CPRs as open access (res nullius) resources freely available to all<br />

users. In the case of such goods there is an absence of attenuation so that over-<br />

consumption of such resources may occur.<br />

1 Goods “owned by no one and belonging to every one”, as defined NOAA (1985) Fishery Management -<br />

Lessons From Other Research Management Areas. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,<br />

Washington D.C.; qtd. in Berkes (1989).<br />

7


Now, Ciriacy-Wantrup (1971) & Bishop suggest, the community may realise that it is<br />

over-exploiting the resource. If community members desire the manifestation of this<br />

consciousness the institutional structure may generate collective ownership of<br />

resources - a phenomenon common in non-European societies - where the resource<br />

can be used by all members of the resource community, all of whom can take<br />

decisions regarding the using and sharing of the common pool jointly. This implies a<br />

form of management regime that closely resembles private property for a group of<br />

co-owners. Such resources should also be included within the category of common<br />

property resources.<br />

In such cases the benefits from such resources cannot be enjoyed in an unrestricted<br />

fashion by all members of the resource community ; the resource consumption<br />

pattern is guided by the need to conserve and preserve the resource.<br />

Ciriacy-Wantrup observes :<br />

“ Effective institutions to conserve common property resources have been developed<br />

for the administration of forest resources in many countries. The same is true for the<br />

conservation of game and fish whether by primitive tribes in pre-Colombian America<br />

or modern game managerial departments. Agricultural land held in common by<br />

villages in medieval Europe was conserved by institutions based on custom and law<br />

before private property and the profit motive broke up those decision systems.<br />

During the colonial period of the 18 th and 19 th centuries the spread of private<br />

property rights in resources did not prevent serious depletion of forests range and<br />

agricultural land in many parts of the land.” 2<br />

Such a view is basically opposed to the neo-colonial attitude towards indigenous<br />

resource ownership which assumes as a matter of course that traditional resource<br />

management forms are incapable of comprehending the desirability of ecological<br />

consideration in their decision making and that they are incapable of rational<br />

decision making. This, however, is not so in reality. “Serious investigation of<br />

indigenous ethnobiological/ethnoecological knowledge is rare, but recent studies …<br />

show that indigenous knowledge of ecological zones, natural resources, agriculture,<br />

aquaculture, forest and game management, tend to be far more sophisticated than<br />

8


previously assumed. Furthermore, this knowledge offers new models for<br />

development that are both ecologically and socially sound.” 3<br />

The acknowledgement that traditional resource groups may also be capable of<br />

resource conservation has led to reclassification of the different property rights<br />

system into the following divisions :<br />

Table 1.4: Types of Resource Regimes<br />

Property Rights System Characteristics<br />

State property Individuals have a duty to observe use/access rules determined<br />

by a controlling/managing agency; agencies have a right to<br />

determine use/access rules<br />

Private Property Individuals have a right to undertake socially acceptable uses and<br />

have a duty to refrain from socially unacceptable uses and have a<br />

right to expect that that only socially acceptable uses will occur<br />

Communal property The management group (the owners) has a right to exclude non<br />

members, and non members have a duty to abide by exclusion;<br />

individual members of the management group (the co-owners)<br />

have both rights and duties with respect to use rates and<br />

maintenance of the thing owned.<br />

Non property (Open Access) No defined group of users or owners and benefit stream is<br />

available to anyone; individuals have both a privilege and no right<br />

with respect to use rates and maintenance of the asset; the asset<br />

is an “open access resource”.<br />

Source : Bromley (1989).<br />

The property rights school has argued that as open access resources gets depleted,<br />

the need for attenuation develops. If economic conditions permit the establishment of<br />

private property rights then the resource can be nourished; otherwise it is doomed to<br />

be depleted. But, Berkes (in Berkes ed, 1989) points out, instead of establishing<br />

private property rights, communal rights can also develop. Such property right<br />

changes occur in a smooth trajectory – which may even follow a circular path (Fig.<br />

1.1). Over time there has been an increasing number of case studies illustrating<br />

instances where precisely such a trend occurred.<br />

2 S.V. Ciriacy-Wantrup (1971) The Economics of Environmental Policy. Land Economics. Vol. 47, No. 1;<br />

February, 1971. Qtd. in Clawson (in Haefale, 1974).<br />

3 Posey, D.A. (1985) Management of Tropical Forest Ecosystems : The Case of the Kayapo Indians of the<br />

Brazilian Amazon. Agroforestry Systems; 3[2], pp. 139-140/158. Qtd. in Warren, 1992.<br />

9


CPR with<br />

Tightened<br />

Access<br />

Figure 1.1: Dynamic Trajectory of Property Rights<br />

Intensification of Resource<br />

Use: population increase,<br />

trade etc<br />

Less intensive resource use,<br />

population decrease, etc<br />

CPR<br />

with<br />

Loose Access<br />

Destruction of CPR regime due to<br />

external competition<br />

Open<br />

Access<br />

Resource<br />

Restoration of access control,<br />

elimination of competition control, etc.<br />

Source: Berkes, in Berkes ed., 1989<br />

For instance, it was pointed out that Hardin’s common field system – on which his<br />

proposition was based upon - was communally owned, and not an open access<br />

resource. In general, resource users may realise the benefits of co-operation and<br />

create institutions (both formal, as well as informal) which incorporates ecological<br />

conservation as an objective within their structure. Such institutions contain<br />

mechanisms for both exclusion of resource owners, and for allocation of the<br />

resource between members of the resource community. Examples of such<br />

community-based resource management systems includes the Spanish Huertas, the<br />

Zanjiras in the Phillipines, the Alpine summer grazing systems, Japanese common<br />

forests (Iriaichi), the common pastures in the Andes and Himalayas, the Lofoten<br />

fishery system, etc. In India, too, researchers have documented success stories<br />

(Chopra et al, 1990). Such community based systems can provide an<br />

environmentally sustainable alternative to private ownership by building up group<br />

identity.<br />

Section 1.7: Advantages of Communal Management<br />

It has been argued (Kramer & Brewer, 1984) that group identity encourages co-<br />

operation because members of a social group tend to regard other members<br />

favourably and believe them to be trustworthy, honest and co-operative. Other<br />

10


members of the same group are expected, therefore, to reciprocate co-operative<br />

behaviour. In addition, inclusion within a social group reduces social distance<br />

between members so that they make less distinction between their own and other’s<br />

welfare. In fact, experimental studies have indicated that feed backs regarding group<br />

outcome has a greater impact than feedback on his individual performance.<br />

Therefore, property rights regimes are not sufficient to ensure environmental<br />

sustainability - they are only necessary conditions. What is necessary is that rules<br />

exist for exclusion of `outsiders’ and for resource sharing. This can be ensured by<br />

private property rights. But, private property rights can not be always enforced (for<br />

instance, the resource may be indivisible and have to be managed in their entirety,<br />

like forest eco-systems). In addition, property rights must also contain ecological<br />

wisdom. This implies that no single type of property rights can be prescribed a priori<br />

as a remedy for environmental degradation.<br />

Now, it can be seen that communal management resembles private ownership but<br />

by a group, and not an individual. But, even private ownership may not always imply<br />

ownership by an individual - it may also refer to ownership by partners or through<br />

corporations. This raises the question: what is the advantage of communal<br />

management over ownership by such entities.<br />

Such advantages are summarised below :<br />

1. “Solution seeking behaviour is based on indigenous creativity leading to<br />

experimentation and innovations as well as the appraisal of knowledge and<br />

technologies introduced from other societies” (Warren, 1992).<br />

2. Resource users have access to lengthy time series data, extensive information<br />

relating to species and environmental parameters, and are in a better position to be<br />

able to determine the appropriate harvest size.<br />

3. Information about the resource is generally diffused within the resource<br />

community. It is therefore available only when the resource users can be involved in<br />

the process of management.<br />

11


4. Decisions are based on simple rules of thumb requiring easily observable and<br />

familiar parameters.<br />

5. The intuitive approach leaves room for error.<br />

6. Techniques of resource control are easy to apply and control.<br />

7. Monitoring costs are lower as user participation increases management<br />

legitimacy and leads to better compliance.<br />

8. They utilise local skills and resources.<br />

9. They are compatible with local culture.<br />

Section 1.8: Research Problem and Its Importance<br />

Our review of alternative management forms indicates the relative efficiency of<br />

communally managed resources. The gradual privatisation of CPRs found in various<br />

studies (Jodha, 1986, 1990; Pasha, 1992) is, therefore, not encouraging. In addition,<br />

in recent years, demographic expansion, technological change, expansion of the<br />

domestic markets, and their integration with world markets, have led to increased<br />

exploitation of natural resources. This will not only lead to their degradation, but, as<br />

pointed out by Dasgupta & Maeler (1997), may also affect the resilience of the entire<br />

ecological system. At the same time, degradation will increase the vulnerability of the<br />

substantial section of the population dependent on the environmental resource base.<br />

The destruction of the environmental resource base and the safety-net of the rural<br />

poor (Jodha, 1986,1989;Aggarwal, 1990; Pasha,1992; Marothia,1993a;<br />

Dasgupta,1995;IFAD,1995) in turn accentuates the crisis as it intensifies pressure on<br />

natural resources (Sen,1981;Bromley,1991;Dasgupta & Maeler,1997).<br />

The market fails to solve this crisis. In fact, as shown by Perrings (1989),<br />

globalization delinks prices from scarcity values so that the rate of exploitation of<br />

natural resources increases. Nor does the Government by itself succeed in resolving<br />

this crisis (Haeffale, 1974; Chand,1994; Hannah & Munasinghe,1994; Dasgupta &<br />

Maeler,1997;Rees,1987). In such cases informal CPR regimes based on traditional<br />

12


ecological knowledge may develop to control the exploitation of resources (Berkes,<br />

1989). Such institutions, however, may be dysfunctional (Arnott &<br />

Stiglitz,1991).Further, their lack of legitimacy may reduce their effectiveness<br />

(MacKean, in McKay & Jones,1997). In that case State support is necessary to<br />

create an effective resource management system (Berkes,1989). It is in this context<br />

that the concept of co-management has emerged.<br />

Ostrom (1991) has argued that mere presence of collective interests may not suffice<br />

to induce co-operation. Self-interested persons will try to free ride on the<br />

environmental concerns of others and this will prevent the emergence of institutions<br />

which achieve the collective goals. Nevertheless “… the analytically uncomfortable<br />

fact … remains : from the most primitive to the most advanced societies, a higher<br />

degree of co-operation takes place then can be explained as a merely pragmatic<br />

strategy for egoistic man” (Dawes & Thaler, 1988). This has led scholars from<br />

various disciplines – economics, geographers, anthropologist, sociologists – to<br />

analyze how these institutions are created and how they evolve under the changing<br />

socio-economic conditions.<br />

Such studies of common property resources have typically examined the functioning<br />

of CPR systems from within. They consider CPR systems as a closed system<br />

functioning in an insulated environment. But there are different forces that are at<br />

work in influencing the evolution of CPR regimes. It is being increasingly recognized<br />

that a significant proportion of these forces is exogenous to the community.<br />

Examples of such forces are urbanization, commercialization, etc. The influence of<br />

these forces are, however, traditionally over-looked. For instance, the forces of<br />

commercialization are either ignored – as in the works of Ostrom – or treated as<br />

destabilizing forces – as in Goodland et al (Berkes, 1989). However, CPRs often<br />

composed of marketable commodities. As their market expands, increasing demand<br />

for these products will create incentives to increase the rate of exploitation. The<br />

response of the community in such situations forms an interesting study.<br />

Our project, therefore, sought to examine the evolution of CPR systems as a<br />

response to endogenous as well as external forces. This enables us to identify<br />

potential areas where government intervention is required to support community-<br />

based systems.<br />

13


According to World Resource Institute (1990), merely 500 million people in India<br />

depend upon non-timber forest products (NTFP) for their livelihood. Another estimate<br />

states that NTFP collection generates about 1063 million man-days of employment<br />

in India. In other words CPRs provide a significant component of income and growth<br />

of the masses in India.<br />

How much CPRs are there and how do we identify them? This identification is not<br />

easy. When, by law such property rights are mention, it is a matter of counting them.<br />

But in traditional societies such rights are quite often established beyond law, by<br />

conventions and traditions. Some understanding has however emerged among<br />

revenue, forest and other rural developmental administrators, about the categories of<br />

lands that can come under CPRs in India. We have one such estimate based on the<br />

CMIE and Land Utilization Statistics of the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of<br />

India (1990 – 1 and 1994).<br />

According to the above estimate total area under CPRs (forest and non-forest) in<br />

West Bengal comes around 646,000 hectares. CPR as a percentage of geographical<br />

area of West Bengal is less than ten percent and as such is low compared to some<br />

other states. Bureau of Applied Economics and Statistics, Government of West<br />

Bengal has currently undertaken the job of updating the database on CPRs.<br />

Unfortunately it is yet to be made public. However, there are informal indications that<br />

unlike many other states the CPRs in West Bengal have not shown any significant<br />

decline. To asses some features of these existing CPRs in West Bengal and to set<br />

them in a broader context of evolution and management of CPRs in general we have<br />

chosen our selective case studies in the socio-economic context of West Bengal.<br />

Section 1.9: Research Methodology<br />

We adopted an empirical approach to study our problem. We relied on primary data<br />

collected from the resource users using structured semi-open questionnaires. Our<br />

surveys was planned to be executed in the following phases:<br />

1. Selection of survey sites (the sites chosen, and the basis for selection is detailed<br />

later on);<br />

14


2. Pilot surveys;<br />

3. Census enumeration to obtain socio-economic characteristics of resource<br />

community;<br />

4. Elicitation of responses to a semi-open questionnaire;<br />

5. Group discussion with 8-10 persons at a time using PRA techniques;<br />

6. Re-survey to check selective responses;<br />

7. Examination of official records (if any); and,<br />

8. Measurement of use and non-use value (in one case) to obtain a valuation of the<br />

resource using the Contingent Valuation Method. It was expected that this would<br />

indicate how the perceptions and attitudes of local non-users would influence the<br />

evolution of the CPR regime.<br />

The survey was carried out in January - February 2000 in Belemath, March – April<br />

2000 in Matha, September – October 2000 in Bon Hooghly, and January – February<br />

2001 in Hazamdihi.<br />

We faced several problems in the execution of our planned programme of work. The<br />

first problem related to the non-availability of respondents. We had intended starting<br />

our survey by a census enumeration to identify the socio-economic characteristics of<br />

the villages and the dependence of the resource community on the CPR. However,<br />

we were hampered in our attempts by the absence of some villagers due to personal<br />

reasons, or in search of employment. This problem was specially serious in<br />

Hazamdihi (Bankura), Bon Hooghly (Calcutta), and Chorchoria (Calcutta). At a rough<br />

estimate, we failed to obtain responses from 60, 30 and, 90 households respectively.<br />

One possible way to solve the problem was to obtain responses from female<br />

members of the households. However, females were not articulate, lacked<br />

information and were reluctant to respond, specially to male interviewers. In the<br />

water bodies of Calcutta, on the other hand, the interviews had been arranged in the<br />

offices of the co-operative. The other members of the households of absentee<br />

respondents were, thus, not accessible to us. So we ignored the absentee members<br />

of the community.<br />

15


Secondly, during our preliminary attempt to use the Contingent Valuation Method in<br />

Bon Hooghly we became doubtful of its efficacy for our purpose. Respondents were<br />

reluctant to reveal true willingness-to-pay out of a fear that the Government (or the<br />

co-operative) would impose a charge on use of facilities using the stated preference<br />

valuation. The price of a free (or lowly priced) good would increase reducing the<br />

consumer surplus of the users. Further, the extent of deliberate inter-action between<br />

the resource community and external users was limited. What relation existed<br />

between the two was basically impersonal and market-oriented, so that the limited<br />

influence of external users on the functioning of the resource community was<br />

unconscious. So we abandoned the CVM and presented our preliminary findings in<br />

an appendix.<br />

Section 1.10: Survey Areas<br />

We carried out our survey in five areas as described below. In choosing our sites we<br />

attempted to achieve both variety and contrasting experiences. Thus we selected<br />

two types of resources – forests and water body. But within each category of<br />

resource, there were differences in the nature of the organization governing the<br />

common property resource, and hence differences in the functioning of the resource<br />

regime and its successes.<br />

We also deliberately chose two urban resource communities. Studies, especially in<br />

India, have mainly studied rural common property resources. The reason for this bias<br />

is perhaps an unconscious equating of environmental consciousness with a<br />

traditional, village based life style and an implicit assumption that living in proximity<br />

to nature breeds environmental consciousness. But economic pressures and lack of<br />

alternative means of livelihood may lead to a significant dependence of the<br />

community on the resource. This may also breed environmental consciousness<br />

within a modern concrete jungle. As illustrations of this point, we have selected two<br />

resource regimes situated within the Calcutta Metropolitan District.<br />

16


Table 1.5. Description of Survey Sites<br />

Area District<br />

Nature of<br />

Resource<br />

Belemath Burdwan Forest<br />

Matha Purulia Forest<br />

Hazamdihi Bankura Water Body<br />

Bon Hooghly<br />

Chorchoria<br />

Calcutta<br />

Metro-politan<br />

District<br />

Calcutta<br />

Metro-politan<br />

District<br />

Form of Regime Whether Successful<br />

Forest Protection<br />

Committee<br />

Forest Protection<br />

Committee<br />

Family Based Village<br />

Committee<br />

Successful<br />

Failure<br />

Mixed Success<br />

Water Body Registered Co-operative Successful<br />

Water Body Registered Co-operative Successful<br />

The socio-economic characteristics of the five areas are not very similar. But the<br />

essential differences lies in the external environment of these resource communities<br />

and in their historical settings. We now discuss the features of the survey sites and<br />

the reasons for choosing them.<br />

Burdwan is a prosperous agricultural district. It’s population is highly literate and<br />

politically conscious. In contrast, Belemath – a village situated in the Jungal Mahal<br />

area near the Birbhum-Burdwan border, is a poor village. The population is mixed –<br />

consisting of Muslims and Hindus, tribals and non-tribals. Although the villagers are<br />

politically conscious and the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) has a strong<br />

base, the level of development is low. Belemath is an enclave in another sense.<br />

Although Forest Protection Committees have been established in the surrounding<br />

areas like Jalikunda, Hedegauda, etc., such Committees have not been very<br />

successful.<br />

In contrast, the village of Matha is a typical village in Purulia. Its population is tribal,<br />

illiterate, and extremely poor. The red laterite soil, and the arid climate has restricted<br />

the potential for agricultural development. This has led to an under developed<br />

economy. Simultaneously, there is a lack of alternative opportunities available to the<br />

17


villagers. These conditions would appear to be favorable for the emergence of<br />

collective action directed towards conserving the resource (Dasgupta, 1997).<br />

However, the actual facts do not tally with our a priori hypothesis.<br />

The study of Matha and Belemath form an interesting comparison. This is because<br />

the State has introduced a similar institution in similar historical and socio-economic<br />

settings in two different areas. However, the experience of the FPCs has been<br />

different in these two villages.<br />

Bankura has a agro-climatic zone similar to Purulia. This has led to a low level of<br />

development. Bankura too has a tribal population. However, the village surveyed by<br />

us was not a tribal village – it was dominated by Schedule Caste and Scheduled<br />

Tribe Hindus, with a few households of upper caste Hindus. The interesting feature<br />

of the CP regime was that it was family based, persisting over 5-6 generations. The<br />

resource – a water body – was initially owned and used by a family. Over time, with<br />

expansion of the family, the shares of each member have been fragmented into<br />

insignificant portions. Common use of the pond, however, continues. Another<br />

interesting feature is the fact that the water body has multiple uses, with each use<br />

having a specific form of property right attached to it; further, the property right<br />

attached to a particular use fluctuates across seasons. In this sense, our case study<br />

of Bankura is unique in the annals of CPR theory.<br />

Finally, we have studied two registered fishermen’s co-operatives using the water<br />

bodies within the Calcutta Metropolitan District. The existence of a CP regime within<br />

a metropolitan area appeared interesting to us. We would expect that commercial<br />

forces and the social structure would weaken norms and traditional/local sources of<br />

authority. That this has not happened goes against mainstream CPR theory.<br />

Section 1.11: Scheme of Work<br />

We will start our report with a survey of the CPR literature. We will state Hardin’s<br />

model and show how this has been rejected by the CPR school led by Ostrom. We<br />

will examine the main tenets of Ostrom’s analysis. In recent years, Ostrom’s works<br />

have been examined using alternative perspectives. This has led to suggestions to<br />

18


modify her basic framework and incorporate the effect of new variables. One such<br />

variable has been contextual factors (Edwards & Steins). We will define contextual<br />

factors and examine its importance in influencing the course of the CP regime.<br />

One proposition, in this context, could be that while the general principles of CP<br />

regimes may work across contexts, success of the regime depends crucially on the<br />

specifics of the resources considered as well as the related human context. Our<br />

second proposition relates to the dynamics of CP regimes. It has been now accepted<br />

that no specific rights regime is inherently suited to any particular natural resource<br />

(Eggertson, 1990). Based on this, we will argue that property rights regimes co-<br />

evolve with human activity, but not necessarily along a smooth linear trajectory (or<br />

even smooth circular trajectory, as argued, for example by Berkes, in Berkes ed.,<br />

1989; refer to Figure 1.). For example an open access regime or a private regime<br />

may initially be claimed by the State for the purpose of managing them. These may<br />

then be handed over to a group or community for management as a community<br />

property (subject to community control). This group or community, in turn, may<br />

confer private rights or even open access rights to harvest the resource within the<br />

broad framework of the CP regime. Even a CP regime may evolve out of a private<br />

property regime. The exact nature of the trajectory will depend upon the<br />

characteristics of the cost functions for extraction, exclusion and governance<br />

activities.<br />

This will be followed by an analysis of the case studies in the general context of the<br />

above propositions. We will describe the socio-economic features of the site and<br />

resource specific respondents. This will be followed by a history of the evolution of<br />

the resource regime in the site. We will then examine the functioning of the existing<br />

regime, and examine the reasons contributing to their success/failure. In particular,<br />

we shall examine the role of contextual factors on the choices of the community<br />

members in the collective action arena.<br />

In the next chapter, we shall try to invoke theories to integrate these case studies.<br />

We shall attempt to capture the impact of contextual and other factors on the<br />

evolution and functioning of CP regimes using a game theoretic framework. We shall<br />

also try to assess the relevance of such frameworks in providing insights into the<br />

understanding of the experiences of the cases studied<br />

19


Finally, we shall sum up the policy implications and contributions of our study. In<br />

particular we shall try to show how the State can strengthen the local capacity to<br />

manage the environment by modifying the pay-off structure facing the community<br />

members.<br />

20


CHAPTER 2: SURVEY OF LITERATURE<br />

Section 2.1: Tragedy of the Commons<br />

Early writers on the commons focussed on the dissipation of responsibility resulting<br />

from the inapplicability of the exclusion principle. It was argued that in the absence of<br />

coercion, CPRS were inevitably over-exploited and degraded (the Tragedy of the<br />

Commons). As mentioned before, Hardin (1968) gave the most influential and<br />

popular statement of this proposition:<br />

"Picture a pasture open to all. It is to be expected that each herdsman will try to keep<br />

as many herdsmen as possible on the commons. Such an arrangement may work<br />

reasonably satisfactorily for centuries because tribal wars, poaching, and disease<br />

keep the numbers of both men and beast well below the carrying capacity of the<br />

land. Finally, however, the day of reckoning, that is, the day when the long-desired<br />

goal of social stability becomes a reality. At this point the inherent logic of the<br />

commons remorselessly generates tragedy.<br />

As a rational being, each herdsman seeks to maximise his gain. Explicitly or<br />

implicitly, more or less consciously, he asks, "What is the utility to me of adding one<br />

more animal to my herd?" This utility has one negative and one positive component.<br />

1) The positive component is a function of the increment of one animal. Since the<br />

herdsman receives all of the proceeds from the sale of the additional animal, the<br />

positive utility is nearly +1.<br />

2) The negative component is a function of the additional overgrazing created by one<br />

more animal. Since, however, the effects of overgrazing are shared by all the<br />

herdsmen, the negative utility for any particular herdsman is only a fraction of -1.<br />

Adding together the component partial utilitie, the rational herdsman concludes that<br />

the only sensible course for him to pursue is to add another animal to his herd. And<br />

another; an another.... But this is the conclusion reached by each and every rational<br />

herdsman sharing a commons. therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a<br />

system that compels him to increase his herd without limit - in a world that is limited.<br />

Ruin is the destination towards which all men rush, each pursuing his own best<br />

21


interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a<br />

commons brings ruin to all. "<br />

The free riding problem that characterizes behavior on the commons is due to the<br />

fact that consequences of one’s actions are not entirely borne by the agent (Table<br />

2.1).<br />

Table 2.1: Accrual of Costs/Benefits to Resource User and Community<br />

Action Increase in Output Over-grazing<br />

Addition of extra cattle Benefit monopolised by<br />

individual<br />

Not adding to herd Cost, in terms of output<br />

foregone, borne entirely by<br />

individual.<br />

Cost of depleted common land<br />

spread across all herdsmen<br />

Benefit enjoyed by all<br />

herdsmen – even those freeriding.<br />

In such situations, rationality demands that agents will not act in a collective action to<br />

conserve the resource. This is more clearly illustrated using the Prisoner’s Dilemma<br />

(PG) Framework.<br />

We start from a situation where two cattle owners are using a common grazing area<br />

that is at its maximum economic yield. Each grazier has the options of adding to his<br />

herd, or not doing so; further there is no collaboration between them. Assume that<br />

the marginal revenue product for the grazing area is -2 per animal. This is composed<br />

of -6 due to the reduced output from other animals in the herds of both grazier’s, and<br />

+4 from the value of output of the cattle added to the herd. If we assume identical<br />

herdsmen and individual herds, then the loss in terms of value of outputs from<br />

existing animals as a result of increasing the cattle size is divided equally between<br />

the two herdsmen (i.e. -3 each). For simplicity, we assume that these values are<br />

constant for the first two animals grazed beyond the optimum.<br />

Given these assumptions, the pay-off matrix for the two herdsmen is:<br />

22


Table 2.2: Tragedy of the Commons in a Game Theoretic Framework<br />

Strategies B does not add to herd B adds to herd<br />

A does not add to herd (0,0) (-3,1)<br />

A adds to herd (1,-3) (-2,-2)<br />

If both herdsmen decide not to increase the size of their herds then no further cost is<br />

imposed on them and the pay-off from their decision is 0 for both of them. If only A<br />

decides to add an extra head to his herd, then he is a net gainer: Value of extra<br />

output from the cattle added - Value of output lost from the existing herd = 4 - 3 = 1.<br />

B’s loss is greater as he has to bear a cost in terms of reduced output of his existing<br />

herd (-3), but is not compensated - like A - by an increase in his herd size. So his<br />

net loss is : 0 - 3 = -3. An exactly symmetrical picture is obtained for B adding to his<br />

herd, while A maintains a constant herd size - B’s payoff is 1 and A’s payoff is -3.<br />

Finally, we consider the case of both herdsmen increasing their herds. In that case,<br />

each gains 4 from the extra output of the added cattle, but looses 6 from the reduced<br />

output from his existing herd as a result of the increase in size of herd of both (3 + 3<br />

= 6). The net loss, therefore, works out to be -2 for each of the two herdsmen.<br />

Obviously, in this case the total loss to the grazing area is greatest.<br />

It is easy to see that the strategy of adding to one’s existing herd dominates the<br />

strategy of not doing so. In the absence of collusion or coercion, both herdsmen will<br />

choose to increase their herd size even though the consequent over-grazing<br />

adversely affects both of them - which would not have occurred if both of them had<br />

practised mutual restraint.<br />

Section 2.2: Co-operation and Iterated Game Theory<br />

Latter developments in the field of game theory have allayed fears over the<br />

pessimistic conclusions arising out of the PDG structure. They have shown that<br />

extension of the period of the game to an infinite time horizon, or over a finite but<br />

23


unknown time period, can lead to co-operative plays by the rivals. Literature has<br />

focussed on the following aspects:<br />

a) Iterated Prisoner’s Dilemma (Axelrod, 1980a & b; Axelrod & Hamilton, 1981;<br />

Axelrod & Dion, 1988)<br />

b) Metagames, involving simultaneous play by multiple players (Taylor, 1976)<br />

c) The role of communication (Hackett at al, 1994)<br />

d) Problems involved in recognising the strategies employed by opponents<br />

(Komorita et al, 1991)<br />

e) Starting co-operation midway in an iterated game structure (Patchen, 1987)<br />

f) Inferential problems due to noise, etc. (Bendor, 1993; Schuessler, 1990)<br />

g) The role of exit threats and social ostracism (Bonacich, 1971; Bendor &<br />

Mukherjee, 1987; Schuessler, 1989; Thomas & Feldman, 1988)<br />

h) The importance of monitoring and sanctioning (Axelrod, 1987; Sethi &<br />

Somenathan, 1996)<br />

i) The advantages of community-based governance structures to enforce co-<br />

operation (Bowles & Gintis, 1998)<br />

The conclusion of these studies shows that a co-operative equilibrium may exist,<br />

though it may be precarious.<br />

Section 2.3: Underlying Frame of Ostrom’s Theory<br />

Starting from the late 1970s scholars in various disciplines have focussed on the<br />

sustainability of CPR regimes. They have examined the conditions for the<br />

emergence of collective action based on an integration of game theoretic models<br />

with the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) Framework used by<br />

24


institutionalists 4 , and on an analysis of various CPR regimes 5 . Their work has been<br />

collectively referred to as “CPR Theory” (Steins, Edwards & Rölling, 2000). This<br />

approach stems from the works of Ostrom, of which the most representative is<br />

Ostrom (1990). In this chapter, we will summarise the basic tenets of CPR theory<br />

based upon Ostrom (1983, 1985a, 1985b, 1990).<br />

Ostrom argues that there are two reasons why the game theoretic approach is<br />

inadequate to explain the evolution and sustainability of CPR institutions. Firstly,<br />

game theory assumes a single level of choice – the level of appropriation from the<br />

stock of resource. However, actual resource users face different sets of choices –<br />

whether to over-exploit the resource, whether to monitor others, etc. This adds to the<br />

complexity of the game. The structure of the game, and its equilibrium, becomes<br />

contingent upon the values of parameters. These parameters are the size of the<br />

resource community, the costs of monitoring, the benefits from stealing, the<br />

punishment received on being detected while stealing, the rewards for detecting an<br />

offender, etc. No single equilibrium solution, therefore, is possible.<br />

Secondly, appropriators must shift between arenas and levels of analysis. Ostrom<br />

distinguishes between three levels of analysis – operational level, collective choice<br />

level, and constitutional choice level. At the operational level, the resource<br />

community interacts with the physical environment given certain rules and physical<br />

and technological constraints. This interaction takes the form of resource<br />

appropriation and provision, production, exchange, etc. At the collective choice level,<br />

the resource community considers the options available to change the institutional,<br />

physical and technological constraints. This level is concerned with the formation of<br />

rules. At the third level, the concern is with metarules - the process of changing<br />

rules, or “rules for making rules” 6 .<br />

Ostrom, therefore, suggests the integration of game theory with institutionalist theory<br />

for a complete explanation of the emergence of CPR institutions. Such a theory must<br />

explain three things – Why do resource users commit themselves to conforming to<br />

4 For discussions of the IAD Framework, see V. Ostrom (1988), V. Ostrom, D. Feeny & H. Picht ed. (1989), and<br />

E. Ostrom, in E.T. Loehman & D.M. Kilgour ed. (1998).<br />

5 While most of theoretical works on CPR have used a game theoretic structure, Chopra et al (1990) have used<br />

cluster analysis to analyse the conditions leading to the emergence of co-operation in Sukhomajri, Haryana.<br />

6 Ostrom (1986), p. 19.<br />

25


ules? Why do resource users monitor the activities of other persons? Why do<br />

resource users supply themselves with institutions?<br />

Ostrom begins her study by analysing several cases of “successful” communal<br />

management. These studies are based on the framework of analysis suggested by<br />

Oakerson (1985). This framework focuses on four sets of attributes or variables that<br />

can be used to describe typical CPRs 7 :<br />

1) Physical attributes of the resource and the technology used to appropriate its<br />

yield.<br />

a) The relative capacity of the resource base to support multiple users at the<br />

same time without congestion and without diminishing the aggregate level of<br />

benefit.<br />

b) The degree to which exclusion is possible.<br />

c) Physical boundaries of the resource.<br />

2) Decision making arrangements (organisation and rules) that govern relationships<br />

among users.<br />

a) Operational rules regulating use of the CPR.<br />

b) Rules establishing conditions of collective choice within the resource<br />

community.<br />

c) External arrangements linking the resource appropriators to the external<br />

community.<br />

3) Mutual choice of strategies and consequent patterns of interaction among<br />

decision makers.<br />

4) Outcomes or consequences.<br />

7 This methodology is based on Oakerson (1986, 1990).<br />

26


Section 2.4: Ostrom’s Design Principles<br />

These case studies indicate that operational rules of CPR institutions may vary from<br />

one institution to another, but there are certain design principles that are common to<br />

each ‘successful’ CPR organisation. By design principles, Ostrom refers to the<br />

conditions that must exist for the CPR regime to be successful.<br />

“By “design principle” I mean an essential element, or condition, that help to account<br />

for the success of these institutions in sustaining the CPRs and gaining the<br />

compliance of generation after generation of the appropriators to the rules in use.” 8<br />

These design principles are:<br />

1) The presence of clearly defined boundaries. The set of individuals or households<br />

who enjoy the right to appropriate from the resource stock must be clearly defined.<br />

Clear demarcation of the boundaries of the CPR is also necessary.<br />

2) Congruence between appropriation and provision9 rules and local conditions.<br />

Appropriation rules defining the time, place, technology and amount of resource that<br />

can be withdrawn should be related both to local conditions and to provision rules<br />

requiring contribution of labour, time and financial resources to maintain the<br />

resource.<br />

3) The existence of collective choice arrangements. Most individuals affected by the<br />

operational rules can participate in modifying the operational rules.<br />

4) Undertaking of monitoring activities. Monitors who actively audit CPR conditions<br />

and behaviour are accountable to the resource community, or are themselves<br />

resource appropriators.<br />

5) The presence of a system of graduated sanctions. Those members of the<br />

resource community who violate operational rules are likely to be sanctioned by<br />

other resource appropriators, by officials accountable to the community, or both. The<br />

sanctions are graduated according to the seriousness and context of he offence.<br />

This ensures quasi-voluntary compliance.<br />

8 Ostrom (1990) pp. 90.<br />

27


6) Conflict resolution mechanisms exist. The resource community has rapid access<br />

to low cost arenas to resolve conflicts among appropriators or between appropriators<br />

and officials.<br />

7) There is a minimal recognition of rights to organise. External governmental<br />

authorities do not challenge the rights of the resource community to devise their own<br />

institutions.<br />

8) For CPRs that are an integrated part of larger systems, nested enterprises are<br />

present. Appropriation, provision, monitoring, enforcement, conflict resolution ad<br />

government activities are organised in multiple layers of activities.<br />

Ostrom argues that these design principles constitute a credible explanation for he<br />

persistence of CPRs and their related institutions. This is because these design<br />

principles affect incentives in such a manner that appropriators agree to commit<br />

themselves to conform to operational rules, monitor each others’ commitment, and<br />

replicate the CPR institutions over generations (with modifications, if necessary).<br />

Ostrom then proceeded to examine the related isue of institutional provisioning. Why<br />

could some communities provide themselves with institutions, while others failed to<br />

do so? The answer to this problem was obtained from a cost-benefit analysis of the<br />

process of institutional change. Ostrom argues that there is no valid ground to<br />

distinguish between institutional change and institution creation. Both denote an<br />

incremental process of change from an initial set of status quo rules (the only<br />

difference being qualitative – in the case of institution creation, there are no rules,<br />

while in the case of change, there is an initial set of rules) to an equilibrium<br />

configuration of rules. If the costs of effecting the change is greater than the benefits,<br />

then this leads to a collective action failure; on the other hand, if benefits from<br />

making the change are greater than costs, successful institutional provisioning occur.<br />

Ostrom then proceeds to provide a (frustratingly) long list of factors which influence<br />

the costs and benefits of institutional change.<br />

9 “Provision refers to the work necessary to ensure that the resource is available and maintained.” (IFAD, 1995),<br />

pp. 10.<br />

28


Section 2.5: Ostrom’s Influence on Subsequent Writings<br />

Ostrom’s work strongly influenced subsequent works on CPRs. Ostrom’s framework<br />

has been used in both theoretical and empirical research on the commons to extend<br />

her analysis.<br />

Initially, CPR theorists were reluctant to label design principles as necessary and<br />

sufficient conditions for the successful management of commons. For instance,<br />

Ostrom (1990) “is not willing to argue that these design principles are necessary<br />

conditions for achieving institutional robustness in CPR settings,” but is willing to<br />

speculate “… that after further scholarly work is completed it will be possible to<br />

identify a set of necessary design principles and that such a set will contain the core<br />

of what has been identified here.” (page 90). Accordingly, the original list of design<br />

principles has been further extended by later writers. Table 2.3 gives an overview of<br />

these principles.<br />

29


Table 2.3: Design Principles for Successful Collective Action<br />

Wade’s conditions for successful CPR management (1987)<br />

1. Nature of the resource<br />

2. Costs of exclusion technology<br />

3. Relationship between resources and user groups<br />

4. Characteristics of user groups<br />

5. Noticeability of cheating<br />

6. Relationship between user and State<br />

Hanna, Folke & Maler’s design principles of property rights regimes (1995)<br />

1. Definition of legitimate interests in the CPR<br />

2. Articulation of rules for user participation<br />

3. Congruence of rights and responsibilities<br />

4. Incentive structure of rules reflect long run sustainability of CPRs<br />

5. Congruence of boundaries<br />

6. Distribution of decision making boundaries<br />

7. Provisioning of monitoring, sanction and enforcement mechanism<br />

Pinkerton & Weinsten’s basic criteria for fruitful collective action (1995)<br />

1. Accountability<br />

2. Effectiveness<br />

3. Representativeness<br />

4. Adaptability<br />

Adapted from Steins (1999) page 16.<br />

Over time, however, there has been a revision of attitude towards the design<br />

principles. These design principles are increasingly being considered to be<br />

necessary and sufficient requirements for the organisation of collective action. It is<br />

now accepted that if CPR institutions satisfy these requirements, they will be<br />

successful in managing the resource sustainably. CPR theorists have recommended<br />

that “(design) principles can be taught as part of extension programs … to learn<br />

more from one another about how successes have been achieved or how to avoid<br />

30


some kinds of failures” 10 . This has granted prescriptive status to the design<br />

principles. They are being adopted by multi-lateral lending agencies such as the<br />

World Bank and the FAO, national governments and NGOs as tools for crafting<br />

sustainable CPR use.<br />

Section 2.6: Some Recent Criticisms of Ostrom’s Theory<br />

Steins, Edwards and Rölling (2000) have argued that there are three problems<br />

related to these design principles. Firstly, the CPR school has focused on studying<br />

the workings of the common from the view point of the resource community. There<br />

has been no attempt to take a view of the commons from a standpoint located<br />

outside the community - CPR theory has not attempted to link the collective action<br />

arena to the external world. Instead cases of “success” are described and attributed<br />

to the internal characteristics of the management regime. CPR theorists ignore the<br />

role of contextual factors – dynamic remote factors outside the control of the<br />

community - in moulding collective action at various institutional levels. This is a<br />

serious shortcoming, as the resource community will base their actions not only upon<br />

alternatives embedded within the CPR system, but also upon alternative options<br />

present in the external world. The perceptions of the resource community about the<br />

dynamics of the external world will have a strong influence on the management<br />

outcome. Similarly, dynamics of the external world can consciously or unconsciously<br />

initiate changes in the community. However, most of the CPR literature either has<br />

ignored external factors, or have treated them as sources of uncertainty responsible<br />

for degradation 11 .<br />

The lack of contextual analysis is partly because of the eagerness of CPR theorists<br />

to rebut Hardin’s paradigm. In their attempt to bring forward evidence to show that<br />

resource users are able to manage CPRs sustainably by creating institutions on their<br />

own, CPR theorists have lost sight of their basic objective. Instead of examining the<br />

process of creating CPR and the constraints to this process, they have shifted away<br />

to merely describing institutional successes. Consequently, the further development<br />

10 Ostrom , E. (1995), “Design Complexity to Govern Complexity”. In S. Hanna & M.Munasinghe (1995), pp. 33-<br />

46.<br />

31


of CPR theory is in a stasis. This stasis persists despite repeated criticism that CPR<br />

theory does not adequately explain why regimes have changed over time. For<br />

instance, CPR theory fails to suggest how CPR regimes should be adapted to the<br />

commercialisation of the resource.<br />

Secondly, the focus on design principles runs the risk of generalising them as blue<br />

prints for successful CPR management. The emphasis on design principles is so<br />

strong that they appear to be necessary and sufficient conditions for the success of<br />

resource regimes. However, this overlooks certain problems. What may be a design<br />

principle in one case is not necessarily so for another. Furthermore, categories that<br />

one analyst constructs may be interpreted and constructed differently by other<br />

analysts. Finally, by using a priori categories, analysts may attribute the same weight<br />

to each principle on the list. This may lead to the analyst overlooking some factor<br />

that is crucial in the collective action process, but is not in the list. Therefore, as we<br />

shall see latter on, even institutions satisfying these design principles may fail to<br />

conserve resources. In fact, our comparative research shows that even if we have<br />

identical institutions for the same resource, one institution may fail (in Purulia), while<br />

the other succeeds (in Burdwan). Therefore, “it is essential to acknowledge that in<br />

research and policy programs such design principles should, with due action, be<br />

used as a heuristic tool to formulate research questions rather than as prescriptive<br />

guidelines for development.” 12<br />

Third, the classification of CPR institutions as “successful” and “failures” raises<br />

questions related to the criteria employed in judging success. The emphasis on<br />

design principles leads to the adoption of criteria at variance with the objectives of<br />

the resource community. This point is especially important, as CPR regimes may<br />

have hidden meanings. As an example, Steins and Edwards (1999c) report the case<br />

of a communally managed oyster bed set up ostensibly to improve income<br />

opportunities for local fishermen. The actual objective, however, was something<br />

quite different – creating property rights to parts of the local bay to prevent a salmon<br />

farm from expanding its fishing grounds. Once this objective was attained free riding<br />

11 Kanchan Chopra pointed out that we usually treat CPRs as “islands” isolated from the external environment.<br />

Private communication to Prof. R.N. Bhattacharya.<br />

12 Steins & Edwards (1999c) page, 553.<br />

32


increased. This leads Steins et al (2000) to conclude that “Judgements about<br />

‘success’ and ‘rational behaviour’ are thus socially constructed, not only by the<br />

stakeholders involved, but also by CPR analysts. By focussing on pre-defined<br />

categories, analysts will never be fully able to appreciate how the distinction between<br />

‘success’ and failure’, and indeed these notions themselves, are constructed and<br />

used.”<br />

Section 2.7: Beyond Design Principles - Contextual Factors<br />

In recent years, the rapid process of socio-economic change has led to the following<br />

inter-related changes:<br />

1. Rapid demographic expansion;<br />

2. The destruction of the self-sufficiency of local communities;<br />

3. An erosion of traditional sanctioning forces based upon norms and social ties;<br />

4. The inter-linking of the formerly isolated local communities with the national<br />

economy;<br />

5. An increase in the importance of commercial forces in the functioning of the local<br />

economies; and,<br />

6. The spreading of centralised political authority to local communities.<br />

The result of these changes is that the cost-benefit analysis of institutional<br />

provisioning is increasingly being affected by factors that are external to the<br />

community and lie outside their control. Such factors are called contextual “factors”.<br />

These factors are not only determining the success of the regime at a particular point<br />

of time, but also affecting the dynamics of institutional changes. The increasing<br />

importance of such factors necessitates their inclusion into an analysis of the<br />

creation and functioning of CPR regimes. This, in turn, calls for a modification of the<br />

traditional framework of analysis.<br />

33


In the succeeding chapters we will, along with other variables define, identify and<br />

examine the importance of contextual factors in shaping the course of the CPR<br />

regime. How, and to what extent, these contextual factors interact with other factors<br />

in the process of evolution of the CPR regimes and the resources that underlie those<br />

regimes will be one of our focal issues.<br />

34


CHAPTER 3: FOREST CONSERVATION: TWO CONTRASTING<br />

EXPERIENCES<br />

Section 3.1: Forest Resources<br />

F orests<br />

and forest products are linked to household livelihood systems in a variety of<br />

different ways: supplying fuel, fodder, food, building and manufacturing materials,<br />

shade, medicinal and other minor forest products. Arnold (1997) has summed up the<br />

primary contribution of forests as follows:<br />

1. Food Security and Health: Forests add variety to diet, improve palatability<br />

and provide essential vitamins, minerals, protein and calories. Forest foods are also<br />

used to supplement household supplies during seasonal shortages (occurring in the<br />

pre-harvesting period). During crisis periods, forests may also act as a buffer.<br />

Medicinal use of forest products tend to overlap with that of forest foods; indeed<br />

some items added to food both improve palatability and act as health tonic or<br />

prophylatic.<br />

2. Cultural and Social Values: The role and use of the forest and particular forest<br />

products can be subject to cultural and mystical values, reflecting a society’s history,<br />

religion, art and other socially final aspects. For instance, individual fauna/ flora<br />

species may have spiritual or other cultural significance (totem) and either cannot be<br />

used (taboo) or are reserved for special occasions. Particular trees may have<br />

ceremonial roles, certain food are reserved for celebration of harvesting and<br />

weddings.<br />

3. Income & Savings: A significant proportion of rural households in LDCs,<br />

obtain part of income from selling forest products. Poverty screws may cause<br />

temporary increases in the dependence on forests, as may also seasonal availability<br />

of labour, or seasonal changes in demand for forest products. In the long run, the<br />

importance of forest as source of income increases as fragmentation and over-<br />

exploitation of landholdings and demographic pressures reduce ability to be self-<br />

sufficient for food based on personal holdings.<br />

35


Over time, resource users are facing a decline in the size and quantity of forest<br />

resources. Much of this decline is due to contextual factors: growing demographic<br />

pressures, commercialization, ready access to markets and growth of consumerism<br />

in rural areas, technological change increasing the opportunity cost of retaining<br />

forest cover, changes in rural labour demand, etc.<br />

This has serious consequences, especially for the rural poor. Degradation of forest<br />

cover is not only reducing employment and income opportunities of poor households,<br />

but also generating long term problems, like soil erosion, loss of local bio-diversity,<br />

etc. There are also other minor effects. Bromley (in IFAD, 1990) notes that in the<br />

absence of forest cover, crop residues and animal wastes are diverted from fertilizing<br />

land to use as household energy sources. Exhaustion of forest area may also lead to<br />

greater time to collect leaves and other products; this reduces labour time available<br />

to cropping activities. Production of minor handicrafts may also be curtailed.<br />

In LDCs, the absence of effective property rights over forest lands have been an<br />

important contributory factor to this process. For instance, in India, forests are owned<br />

by the State. In a de jure sense, they are res publius – or State property. However, in<br />

reality, the absence of institutional arrangements to exclude potential users have led<br />

to the forests becoming de facto common property (the community may have norms<br />

governing resource use) or even open access (where such norms may be absent)<br />

resources. In recent years, the government has attempted to solve the problem of<br />

ineffective monitoring - which has failed to prevent encroachment, illegal felling and<br />

poaching – by a process of decentralization. This entails a devolution of power to<br />

control access, monitoring and sanctioning to the forest users and legalizing local<br />

control through the establishment of Forest Protection Committees. The rights of the<br />

resource community to use the forests without degrading it have also been<br />

simultaneously recognized by the Government.<br />

In this chapter we will study the contrasting experiences of two Forest Protection<br />

Committees in West Bengal. Despite similar socio-economic backgrounds and the<br />

introduction of similar institutional arrangements to control exploitation, the<br />

experiences of the two sites studied present a marked contrast. This divergent<br />

experience constitutes an interesting starting point to our case studies.<br />

36


Section 3.2: Belemath – A Success Story<br />

The first site studied is that of a success. Belemath is a village in the agriculturally<br />

developed, literate and politically conscious district of Burdwan. It is located near the<br />

Birbhum border in the forest area called Jungal Mahal.<br />

Section 3.2.a: Socio-Economic Characteristics of Belemath<br />

The village of Belemath has a total population of 862, of which 439 are male. The<br />

population consists mainly of Muslims (83.06%) and tribals (12.99%). Only 3.94%<br />

are Hindus. The village has 212 families with an average family size of 4.06. The<br />

level of literacy in the district of Burdwan is quite high. But, in our survey site, almost<br />

one-third of the village population (31.55%) is illiterate. On the other hand, the<br />

proportion of people who are barely literate is 17.16%, whereas 29.35% people have<br />

had primary education (up to class V). A small proportion of population (9.04%)has<br />

studied up to the secondary level (class X), whereas the proportion of population<br />

with education above secondary level is negligible (up to class XII it is 5, and 7<br />

Graduates).<br />

Regarding the income status of the villagers, the average income is Rs. 17663.00<br />

whereas the segmentation of this average income shows that the Hindu earns a bit<br />

higher (Rs. 4648.12) than the average income of the Muslims (Rs. 4468.66). The<br />

tribals have much lesser average income of Rs. 3443.68. We can also analyse the<br />

occupational structure of the population of Belemath. A good part of the population is<br />

basically unemployed (20.41%). Among the employed, 111 individuals (12.87%) are<br />

agricultural workers and 94 (10.90%) are farmers. Out of the total village population<br />

88 (10.20%) are engaged in forest related occupations and 62 (7.19%) are in other<br />

occupations. A few people – 32 (3.71%) are engaged in business and 4 (0.46%) in<br />

services.<br />

37


Table 3.1: Land Holdings in Belemath<br />

LAND HOLDINGS CULTIVATED AREA TOTAL LAND<br />

0-1 bigha 21 29 20<br />

1-2 bigha 8 11 7<br />

2-5 bigha 6 40 6<br />

5-20 bigha 9 40 9<br />

Above 20 bigha 80 1 80<br />

The distribution of landholding is not typical of an under-developed country. In LDCs<br />

landholding gets fragmented so that small and marginal peasants constitute the<br />

dominant proportion of the population. In Belemath, however, we have polarization of<br />

land holding, with most of the landowners belonging to the large landowning<br />

category. However, the extent of self-cultivation seems to be low. Almost all the large<br />

landholders lease out their land. Interestingly, even while leasing out the land,<br />

landholding does not seem to have got too fragmented. This is evident from the fact<br />

that most of the cultivated land belongs to the 2-20 bigha category (corresponding to<br />

middle and large landholding category).<br />

Section 3.2.b: History of Forest Use<br />

Initially the forest areas in the Jungal Mahal area were owned by local zamindars.<br />

They were thus privately owned. Respondents reported that the forest was managed<br />

sustainably – no one was allowed to encroach. Not only was forest density<br />

maintained but the range of fauna was quite varied – deers, bears, and smaller<br />

animals flourished. This was, however, at a cost. The denial of access to the forests<br />

deprived the villagers of fuel. We could not obtain information regarding the<br />

substitute availed by the villagers, but this was probably by poaching, and by using<br />

distant forests near Jalikunda or Bhatkunda which were open access. Sustainability<br />

was thus at the cost of equity.<br />

38


With the abolition of the zamindari system, the forests were nationalized.<br />

Theoretically, the forest became a res publica resource. In reality, it became an open<br />

access resource. Villagers did not have any sense of ownership, nor did they<br />

possess any sense of responsibility for conserving the resource. This led to<br />

encroachment. Forest guards were present, but their numbers were too low, and<br />

incentive too little, to enable effective monitoring.<br />

The villagers used fallen leaves and branches from forests as fuel. These were<br />

collected by the women and children of most households during the months of<br />

Chaitra and Falgun (February and March). The fuel was stored in separate huts.<br />

Tribals however, collected leaves throughout the year. They also sold leaves to the<br />

richer households. These leaves were collected mainly from the sal tree which<br />

dominated the forest. In addition, sal leaves were also used to prepare plates, which<br />

were marketed. Tribals also prepared mattresses and brooms from leaves.<br />

Another use of the forest was as a source of wood to make agricultural implements<br />

(isk - ploughs) and during house building (beams, frames of doors and windows,<br />

furniture). In addition some trees were illegally felled and sold for their timber value.<br />

But, more serious, was the practice of felling by licensed contractors. The Block<br />

Office used to sell felling rights for a demarcated area to contractors through a<br />

system of auction. Villagers reported that the contractors used to go beyond the<br />

demarcated areas during felling. Respondents reported a sense of guilt for failing to<br />

resist such degrading activities. They also referred to the presence of some incentive<br />

and institutional constraints to resisting such degradation practices. Firstly,<br />

contractors paid a higher wage for felling trees beyond the demarcated area.<br />

Secondly, workers who did not agree to fell trees outside the demarcated areas were<br />

not engaged in subsequent years.<br />

These practices, coupled with the failure to replant, led to intensive degradation of<br />

forest areas. Large tracts of areas became denuded and barren. Villagers and<br />

District Officials used a phrase to describe this condition: “treeless forests”. The<br />

respondents noted various indications of degradation.<br />

39


Table 3.2: Grass-Root Indicators of Resource Related Development (Number of<br />

Respondents in Belemath)<br />

Indicators Increased Decreased Unchanged Uncertain<br />

Number of trees 1 159 48 2<br />

Forest area 1 157 50 2<br />

Time taken to go to<br />

forest<br />

Time taken to collect<br />

leaves<br />

37 130 39 4<br />

47 120 40 3<br />

Level of Income 123 6 41 40<br />

Income variance 5 62 34 109<br />

We can see that signs of physical degradation were apparent. However, there was<br />

no economic impact of this degradation. The villagers were not aware of this problem<br />

in other areas. However, they acknowledged:<br />

1. The problem was serious (184 respondents, 87.62%);<br />

2. Degradation was an immediate problem (188 respondents, 89.52%);<br />

3. The villagers themselves were responsible for the problem of overexploitation<br />

(174 respondents, 82.86%); and,<br />

4. The problem was a collective dilemma (209, out of 210 respondents).<br />

If we examine the role of different media and agents in generating consciousness<br />

about degradation, the role of the Panchayat appears dominant. Public media – like<br />

radio, TV, etc. – appears to have had only a limited impact on the environmental<br />

consciousness on the community.<br />

40


Table 3.3: Role of Panchayat in Generating Environmental Consciousness<br />

Response<br />

Income Class<br />

Positive Negative Uncert<br />

ain<br />

0-10000 28 4 1 0<br />

10001-20000 89 14 5 0<br />

20001-30000 29 4 3 0<br />

30001-40000 14 1 2 0<br />

40001-50000 1 1 0 0<br />

50001-60000 1 0 0 0<br />

60001-70000 0 0 0 0<br />

70001-80000 1 0 0 0<br />

80001-90000 1 0 0 0<br />

90000> 0 0 0 0<br />

Total 164 24 11 0<br />

The table above shows that Panchayat plays a positive role regarding the forest use<br />

and the forest protection (82%) where as only 12% says that it plays a negative role<br />

and a few people replied that they are unaware of the fact.<br />

Section 3.2.c: Dependence of the Community on Forests<br />

The following tables indicate dependence of the community on forests:<br />

41<br />

Nil


Table 3.4: Dependence of Income from CPRs<br />

INCOME CLASS PAST PRESENT<br />

0-10000 35.39 29.73<br />

10001-20000 37.64 29.20<br />

20001-30000 19.96 16.96<br />

30001-40000 14.16 12.98<br />

40001-50000 31.21 20.36<br />

50001-60000 3.06 2.97<br />

60001-70000 0 0<br />

70001-80000 0 0<br />

80001-90000 5.27 5.15<br />

90000> 0 0<br />

VILLAGE AVERAGE 31.69 25.33<br />

The above table shows that the dependence of income from the forest has been very<br />

high, though it has declined somewhat in recent years – indicating the success of<br />

attempts to conserve the forest. It is a common finding of empirical studies that the<br />

dependence on CPRs is high for poor households and decreases with income. By<br />

and large, this is also borne out in our study.<br />

Table 3.5: Item Wise Dependence on CPR in Belemath<br />

Classes Items<br />

CONSUMPTION<br />

ENERGY<br />

INTERMEDIATE<br />

Village Average<br />

Past Present<br />

HOUSING MATERIALS 1.30 0.76<br />

ROOF 0.42 0.27<br />

LEAVES 13.54 11.19<br />

BRANCHES 1.15 0.80<br />

SHAL LEAVES 4.87 2.68<br />

MATRESS 1.23 1.03<br />

42


We can see that the dominant form of forest use is for energy purposes (household<br />

fuel). The use of shal leaves to manufacture plates constitutes another important<br />

source of income. We had previously noted that the dependence on forests has<br />

declined over time. This decline has not been due to decline in any particular<br />

category, but can be attributed to a general fall in forest use in all categories.<br />

Section 3.2.d: Functioning of the Forest Protection Committee<br />

Round about the early 1990s, the Government decided to establish Forest Protection<br />

Committees. The clout of the ruling party [CPI (M)] in Burdwan facilitated the political<br />

acceptance of this step. But this had a disadvantage also. During our group<br />

discussions, it became apparent that local Party members dominated the FPCs and<br />

the functioning of these Committees was along Party lines. Meetings, and trial and<br />

punishment of rule breaking members were theoretically open, but in practice, not<br />

many villagers did attend such meetings and participate in such decision-making.<br />

The operational rules were simple. Villagers were allowed to enter forests and gather<br />

fallen leaves or branches. However, no live branches could be cut down. Obviously,<br />

felling too was prohibited. Some villagers – mainly from the Scheduled Caste and<br />

Tribes - were paid a monthly salary for monitoring. In addition, peer monitoring was<br />

used - especially by the FPC members. These members were composed of mainly<br />

100-120 households, from the poorer sections of the village. Membership did not<br />

entitle one to special benefits as regards forest use. It only enabled the household to<br />

get a share of 15% of the revenue obtained from periodic felling of trees. Villagers<br />

who are paid a salary carry out felling. Replanting is carried out in these areas.<br />

This system had certain inbuilt features that encouraged sustainability. These<br />

features were:<br />

1. Villagers were given a sense of ownership through the signing of the Green<br />

Bonds.<br />

2. They were given a sense of responsibility as they were accountable for<br />

conservation and could take some decisions.<br />

3. Villagers were allowed access to the forests. This prevented the creation of a<br />

sense of deprivation and injustice.<br />

43


4. The payment of wages and distribution of revenues from felling amongst villagers<br />

reduced the (net) economic costs of co-operation.<br />

5. The resource use pattern had an inbuilt sustainability. The use of fallen leaves for<br />

fuel and preparing plates, mattresses, brooms, etc. automatically required that<br />

trees should be protected to ensure a continuous supply of leaves.<br />

In addition, there were some social norms prevailing that restricted the incidence of<br />

tree felling. Awareness campaigns by the Party members had instilled a sense of<br />

environmental consciousness within the resource users. About 78.1% of he<br />

respondents acknowledged the role of the CPI (M) in disseminating information<br />

about the fact of degradation, the future impact of over-exploitation, the benefits of<br />

conservation, and the imperative need for conservation. This led to a change in the<br />

attitude of the resource community. Villagers started attaching greater weightage to<br />

future income flows, and an attitude favouring conservation emerged. They<br />

acknowledged their dependence on forests and were aware of the fact that<br />

degradation of the forest would have adverse consequences in the future. While the<br />

existence of such norms did not totally prevent rule breaking (see table below),<br />

villagers confessed to a sense of shame if they were observed breaking rules.<br />

Similarly, the villagers (not many) who felled trees for commercial purposes were<br />

disliked and derided for their short-sightedness and greed, which prevailed over<br />

environment consciousness. However, there was no active resistance to such<br />

villagers. Nor were there any institutional checks to such offences– in the form of<br />

restricting dadan (informal credit), or employment opportunities.<br />

Table 3.6: Incidence of Defection in Belemath<br />

Activities Average (per month)<br />

Village average of people breaking rules 20.42<br />

Village average of people who are not caught 12.16<br />

Village average of people who are punished 1.97<br />

Village average of people who are pardoned 1.40<br />

Village average of people who are freed by manipulation 4.88<br />

44


On the whole, resource conservation appears to have been adopted successfully in<br />

Belemath. Positive economic feed backs to villagers in the form of a slight income<br />

increase and decrease in fluctuation in income has strengthened initial conservation<br />

attempts. The observation that the operation of the FPC has enabled the forest to be<br />

conserved – while degradation continues in other parts of Jungal Mahal – too has<br />

been important.<br />

However, some features, to some extent, may act as a disincentive towards<br />

sustainability in future. For instance, the division of the villagers into FPC members<br />

and non-FPC members bred dissatisfaction. Those excluded from the Committee<br />

had a sense of injustice and tried to break rules – especially if they were of the<br />

opposition political party.<br />

During group discussions, villagers identified the competing use of forest land as a<br />

source of fuel (if the forest is retained) and a source of food (if the forest is cleared<br />

for cultivation). The extension of irrigation facilities, the diffusion of HYV seeds, the<br />

increasing price of food gains – factors that increases profitability of cultivation - will<br />

all affect the economic costs of co-operation.<br />

Section 3.3: An Analysis of Collective Action<br />

In this section we shall consider the problem of collective action, and its occasional<br />

breakdown in greater detail. We have noted previously that a certain extent of rule<br />

breaking is prevalent. In game theoretic terminology this implies that the equilibrium<br />

is characterized by the presence of both co-operative players and players who<br />

defect. We will examine the class identity of players choosing to defect, the reasons<br />

for defection, and the impact of this problem on collective action.<br />

When respondents were asked whether they undertook illegal felling of trees, the<br />

majority (134) denied doing so. This is not surprising as respondents are perfectly<br />

aware of the legal consequences of their actions. However, over time, as we won<br />

their confidence, they (140 respondents) admitted to breaking rules in times of<br />

needs. It was difficult to identify the income status of the defectors. About 56% of he<br />

respondents felt that it was the poor households who broke rules, while, the rest felt<br />

45


that it was rich households who were responsible for illegal felling. Not surprisingly,<br />

the richer households passed on the responsibility for felling onto the poor<br />

households. A large proportion felt that the economic conditions (81%) and<br />

reputation (87%) of the defector should be considered before dealing out<br />

punishment. Our results, as well as focus group discussions, suggest that the<br />

resource users are aware that poor households are unable to subsist without<br />

resorting to some amount of felling. So some amount of clemency is desirable.<br />

Defection of this type is not a consistent play by the player concerned, it is an<br />

immediate response to a short run crisis. Any attempt to retaliate or punish such<br />

defection will simply start a run of mutual recrimination and endanger collective<br />

action. It is for this reason that players claimed that they would not break rules even<br />

if other players did. So a certain level of defection is tolerated. If defection crosses a<br />

threshold level, then punishment is meted out. The reputation of the player is<br />

important in this context. This result is consistent with the models of Taylor (1976)<br />

and Baland and Platteau (1994).<br />

Simultaneously, some rich households break rules deliberately to supplement their<br />

income. The power of this group is too strong for any retaliation against them. We<br />

can think of this in terms of a coalition of players banding together. Their collective<br />

strength prevents punishment.<br />

As Belemath is a village surrounded by forests, it is to be expected that the lives of<br />

the people will be entangled with the forests. This can lead to degradation of the<br />

forest which will affect the lives of the entire community. The local community is<br />

aware of the fact that their use of the forest is strongly inter-dependent and<br />

generates ‘strategic externalities” (Negri, quoted by Ostrom, 1990). The respondents<br />

(209, out of 210 respondents) acknowledge the crisis to be not their personal<br />

problem but one threatening the entire fabric of their community. They also admit the<br />

problem to be a serious long-term crisis. The works of social psychologists have<br />

shown that prior experience is important in generating a quick response to an<br />

environmental crisis. In Belemath, however, such a mechanism has not operated –<br />

as the respondents are not very much aware of any crisis in the surrounding areas.<br />

The important factor in generating awareness regarding the state of the environment<br />

has been the role of the Panchayat and the local Party.<br />

46


However, merely generating awareness is not enough. Resource conservation<br />

usually entails a short-term sacrifice of economic opportunities. The resource<br />

community must acknowledge the need to accept this sacrifice and be prepared to<br />

make it. In Belemath, the respondents did not have any alternative source of fuel. At<br />

the same time, grass root indicators and the Panchayat had made them aware of the<br />

imminent problem. So they were prepared to continue with conservations even<br />

accepting short run sacrifices in income (203 respondents). The game theoretic<br />

underpinning of these observed behaviours will be taken up in chapter 7.<br />

Section 3.4: Matha – A Dysfunctional Regime<br />

From Belemath we move to Matha where we have a similar regime, operating under<br />

similar socio-economic conditions. Unlike Belemath, however, Matha represents a<br />

case of failure.<br />

Section 3.4a: Socio-Economic Features of Matha<br />

In Purulia district we have chosen Matha village as the survey sight, as it is a typical<br />

village of the economically backward district of West Bengal. The total population of<br />

the village is 342 among which 197 are male. There are 76 households all total in the<br />

village and the average family size is 4.5. Matha is basically dominated by the tribal<br />

population (64.32%) and then it is the Upper Caste Hindus (16.08%). Some<br />

Schedule Castes (4.67%) are there and the Muslim population is negligible (1.46%).<br />

The majority of the population is illiterate (128 i.e. 42.11%). But among the literate<br />

people 61 are just literate and more or less same proportion of population are<br />

primarily educated (54 i.e. 17.76% which is up to class V) and secondarily educated<br />

(53 i.e. 17.43% which is up to class X). A few people are gone up to XIIth standard<br />

and there are 3 graduates. The average yearly income is Rs. 23259.00 where as the<br />

average expenditure is Rs. 16030.55.Income is mostly generated from agriculture-<br />

either in the form of wage income, or from cultivation of owned or leased land. The<br />

unemployment is also high (about 40%) of the total population. However this does<br />

not mean that they do not engaged in any economic activity. It is possible that most<br />

of them are engaged in illegal felling of trees. It is difficult to say that whether it is<br />

involuntary or deliberate choice. As the area is economically underdeveloped and<br />

47


the education level is low, it is more likely to be involuntary. Quite a few households<br />

are landless. Only 52 households own land. Farmers mostly belong to the small (22<br />

households) and medium (18 households) categories. Cultivation is in the small<br />

(0.678-1.67 hectares) and medium (1.68-6.67 hectares) categories. Cultivation is<br />

basically ownership-based – the lease market is not important.<br />

Table 3.7: Pattern of Land Holdings<br />

Land Holdings Cultivated Area Total Land<br />

0-1 bigha 4 4 4<br />

1-2 bigha 1 4 1<br />

2-5 bigha 8 27 8<br />

5-20 bigha 4 15 4<br />

Above 20 bigha 37 2 37<br />

Section 3.4.b: Evolution of Forest Protection Committees<br />

The history of forest use in Matha is similar to that of Belemath. Initially, Zamindars<br />

owned the forests and protected them from encroachment. Later on, they were<br />

nationalized and brouhght under the control of the State.<br />

Officially, the Government permitted a limited form of forest use through the system<br />

of auctioning. This was far below the actual demand for timber. Consequently,<br />

trespassing of forests on a small scale occurred. The paucity of forest guards<br />

resulted in a failure to prevent such illegal felling. The confidence of trespassers<br />

increased gradually. Matters escalated in 1980-84 when mass looting of forests by<br />

bands of 200-300 persons started occurring.<br />

The frustration of administrative officials to conserve forests led to suggestions of<br />

involving the people in forest management. Individual attempts occurred<br />

sporadically. For instance, in the Ichadi Hills of Bagmundi Block, sal trees used to be<br />

felled for making charcoal. This led to deforestation until, in 1981, the local Range<br />

Officer tried to teach the villagers the advantage of replanting. The tribal population<br />

initially resisted such attempts – even though they trusted the Range Officer, and<br />

48


were otherwise on cordial relations with him. But over time they found that the<br />

system of cutting shoots to the grounds and replanting of sal trees by fast growing<br />

sonajhuri trees successful, and accepted conservation practices. Later on, these<br />

practices were institutionalized under an FPC. Here we find that a personal attempt<br />

by an educated environment conscious external agent who was both liked and<br />

trusted by the resource community led to a change in the attitude of the resource<br />

community and the adoption of conservation practices.<br />

Around 1989 District Officials decided to involve Pachayats in forest conservation<br />

and accordingly set up FPCs. The basic principles of the FPCs are the same as in<br />

Burdwan. What is different is the actual functioning of these committees and their<br />

impact. In contrast to Burdwan, where the Forest Protection Committee was active,<br />

such a Committee was virtually non-functional in Matha. There was no active role<br />

played by this Committee in promoting environmental consciousness, resource<br />

conservation, monitoring, sanctioning, etc.<br />

When we spoke to respondents, they referred to the forest, as a State owned<br />

resource. Resource users did not exhibit any sense of possessiveness towards the<br />

forest. They realized that the forest was being degraded.<br />

Table 3.8: Grass Root Indicators of Development (Number of Respondents in<br />

Matha)<br />

Indicators Increased Decreased Unchanged Uncertain<br />

Number of trees 0 54 20 1<br />

Forest area 0 28 46 1<br />

Time taken to go to<br />

forest<br />

Time taken to collect<br />

leaves<br />

19 10 44 2<br />

24 5 34 12<br />

Level of Income 4 27 28 16<br />

Income variance 9 3 17 46<br />

49


Unlike the responses in Belemath, the respondents of Matha appear to indicate a<br />

decrease in the density of the forest, rather than a decrease in area. The economic<br />

impact of degradation too does not seem to be have been manifested to a significant<br />

degree. One reason for the latter is possibly that, in the absence of other income<br />

earning possibilities, physical degradation will simply lead to increase in the time<br />

spent to collect the timber. This will prevent the manifestation of degradation in an<br />

economic form where the opportunity cost of time is virtually nil.<br />

Villagers acknowledged the following facts:<br />

1. The problem was a joint problem, requiring a co-operative effort;<br />

2. The forest was an important part of their lives;<br />

3. The problem was one of over exploitation by the villagers;<br />

4. The problem had serious immediate consequences;<br />

5. Resource conservation was necessary immediately;<br />

6. Resource conservation was necessary even if it reduced income in the short run.<br />

However, the villagers did not follow resource conservation rules, and resorted to<br />

frequent rule breaking (see table below). This was because of the pressure of<br />

poverty. In addition, they were uncertain as to whether income would recover in the<br />

long run. We saw a large number of villagers cutting down branches. They did not<br />

appear to obey any social norm or institutional constraint to defection – only the fear<br />

of the Forest officers appeared to operate as a check. During our field survey, there<br />

was a raid in which several villagers were arrested.<br />

Table 3.9: Incidence of Defection of Villagers<br />

Activities No of Respondents<br />

Village average of people breaking rules 33.80<br />

Village average of people who are not caught 7.97<br />

Village average of people who are punished 0.32<br />

Village average of people who are pardoned 0.07<br />

Village average of people who are freed by manipulation 0.00<br />

50


The villagers reported a higher incidence of rule breaking. Peer monitoring was non-<br />

existent, resource users did not feel any shame when detected breaking rules. They<br />

openly admitted to rule breaking in normal circumstances (54 of respondents<br />

confessed that they broke branches); 64 respondents admitted that they broke rules<br />

in a crisis. In the absence of monitoring, the incidence of detection and punishment<br />

was very low. Unlike Burdwan, where there was a threshold level of defection, which<br />

was enforced by the FPC informally, in Matha, the system was dysfunctional.<br />

Section 3.4.c: Pattern of Forest Use<br />

The villagers were dependent to a significant extent on the forests. Forests provide<br />

different resources to the community – fruits, animals, birds, materials to make<br />

houses and tools, leaf (used as fuel), etc. The dominant use of the forest, however,<br />

is to obtain branches for domestic energy consumption and for sale.<br />

In Matha we found that the basic pattern of resource use was unsustainable. While<br />

in Burdwan, the villagers used leaves, so that an in-built sustainability was present,<br />

in Matha, they relied on timber. This is because of two reasons. Firstly, it takes less<br />

time to collect branches. Secondly, the economic value of branches was high, as<br />

they could be sold in Bihar. The extreme poverty of the villagers of Matha forced<br />

them to fell trees and transport them manually over a distance of 10-15 kilometers to<br />

the district East Singbhum in Bihar to be sold for their timber value.<br />

Table 3.10: Dependence of Income from CPRs<br />

Income Class 1995 2000<br />

0-10000 113.35 52.39<br />

10001-20000 67.90 42.76<br />

20001-30000 49.07 38.58<br />

30001-40000 101.28 32.99<br />

40001-50000 13.03 12.22<br />

50001-60000 3.21 3.11<br />

60001-70000 0.00 0.00<br />

70001-80000 0.00 0.00<br />

80001-90000 4.57 4.37<br />

90000> 10.53 10.53<br />

Village Average 65.37 38.51<br />

51


Table 3.11: Item Wise Dependence onn CPRs in Matha<br />

Income Class<br />

Consumption Energy Intermediate<br />

Housing<br />

Materials<br />

Roof Leaves Branches Shall<br />

Leaves<br />

Mattress<br />

0-10000 2,00 0,00 0,00 35,32 60,13 0,00<br />

10001-20000 0,00 0,58 1,89 28,87 27,26 0,77<br />

20001-30000 0,22 0,13 0,26 20,03 7,90 1,24<br />

30001-40000 0,00 47,40 20,33 16,95 5,20 0,00<br />

40001-50000 0,00 0,77 0,00 3,24 4,66 0,00<br />

50001-60000 0,03 0,00 0,00 3,19 0,00 0,00<br />

60001-70000 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00<br />

70001-80000 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00<br />

80001-90000 0,06 0,00 0,00 4,51 0,00 0,00<br />

90000> 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00 0,00<br />

Total 0.53 4.73 2.95 24.12 21.03 0.69<br />

Empirical studies indicate that the dependence on CPRs will be very high in arid<br />

areas. This is borne out in our study – dependence being as high as 38% at the time<br />

of our survey. This dependence is particularly high for the poorer households (with<br />

income below 40000). This table also indicates a sharp decline in the use of forests.<br />

This is probably due to the degraded nature of the resource. This decline has been<br />

due to reduced forest use by the poor households. For households with income<br />

above 40000 there has been no change in the level of forest use.<br />

It is a common hypothesis in the theoretical literature on the commons that if the<br />

resource community is very poor and is dependent on the resource to a significant<br />

extent, a sustainable pattern of resource use will emerge. Our experience in Matha,<br />

however, is not consistent with this hypothesis. We found a significant extent of<br />

defection along with a total absence of any feeling of guilt or shame. The reason for<br />

illegal felling is the pressure of subsistence requirements. This has prevented the<br />

emergence of institutional constraints on defection. The entire community seems to<br />

52


e caught in a web of “ collective defection”. Instead of collective action, we have<br />

collective inaction!<br />

The lack of collective failure appears more surprising if we consider the following<br />

facts, which have been categorically accepted by the respondents:<br />

1. They acknowledge the importance of the forest in their daily lives<br />

2. Respondents consider the problem of degradation as a serious problem<br />

3. Degradation has been caused by an excessively high rate of exploitation<br />

4. They feel that the problem requires immediate action<br />

5. Collective action is necessary to solve the problem<br />

However, the pressing need of meeting subsistence requirements has prevented<br />

resource users from initiating any collective action. Their time preference is heavily<br />

biased in favour of present income flows. Unlike Belemath, the role of the Panchayat<br />

in changing time preference has been negligible. The only check to illegal felling is<br />

the fear of being apprehended and punished by forest officials.<br />

It Is doubtful whether the lack of interest of the inhabitants of Matha can be<br />

considered to be a collective action failure. Post-Hardin literature would probably<br />

think so. In our opinion, however, it is not a collective action failure. We should<br />

distinguish between the capacities of the community, and it’s willingness to<br />

undertake certain activities. Our study indicates that, in view of the biased time<br />

preference, the resource community does not choose to act collectively to conserve<br />

the resource – instead, it takes a collective decision to over exploit the resource.<br />

53


CHAPTER 4: FISHERMEN’S CO-OPERATIVES IN CALCUTTA<br />

Section 4.1: Importance of Water Bodies<br />

The second type of resource studied by us consists of water bodies. The water body<br />

is a unique resource system in several ways. A single community exploits the water<br />

bodies studied by us. In some cases, however, we may find that several villages may<br />

jointly use the water body. In extreme cases, for example Lake Victoria in Africa we<br />

may even find several countries exploiting the same water body! Unlike forests,<br />

which is a stationary resource, the extent of inter-dependence increases in these<br />

cases. Sustainability becomes a complex issue in these cases as over-exploitation<br />

by one group will generate externalities affecting others – while the offenders are<br />

beyond the jurisdiction of the affected parties.<br />

Even when a single community exploits the resource, resource use is frequently of a<br />

complex pattern. This is because water bodies may generate different types of<br />

utilities that are totally unrelated to each other. For example, a water body is a crucial<br />

input in pisiculture. Simultaneously, it also performs several functions in the domestic<br />

households: providing water for drinking purposes, bathing, and washing clothes and<br />

utensils. Water bodies may also serve as source of irrigation. It also helps in<br />

livestock farming, as animals drink water and bathe in them. In urban areas, they<br />

also serve as disposal grounds for effluents of industries and the sewage water<br />

carrying out the wastes of the city. Some of these uses are complementary – for<br />

instance, sewage water has been successfully used in pisiculture, with the wastes<br />

serving as food for the fish. Other uses may be conflicting – washing and bathing<br />

reduces water quality to below levels suitable for drinking purposes; effluents may<br />

also affect pisiculture operations.<br />

The issue of property rights becomes complex as we may conceive the water body<br />

having different types of resource regimes corresponding to each type of use. This<br />

may affect the formation and the dynamics of the property right system in ways not<br />

usually seen in the case of other resources.<br />

54


In our survey we have studied three water bodies. Two of these water bodies are<br />

fishermen’s co-operatives. One of them also offers additional facilities like boating.<br />

The long run definition of sustainability, as we shall see later on, is different for these<br />

two organizations – despite corresponding similarities in their experiences, formal<br />

structures and functioning. The third water body, reported in the succeeding chapter<br />

is also a multiple use resource. It differs from the water bodies studied in this chapter<br />

in two ways – the lack of formal structures of control and the co-existence of a wide<br />

variety of resource regimes for the same resource.<br />

Section 4.2: Bon Hoghly<br />

The third resource studied by us was a water body (or rather three water bodies) in<br />

Bon Hoogly, Calcutta. These water bodies are managed by a Co-operative Society<br />

formed in 1974.<br />

Section 4.2.a: Socio-Economic Features of Respondents<br />

At present there are 72 members of this Society, of whom 48 are active. These<br />

members perform various duties – there are Managers, Night Guards, Net<br />

Repairmen, Maintenance Personnel and Fishermen. Except for the Office Staff –<br />

consisting of the Office Manager, Farm Manager, Sales Manager and Peon - the<br />

other duties are rotational on a fortnightly or monthly basis. Duties are allotted after<br />

mutual discussion between members, with the Executive Committee having<br />

arbitration powers.<br />

Most of the members originally hailed from East Pakisthan (currently Bangladesh) –<br />

though a handful also came from Mednipore district of West Bengal.<br />

Table 4.1: District of Origin<br />

Country District Number of Households<br />

India Mednipore 5<br />

East Pakisthan (present<br />

Dhaka 14<br />

Bangladesh)<br />

Faridpur 4<br />

Coomilla 2<br />

Barishal 5<br />

Khulna 4<br />

Not stated 3<br />

55


These households mainly migrated to India over the Bongaon (Benepol) border;<br />

though some crossed over at Hilly, Banpur, Darshana, and Petrapol. About half of<br />

the households (14 households) had migrated to India before 1960 and the rest after<br />

1960. Of these, 9 households had migrated between 1960 and 1969, while 9<br />

households migrated after 1970. Only two households had migrated before 1947.<br />

The main reason for migration was political and communal disturbances (21<br />

households). . A significant proportion was motivated by the search for employment<br />

(7 households). Arriving in India, the refugees had initially settled in various parts of<br />

West Bengal – Dumdum, Bon Hoogly, Mednipore, Belgachia, Sodepur,<br />

Shyamnagar, Baranagar, Krishnanagar, Naihati, etc. Over time, they came to Bon<br />

Hooghly for various reasons.<br />

Table 4.2: Reasons for Coming to Bon Hooghly<br />

Reasons Number of Households Percentage<br />

Riots 2 5.41<br />

Education 2 5.41<br />

Land for housing 6 16.22<br />

Employment 8 21.62<br />

Presence of relatives 6 16.22<br />

To join co-operative 4 10.81<br />

Contacts 1 2.70<br />

Not stated 8 21.62<br />

About 10 households settled in Bon Hooghly between 1960 and 1970, while 15<br />

households settled after 1970.<br />

Section 4.2.b: Evolution of the Co-operative<br />

The traditional occupation of the migrant households varied – but a dominant section<br />

(16 households) was traditionally fishermen. These traditional fishermen mostly<br />

settled at Arjunpara, Dumdum and used to catch fish by throwing nets (khabla jal) in<br />

small ponds. A few of them came to Calcutta and settled in Noahpara-Bon Hooghly<br />

56


areas. They used to catch fish individually in a lake in Noahpara. Unfortunately, local<br />

anti-socials used to extort and harass these fishermen. Around about 1972, Jamuna<br />

Bhowmick, wife of one of these fishermen, Gobinda Bhowmick, heard a radio<br />

program extolling the benefits of fishing co-operative established at Mudiali in the<br />

western fringe of Kolkata. The program so impressed her that she told her husband<br />

and Biren Sarkar, tutor of their children, about the program. Gobinda Bhaumik and<br />

Biren Sarkar talked the issue over with other refugees – Bidhusekhar Mondal,<br />

Sukumar De, Chitta Sarkar, Rakheswar Biswas, Dasrath Biswas, Dhruba Narayan<br />

Pal and Sauti Poddar. It was decided to form a co-operative based on three water<br />

bodies. One of them was the lake at Noahpara, where these refugees traditionally<br />

caught fish; the other two were adjacent lakes at Bon Hooghly, near the Indian<br />

Statistical Institute. These members felt the urgent need to supplement their meager<br />

income. In addition, since quite a few of them were traditionally connected with<br />

fishing, they did not have to adapt themselves.<br />

The State Government owned these lakes. Therefore, Gobinda Bhowmik – who was<br />

a gardener at the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) – contacted Rani Mahalonobis (wife<br />

of Prasanta Chandra Mahalonobis, the founder of ISI), with whom he had cordial<br />

relations, and sought her help. She, in turn, contacted P.N. Haksar, PA to Mrs. Indira<br />

Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India. It was found that the ponds were under the<br />

Refugee Relief & Rehabilitation Department. Bhaben Rai Chaudhuri, erstwhile P.A.<br />

to the Commissioner, helped Gobinda Bhowmik to lease in the lakes at the rate of<br />

Rs. 3,740 per annum. The Co-operative was set up in 1972 after taking a loan of Rs.<br />

11,000 from the Government of West Bengal under the name of Bon Hooghly<br />

Motshojibi Somobay Samiti (Bon Hooghly Fishermen Co-operative).<br />

Initially the catch was low as most of the members lacked the skill. Therefore, the<br />

members contacted traditional fishermen who had settled in Arjunpara and Bongaon<br />

and invited them to join the co-operative. The total number of members was 78, of<br />

whom 6 have died. Membership is inherited; or, they can be transferred to<br />

nominated family members. No new members from outside the community can be<br />

inducted into the society. Some of the original members have grown old and are no<br />

longer active. Some of them have even settled elsewhere 13 . Their membership has<br />

13 Most of the current members stay at the Noahpara Fishermen Colony.<br />

57


not been terminated out of sentimental reasons. Therefore, 48 members out of 72<br />

members are still active.<br />

Initially, the co-operative was concerned only with fishing. In the early 1990s, the<br />

WBCS Officer supervising the Co-operative, Mr. Mukut Roy Chowdhury, suggested<br />

the introduction of boating facilities in the Bon Hooghly water body. The members<br />

who were uncertain of the effects of diversifying their activities resisted this.<br />

However, Mukut Roy Chowdhury convinced them that paddling would have a<br />

favorable effect on growth of the fish stock, and would also supplement their income.<br />

All the respondents recognised the benefits of paddling in diversification of income<br />

while simultaneously promoting fish growth through better oxygen circulation and<br />

fast movement of the fish.<br />

In the figure given below we have given the figures relating to revenue obtained from<br />

boating and fishing, and Net Profit. Revenue from fish sales have increased steadily,<br />

specially from the late 1980s. Though there was a decline in 1997-8 and 1998-9,<br />

revenue again picked up in the last financial year (1999-2000). Boating also provides<br />

steadily increasing returns. The Co-operative has operated at a profit except for<br />

three years. From the early 1990s, Net Profit has been high. However, in the last two<br />

financial years, the level of profit has shown a steep decline.<br />

Figure 4.1: Revenue and Net Profit from Pisiculture and Boating Activities<br />

2500000<br />

2000000<br />

1500000<br />

1000000<br />

500000<br />

0<br />

58<br />

Fish


55500<br />

45500<br />

35500<br />

25500<br />

15500<br />

5500<br />

-4500<br />

-14500<br />

1974-5<br />

120000<br />

100000<br />

80000<br />

60000<br />

40000<br />

20000<br />

1976-7<br />

0<br />

1978-9<br />

1980-1<br />

199<br />

3-4<br />

1982-3<br />

199<br />

4-5<br />

199<br />

5-6<br />

1984-5<br />

199<br />

6-7<br />

1986-7<br />

199<br />

7-8<br />

1988-9<br />

The overall satisfactory profitability of the society has enabled them to undertake<br />

other social functions – like road maintenance, organization of blood donation<br />

camps, etc.<br />

The primary activity is, as said before, fishing. This is carried out in three lakes. The<br />

first water body is a small one and used as a nursery. The second lake is used for<br />

fishing and for paddling. The third lake, at Noahpara, is reserved for fishing only. The<br />

labor allocation is as follows:<br />

59<br />

199<br />

8-9<br />

1990-1<br />

199<br />

9-0<br />

1992-3<br />

1994-5<br />

Boat<br />

1996-7<br />

1998-9


Table 4.3: Allocation of Duties and Associated Salaries<br />

Position Number of men Monthly salary (Rs.)<br />

Farm Manager 1 1435 per month<br />

Office & Sales Manager 2 1415 per month<br />

Peon 1 1255 per month<br />

Fishermen 7 Rs. 53 per day<br />

Net mender 8 Rs. 53 per day<br />

Miscellaneous 18 Rs. 43.43 per day<br />

The miscellaneous group has to undertake various responsibilities – as night guards,<br />

as day guards, operation of paddleboats, etc.<br />

The duties of each member are allocated at either weekly, or fortnightly or monthly<br />

intervals. In addition, a W.B.C.S. (Executive) Officer supervises the functioning of the<br />

co-operative.<br />

Initially workers were paid a commission on daily revenues. But Mukut Roy<br />

Chowdhury introduced a system of differentiated wages. Members are paid a salary<br />

on the basis of days worked depending upon their allotted duty. Only the Office Staff<br />

(Managers, Accountant and Peons are paid on a monthly basis). In addition, co-<br />

operative members also get a bonus out of profits accrued during the year.<br />

In addition to wages and salaries, members get post-retirement security in two ways.<br />

On one hand, they receive a one-time gratuity of Rs.10,000, or a monthly pension.<br />

Simultaneously, the co-operative has opened a monthly recurring deposit in the<br />

names of each member. Each member has to contribute Rs.20 (deducted from his<br />

salary), while the co-operative contributes Rs.50. This is equivalent to a Contributory<br />

Provident Fund Scheme.<br />

Members also get some benefits like educational aid for their children, medical<br />

allowance, advances, discount on fish purchase (normally, at the rate of 10%; but<br />

60


this is increased to 25% in the case of a ceremonial need 14 ). For instance, the Co-<br />

operative pays the tution fees of the children of members and also provides them<br />

with books. Monthly scholarships are also given from the Higher Secondary level –<br />

Rs.150 to Higher Secondary students, Rs.250 to Under-Graduate students and<br />

Rs.350 to Post-Graduate students. Interest free advances up to Rs.20,000 are made<br />

to members in case of ceremonies or emergencies. This has to be repaid in 10 equal<br />

monthly installments, which are deducted from his salary.<br />

Table 4.4: Benefits from Co-operative<br />

Year Wages &<br />

salaries<br />

Indirect Benefits<br />

Medical Aid Education Advance Miscellaneous<br />

1990-1 536873 - 2000 2997 -<br />

1991-2 349498 447 6510 10600 -<br />

1992-3 623688 166 2925 15820 -<br />

1993-4 659120 860 2960 60000 -<br />

1994-5 696018 2115 12707 17500 -<br />

1995-6 639238 2413 5190 28200 -<br />

1996-7 752585 1687 7824 28000 15300<br />

1997-8 738878 1127 9842 28000 -<br />

1998-9 682532 4111 12382 20000 -<br />

1999-0 682532 3978 14957 48440 82940<br />

These indirect benefits contribute a minor, but steady portion of the total benefits<br />

enjoyed by co-operative members (on an average 6.32% of total benefits). The steep<br />

increase in the ratio of indirect benefits in the last year is, however, an outlier. This<br />

break is due to an increase in expenses on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee<br />

celebrations of the Co-operative. If we exclude this figure, the average indirect<br />

benefit falls to 4.86%.<br />

14 This rule gives rise to an interesting practice. Neighbors requiring fish in large amounts satisfy their<br />

requirements through co-operative members who pretend to purchase the fish for themselves. This facility is not<br />

extended to all neighbors, but to only those with whom they have links i.e. such relations form part of a broad<br />

social network).<br />

61


Table 4.5: Direct and Indirect Benefits to Members<br />

Year Personnel Cost<br />

(inclg. Bonus)<br />

Indirect Benefits Total Benefits Percentage Share of<br />

Indirect Benefits in Total<br />

Benefits<br />

1990-1 536873 4997 541870 0.92<br />

1991-2 349498 17557 367055 4.78<br />

1992-3 623688 18911 642599 2.94<br />

1993-4 659120 63820 722940 8.83<br />

1994-5 696018 32322 728340 4.44<br />

1995-6 639238 35803 675041 5.30<br />

1996-7 752585 52811 805396 6.56<br />

1997-8 738878 38969 777847 5.01<br />

1998-9 682532 36493 719025 5.08<br />

1999-0 682532 150315 832847 18.05<br />

Members also derive utility from various activities organised by the Co-operative. For<br />

instance, the Co-operative provides recreation facilities, members organise Puja,<br />

annual picnics, cultural programmes, etc. This provides members with psychological<br />

benefits. The sum of all the benefits – direct, indirect and psychological - is therefore<br />

quite significant.<br />

We had seen that the founder members were motivated by the objective of earning a<br />

secure income. Later entrants too had the same objective. Among latter entrants, 28<br />

(75.68%) were unemployed and joining the fishery represented the only means of<br />

earning income. However, the income of the members remains inadequate.<br />

Consequently, these members have to take up part time jobs elsewhere.<br />

Respondents were reluctant to reveal their part time jobs and income from them.<br />

While we felt that most of the respondents had part time jobs, only 17 persons<br />

admitted this fact. They performed different jobs – accountant, tutor, football coach,<br />

grill mechanic, daily labourer, etc. One person even purchased fish from the co-<br />

operative and sold it in the local market. In surveys, there is generally under<br />

reporting of income. Since, the wages from co-operative could be easily verified,<br />

62


espondents revealed their actual income from co-operative. However, they under-<br />

reported their income from secondary jobs by about 50%.<br />

Table 4.6: Relative Importance of Income from Co-operative<br />

Income Class Number of<br />

Individuals<br />

% Share of Wages from Co-<br />

op in Total Income earned by<br />

the individual<br />

% Share of Wages<br />

from Co-op to Family<br />

Income<br />

1000-1250 3 100 94.80<br />

1251-1500 8 100 94.73<br />

1501-2000 10 81.30 69.63<br />

2001-2500 5 76.19 55.68<br />

2501-3000 4 74.11 45.77<br />

3001-3500 3 61.25 39.00<br />

3501 and above 4 63.90 18.10<br />

Concerning the system of functioning and decision making of the co-operative, we<br />

concentrated on two aspects: sustainability of the operations, and method of conflict<br />

resolution. The latter, in turn, has two dimensions – among the co-operative<br />

members, and between the society and the neighborhood.<br />

Section 4.3: Ensuring Sustainability<br />

The society members used to fish on a rotational basis in the two lakes. In recent<br />

times, however, the society is closed on Saturdays. Fishing is carried out from about<br />

2 A.M. in the night. From the records of the fish variety caught in the last cycle, plans<br />

are prepared determining the variety of the fish to be caught. Sustainability is<br />

ensured in two ways. Direct observation by fishermen of the condition of the fish<br />

caught provides one indication of over catching. The fish exhibit signs of injuries,<br />

eyes are opaque, etc. In that case, the fishermen shift to the other lake. This year<br />

(March, 2000) the society used to catch fish in two shifts. Heeding signs of over<br />

63


exploitation, they stopped fishing completely for a fortnight allowing the fish time to<br />

recoup.<br />

Simultaneously, based upon past records, the society decides on the type of fish to<br />

be restocked and the type of fish to be caught to ensure that a variety is not<br />

exhausted. The main variety, however, is bata and laylantika.<br />

Figure 4.2: Trends in Seed Purchase, Fish Sales and Value Added<br />

2500000<br />

2000000<br />

1500000<br />

1000000<br />

500000<br />

0<br />

55<br />

50<br />

45<br />

40<br />

35<br />

30<br />

25<br />

20<br />

15<br />

10<br />

5<br />

0<br />

65<br />

60<br />

55<br />

50<br />

45<br />

40<br />

35<br />

30<br />

25<br />

20<br />

15<br />

10<br />

5<br />

0<br />

64<br />

VA<br />

Fish Seed<br />

Fish Sales<br />

VA with 1-year lag


In a closed water body, restocking of fish is an important activity. In the figures given<br />

above, we present trends of purchase of fish seed, revenue from fish and value<br />

added. The value added is the ratio between revenue from fish sales and purchase<br />

of fish seed, and is an index of productivity 15 .<br />

Both fish sales and purchase of fish seed have risen overtime. Note that this is in<br />

value terms. So this increase can also represent an inflationary trend, rather than an<br />

increase in quantities of fish seed and fish caught. However, price of fish and seed<br />

has not increased rapidly in this period. So the price effect can be discounted.<br />

Another point that should be noted is that the rising trend is only up to 1994-5.<br />

Thereafter, a declining trend can be observed – though there has been a sharp<br />

increase in the last year. Value added, however, has been constant – with an<br />

average of 10.3640. Fluctuation around this average is not very high as can be seen<br />

from the value of variance - 4.0984. If we omit the first three years, then the average<br />

and variance are 4.0225 and 1.2454, respectively. Since it takes about 7-9 months<br />

for the fish seed to grow, a more appropriate formula for VA might be the ratio<br />

between revenue from fish sales and the previous year’s purchase of fish seed. We<br />

have defined this as Lagged Value Added. However, this measure is also constant<br />

over time, with a mean of 10.9321 – though its fluctuation is slightly higher.<br />

(represented by a variance of 15.5863).<br />

Sustainability requires that restocking be strongly correlated with fish catching. We<br />

have drawn a regression equation relating purchase of seed to revenue from fish<br />

sales. The results are given below.<br />

Table 4.7 Results of OLS Regression of Fish Sales on Fish Seed<br />

Dependent variable is SEED (25 observations used for estimation)<br />

Regressor Coefficient Standard Error T- Ratio[Prob]<br />

Intercept<br />

Revenue from Fish Sales .28378 .010356 27.4036[.000]<br />

15 Note that the multiplicative factor – the index of productivity – can also be high because of an increase in price<br />

of fish. However, there has not been any sharp increase in price during the period studied.<br />

65


R-Squared 0.93328 R-Bar-Squared 0.93328<br />

S.E. of Regression 59291.3 F-statistic 335.71223<br />

Mean of Dependent Variable 241650.5 S.D. of Dependent Variable 229534.5<br />

Residual Sum of Squares 8.44E+10 Equation Log-likelihood -309.7187<br />

Akaike Information Criterion -310.7187 Schwarz Bayesian Criterion -311.3281<br />

Durbin Watson statistic 1.5696<br />

The results indicate that purchase of fish seed is strongly related to fish catch. Based<br />

on the principles stated earlier, the Co-operative members replenish the fish stock<br />

annually. While this may not exactly correspond to the environmentally sustainable<br />

level, the Society uses ad hoc estimates and grass-root indicators to obtain a rough<br />

estimate of this level. The Co-operative, therefore, appears to operate on a<br />

sustainable principle.<br />

Now another index of sustainability is the Closing Stock. A declining closing stock of<br />

fish would normally mean that the resource is being over exploited. While we do<br />

have figures of closing stock, we feel that these figures are dubious. For one, the<br />

figures are rounded figures, which raises doubts about their reliability. The method of<br />

accounting used to obtain Closing Stock is obviously ad hoc, thereby reducing the<br />

relevance of Closing Stock as an index of sustainability.<br />

Section 4.4: Conflict and It’s Resolution<br />

Coming to conflict resolution, we note that there are two dimensions – internal<br />

(among the co-operative members) and external conflict (between co-operative<br />

members and the neighbours). We summarise the main issues of conflict and the<br />

method of resolving them below:<br />

1) Internal conflict: Conflict can occur among co-operative members in two ways.<br />

a) Allocation of work: Since the wages paid and responsibilities of each category<br />

of work are different, there is a possibility of conflict between members over<br />

allocation of work. By and large, respondents were reluctant to reveal signs of<br />

66


conflict; however, 14 of the respondents admitted that there was conflict over the<br />

allocation of work. Specifically, as the pay of fishermen was highest, co-operative<br />

members generally wanted to be allotted to fishing. Rotational allocation of work<br />

does reduce the extent of conflict. In addition, arbitration by the Executive Council<br />

helps to arrive at a decision. Nevertheless, some amount of bitterness remains.<br />

Economic pressures and the absence of any alternative source of employment and<br />

income, however, prevent dissidence from breaking up the co-operative 16 .<br />

2) Shirking: Conflict can also emerge if co-operative members tend to avoid carrying<br />

out their allotted responsibilities (shirking). According to 83.78% of the members,<br />

shirking is negligible or absent. This is because of supervision of activities and group<br />

monitoring 17 . At the same time, the pressure of part time jobs does affect the ability<br />

of the members in supplying effort. Members, and even the supervisors, admitted<br />

this fact. It is generally felt that this sort of shirking could not be avoided. Hence, the<br />

load of secondary jobs is taken into account while allotting duties. We can argue that<br />

this corresponds to a threshold level of defection. As long as members do not shirk<br />

their duties up to this limit, allowance is made for them. If shirking crosses the critical<br />

level, then the mutual tolerance breaks down and measures are taken against the<br />

erring members.<br />

3) External Conflict: Conflict can occur between the co-operative members and<br />

neighbouring residents and factories in three ways.<br />

a) Poaching: Local residents may secretly catch fish from the lakes. Realizing<br />

this possibility, the co-operative arranges for night guards and day guards to patrol<br />

the lakes. In spite of this, there is some amount of poaching during the monsoon<br />

when the water overflows from the lake.<br />

b) Use of the lake: The local residents used the lake for bathing and washing (of<br />

clothes and utensils) purposes. This will affect the quality of the water and reduce<br />

16 35 respondents admitted that they would never be able to leave the co-operative even if its functioning<br />

detoriated, as they did not have any alternative source of steady income.<br />

17 Activities are organized in groups, and not individually. Shirking by one member will increase the load of other<br />

members. On the other hand, if all members of the group shirk together, their output falls noticeably, and draws<br />

the attention of the Executive Council.<br />

6 In an attempt to understand a possible indirect positive impact of the neighbourhood (which enjoys some<br />

positive externalities) on the conservation and maintnces activities of the co-operatives, we under look<br />

rudimentary CVM exercise to elicit the (rough) value that the neighbourhood assigns on the resource managed<br />

by the co-operative. Since the exercise is a rudimentary one with certain loose ends we report it in an Appendix.<br />

67


growth of fish. On the other hand, excluding them from using the lake would<br />

generate conflict. So, the co-operative has gone in for a technological solution.<br />

Periodically, the co-operative cleans the lake by adding lime. In addition, the di-<br />

calcium phosphate added to the fishmeal also helps in purifying the water.<br />

c) Effluent: Effluents from the neighbouring factories are washed into the lake. In<br />

particular, the effluent of a battery factory at the Noahpara has made fishing<br />

impossible at the lake. The co-operative is attempting to obtain a Government loan<br />

to build a purifying tank.<br />

In addition, there was a period in the early 1970s when local anti-socials used to<br />

prevent the co-operative members from fishing or used to try to take away their catch<br />

on the grounds that it was an open access resource. This led to physical resistance<br />

from the co-operative members. Frequent fights used to occur. Over time, as the Co-<br />

operative has demonstrated its viability and survival capacity, the rights of the<br />

fishermen over the lakes has been recognized and accepted by the neighbourhood.<br />

Therefore, we see that some of the activities of the neighbouring individuals<br />

generate negative externalities for the co-operative. Such externalities can be<br />

resolved by excluding them from access to the ponds. The cost of this will be<br />

immense, given the legal structure and practical realities – this is a case of a Pareto<br />

irrelevant externality (Buchanan & Stubblebine,1962). Therefore, the co-operative<br />

members accept this damage and pays for it in the form of adopting cost-effective<br />

abatement technology.<br />

On the other hand, the activities of the co-operative generate positive externalities<br />

for the neighborhood. Firstly, of course, the purification program adopted by the co-<br />

operative keeps the water clean. Secondly, neighbors can purchase fish at a low<br />

price. Third, the co-operative offers recreational benefits (in the form of paddle boats<br />

and morning and evening strolls). Fourth, the co-operative organizes socially<br />

beneficial activities like blood donation camps, and also repairs the banks of the lake<br />

and roads. The co-operative, thus earned social acceptance and respectability. 6<br />

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Section 4.5: Changing Dimensions of Sustainability in the Long Run<br />

To sum up, the Bon Hooghly Fishermens Co-operative was formed by a group of<br />

refugees from East Pakisthan. Riots and political disturbances had forced them to<br />

leave their homestead; in India, most of them faced severe economic problems. At<br />

the same time, their economic straits had made them desperate and enterprising.<br />

Based on a small group of educated persons and persons with some contacts, they<br />

managed to organise themselves into a collective group. Under the existing<br />

institutional environment, this group had to take the form of a co-operative. The main<br />

incentive – the cementing factor – was the economic compulsion to earn a steady<br />

income. This stimulated them to clear the pond and conserve the fish stock.<br />

Resource conservation was, therefore, an instrument whereby they could achieve<br />

their primary target of earning a supplementary income.<br />

Over time, an interesting development has occurred. Paddleboats have been<br />

generating a steadily increasing flow of revenue. In fact, it is becoming the dominant<br />

source of income. This can be seen from Table 4.8. What is specially important is<br />

that if we exclude rent from boats from Net Profit, then we get a negative figure. The<br />

resultant figure is actually surplus from boating plus expenses on boats. Since the<br />

latter is an insignificant figure, we can ignore it. In that case, the resultant figure<br />

gives the surplus from boating. Except for 1993-94 and 1994-95, fishing activities<br />

leads to deficits. What is interesting is that previous to the introduction of boating<br />

fishing was profitable (see figure 4.1). The introduction of boating, therefore, has<br />

converted a previously profitable line of activity to a loss making line.<br />

Table 4.8: Relative Importance of Fishing and Boating in Generating Revenue<br />

Year Ratio of Net<br />

Profit to<br />

Revenue from<br />

Fish Sales (%)<br />

Ratio of Net Profit<br />

to Revenue from<br />

Boating (%)<br />

Ratio of Revenue<br />

from Boat to<br />

Revenue from<br />

Fish Sales (%)<br />

Surplus from Fishing<br />

(=Net Profit –<br />

Revenue from<br />

Boating)<br />

1993-4 3.85 35.08 1.35 37663<br />

1994-5 3.06 46.73 1.43 34483<br />

1995-6 1.38 388.48 5.37 -73015<br />

1996-7 2.76 162.38 4.18 -34208<br />

1997-8 2.37 72.66 3.27 -17422<br />

1998-9 0.27 1632.10 4.33 -67734<br />

1999-0 0.10 3775.50 3.62 -80714<br />

One possible implication of this trend is that the co-operative may shift its attention<br />

from fishing to boating. While this will increase the profitability of the co-operative,<br />

69


the environmental impact of this will be uncertain. On one hand, less care will be<br />

taken to maintain the stock of fish. On the other hand, boating will require a change<br />

in the pattern of use of the surrounding areas. The banks of the lake will have to be<br />

beautified. This will increase the recreational benefits from the lake. While this will<br />

have a positive impact, the development of commercial establishments and pollution<br />

due to improper disposal of waste materials, may generate negative externalities.<br />

Thus, over time, if an inconsistency develops between the primary target and<br />

resource conservation, the co-operative may become dysfunctional – in terms of its<br />

overt objective of fishing. At this moment, however, it is not possible to conclude<br />

whether such a trend is being manifested. One indication of this danger will be a<br />

drop in the fish catch and revenue. While, there has been such a drop in revenue<br />

from fishing over the last few years, we are unable to judge whether this is a long run<br />

trend, or merely a temporary decrease.<br />

Section 4.6: A Note on the Chachharia Fishermen’s Co-operative:<br />

We also investigated (on a sample survey basis) another fishermen’s co-operative<br />

society functioning at Chachharia in the heart of the East Calcutta Wetlands.<br />

Structurally and functionally this society resembles the Bon Hooghly Fishermen’s<br />

Co-operative Society and is performing, if not with equal success, at least<br />

satisfactorily 18 . However, its origin, course of evolution of the property regime, and<br />

resource characteristics exhibits some distinctive feature. We briefly note them here.<br />

Section 4.6.a: Origin of the Co-operative<br />

The original owner of the land where the water body (bheri in the local vernacular) is<br />

situated was the Mallicks - a zamindar family of north Calcutta. In 1980-81 dispute<br />

arose regarding lease-rights on the water body. After the settlement of the dispute<br />

one Sri Jayanto Mallick leased out the land. But after his death the land with the<br />

water-body turned almost into a free-access property. A minister of the Government<br />

of West Bengal Mr. Abdul Razzak Molla suggested to Mrs. Suraiya (Jaya) Mallick,<br />

18 Before comparing the ‘success’ of these co-operatives, we should keep in mind the different objectives of these<br />

two co-operatives and the different contextual factors surrounding these two resources.<br />

70


widow of Sri Jayanto Mallick, that she could lease out the water body to Chachharia<br />

Fisherman’s Co-operative (an offshoot of the local Bheri Mazdoor Union) for its use<br />

and management. She agreed to that proposal. The co-operative started in 1991<br />

(though the formal registration was obtained in 1999). The members of the<br />

cooperative are the ex-bheri mazdoors (workers) under the leaseholders. Here CPI<br />

(M) and its mass organization Bheri Mazdoor Union played the crucial role of a<br />

catalytic agent to transform a private resource turned free access resource to a CPR.<br />

Section 4.6.b: Characteristics of the Harvesting Process<br />

The water bodies where fishes are grown obtain water from the municipal sewages<br />

flowing through the stream adjoining the area. This local technology of sewerage<br />

fishing is unique as it enables purification of the sewage water. The process of<br />

production converts a public bad (the sewage water) into a public good (purified<br />

water), and thus draws wider public approval.<br />

Section 4.6.c: Impact of the Resource Regime<br />

The CPR regime here converted erstwhile fishermen working as labourers into co-<br />

owners. This benefited by them in various ways: assuring secure employment and a<br />

steady flow of income throughout the year. This is of particular importance in view of<br />

the acute poverty of the resource community and the lack of any viable alternative<br />

means of livelihood open to them. It also ended the long history of exploitation of<br />

these fishermen in the hands of various lease owners.<br />

Section 4.6.d: Influence of Contextual factors<br />

In the case of Chachharia the influence of political factors have been of great<br />

importance in shaping the mobilization and formation of the co-operative. Taking<br />

advantage of the sense of oppression and exploitation of the bheri workers, the<br />

CPI(M) became the dominant political force in that area. In subsequent periods,<br />

when the resource faced danger of being over-exploited and degraded as an open<br />

access resource in the 1980s, it was this party which introduced a property regime<br />

and enabled the conservation of the resource. The party, on one hand, persuaded<br />

the legal owners to lease out the water body to the workers; on the other hand, it<br />

mobilized the workers to form the co-operative. During the period of our survey we<br />

71


found that the party retained tight control over the functioning of the organization.<br />

Most of the members were also members of the CPI (M); the members holding the<br />

administrative posts were also Party functionaries. The role of the party in generating<br />

consciousness of the possibilities inherent in a sustainable pattern of resource<br />

exploitation is reminiscent of the experience in Belemath.<br />

72


CHAPTER 5: A COMMUNITY OWNED WATER BODY IN<br />

HAZAMDIHI<br />

Section 5.1: Background of the Resource Community<br />

Hazamdihi is a small village inhabited by about 150 households in the district of<br />

Bankura. It is about 6 kilometers from the Block Office of Khatra, which in turn, is<br />

about 60 kms from the district headquarter Bankura Town. The villagers are Hindus,<br />

of which two castes dominates – the Bauris (SC) and the Mondol (OBCs). There are<br />

also a few houses of Upper Caste Hindus. The total population of the village is 616<br />

consisting 330 male and 286 female.<br />

Table 5.1: Caste Profile of Population<br />

Caste<br />

Households Individuals<br />

Number Percentage Number Percentage<br />

Upper Caste 9 9.57 57 9.25<br />

SC/ST 47 50.0 262 42.53<br />

OBC 38 40.42 297 48.21<br />

Total 94 100.00 616 100.00<br />

Basically the houses of the community are typically village houses and the roofs of<br />

the houses are made of straw for majority of the population (65%). The roof made of<br />

tali and tin counts there after both of them having a percentage of 14% and 11%<br />

respectively. Only 7% people have houses of their own which have concrete roof.<br />

Radio is available to 22% of the people where as 75 % of them have no radio of their<br />

own. In case of T.V., only 5% people have it, but the majority of them have no T.V. in<br />

their houses. Cycle availability is a common feature in the village area and our<br />

survey sight is not an exception. Majority of the population has their own cycles<br />

(69%) and 28% people have not any cycle.<br />

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Table 5.2: Distribution of Population According to Income<br />

Income Number of households Average income Percentage<br />

Less than 10000 17 6340 17.17<br />

10001-20000 33 15413 33.33<br />

20001-30000 17 25267 17.17<br />

30001-50000 12 38920 12.12<br />

50001-80000 12 64309 12.12<br />

More than 80000 8 196278 8.08<br />

Total 99 38938 100<br />

Table 5.3: Population Engaged in Different Occupation<br />

Occupation Main Occupation Secondary<br />

Occupation<br />

Total Respondents<br />

Farm Worker 100 12 112<br />

Farmer 73 17 90<br />

Milkman 17 14 31<br />

Business 14 8 22<br />

Service 12 1 13<br />

Fisherman 0 0 0<br />

Forest related<br />

activity<br />

0 0 0<br />

Other Occupation 0 0 0<br />

Total 216 52 268<br />

Section 5.2: Evolution of the Resource Management System<br />

The resource studied by us was a water body in this village. The history of the water<br />

body is an interesting one. The earliest inhabitant who can be traced was a Santhal<br />

(tribal) named Hazam Majhi 1 . He had settled down near the water body that had<br />

74


een granted by the King of Khatra to his Gurudev (Gosai). The settlement that<br />

developed was called after his name as Hazamdihi 2 . The present settlers, however,<br />

were not related to Hazam. They were descendents of one Bauridas Mondol, an<br />

inhabitant of Khichka who had arrived in Hazamdihi via Bhadura in search of<br />

livelihood. He acquired the water body from Hazam. Bauridas had 5 sons, of whom<br />

3 remained in Hazamdihi, while the other 2 settled down in nearby Domnashole.<br />

Bauridas had 12 grandsons from the 3 sons who had remained in Hazamdihi. The<br />

present inhabitants are descended from these 12 Mondols. In addition, these<br />

Mondols had hired-in agricultural labourers from outside (they belonged to the Bauri<br />

caste). They form part of the present population. Finally, 7 households of<br />

Tantubayees migrated to Hazamdihi. The models extended over generations from<br />

the co-owners of the water body.<br />

Initially, the water body was used for the following purposes:<br />

1. Bathing of humans and cattle;<br />

2. Washing of clothes and utensils; and,<br />

3. Fishing.<br />

Since the owners of the water body are not traditionally fishermen, they used to hire<br />

Santhals from Domnashole to catch fish for a share in the total catch. This was sold<br />

in nearby Khatra and the proceeds used for financing community Pujas (Swaraswati,<br />

Kali), and jatras (folk theaters). There were some khejur (dat palm) trees on the<br />

banks of the water body. The ras (juices) from these tees were also collected in the<br />

winter and sold. The proceeds were used as before. This indicates that the water<br />

body is not an isolated resource but part of a resource system.<br />

Over time, there have been some changes in the resource use pattern. The<br />

Government has constructed a canal, which has divided the water body into two<br />

parts. This canal is supposed to bring water from the Kangsabati River to the fields.<br />

This has increased the possible benefits from the resource system.<br />

75


Section 5.3: Property Rights and their Changes<br />

The most important aspect of the system is the co-existence of multiple property<br />

rights for the same resource. In this context, we should clearly distinguish between<br />

common property resources and common pool resources. Common pool resources<br />

refer, as we said before, to resources whose consumption is rival, and for whom<br />

exclusion is not feasible. In this case it is the water body, which is the common pool<br />

resource.<br />

Now as pointed out by Ostrom (1990) a resource resembles a pool, from which<br />

resource users appropriate units from a steady flow of resources. Property rights are<br />

means of enforcing claims on these resource flows. In the case of pure common<br />

property, the rights to the resource will be shared equally within a well-defined group<br />

of resource users (resource community). However, property rights to the benefits<br />

flowing from the resource can also be owned by the State (State property) or by<br />

individuals (private property). In these cases, while tradable rights to the resource is<br />

owned by the individual/State, rights to use some benefits may be allocated to<br />

groups of people. For instance, while standing harvest and private land is private<br />

property, rights to collect gleamings after harvest are often common to the villagers.<br />

Similarly, private landowners will allow others to access their land for grazing and<br />

foraging purposes in the period between harvest and sowing. Similarly, open access<br />

situations can also exist. Resources cannot be neatly classified into categories of<br />

property rights as Ciriacy-Wantrup and Bishop (1975) suggests - the reality is more<br />

complex. We may have a large number of resources for which different types of<br />

rights may co-exist. Furthermore, dynamic changes within the resource system as<br />

well as contextual factors may lead to evolutionary changes in the property right<br />

system attached with each usage.<br />

The water body offers different types of benefits to the resource community.<br />

Depending upon the nature of the benefit and the costs of exclusion, different<br />

systems of property rights have evolved for each usage. This has been summarised<br />

below:<br />

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Table 5.4: Resource Use and Associated Property Rights<br />

Resource Use Property Right<br />

Water for bathing Open access<br />

Water for washing Open access<br />

Irrigation water Open access<br />

Fish Community based<br />

Ras (juice) Community based<br />

Income from felling trees on the banks of the<br />

water body<br />

Community based<br />

Over time there has been some changes in the property rights system. For instance,<br />

as transaction costs have increased there has been a shift in the property rights to<br />

fish. A few years previous to the survey period, fishing rights were leased out to<br />

private individuals. Respondents stated the reasons for this change. Since they were<br />

not traditionally fishermen they had to bear some costs in hiring Santhals to catch<br />

the fish – contacting them, negotiating with them, supervising their activities, etc.<br />

This yielded an uncertain income. On the other hand, leasing out of fishing right<br />

resulted in a stable flow of income to the community fund. Such behaviour reflects<br />

risk aversion on the part of the community. Outside opportunities of some<br />

(particularly of educated and skilled) members also increased. As a result, for those<br />

members, opportunity cost of time to be devoted to the management of the resource<br />

increased appreciably. Simultaneously there was the pressure of an immediate<br />

need. At that time, funds were urgently needed to repair the school building and add<br />

an extra story to it. The Panchayat had not released the necessary funds. Leasing<br />

out the pond thus offered an easy solution. In later years, realizing that transaction<br />

costs would be lowered the system of property rights was permanently changed in all<br />

three water bodies.<br />

This marks an evolution in the form of property rights from common property to<br />

private property for fishing rights. Such a transition bears out the truth in Eggertson’s<br />

(1990) statement:<br />

“There is no general solution to the problem of maximizing net yield of the resource.<br />

No system of property is universally ideal. Depending upon the characteristics of<br />

77


costs of production, exclusion and governance, the optimal system may be open<br />

access, communal, intermediate plots or exclusive plots.”<br />

We can find similar cases of changing property rights in literature. Steins (1999) has<br />

presented an interesting case of changing choice in property rights in Cowes<br />

Harbour. This Harbour is situated on the River Medina on the Isle of Wight, United<br />

Kingdoms. The river provides a variety of benefits: recreational, cargo movement<br />

and oyster fishing. While the forms of use have been regulated by the Cowes<br />

Harbour Commissioners (CHC), oyster fishermen have been left on their own. This is<br />

because revenue from issuing oyster licenses yield only 70 pounds annually, while<br />

the costs of monitoring their activities are much less. In other words, it is not<br />

economically feasible to bring oyster fishing under the fold of the CHC.<br />

Consequently, oyster fishing has traditionally operated under an informal common<br />

property regime within the national regulatory frame-work for such fisheries.<br />

Fishermen respected these informal rules and there were no violations reported. At<br />

the same time, the CHC theoretically regulated fishing. Fishermen granted Oyster<br />

Fishing Licences by the CHC were permitted to fish only for one hour on each side of<br />

the low tide in periods when all buoys were cleared for winter maintenance. Further,<br />

only three boats could fish at the same time. However, the oyster fishermen<br />

frequently violated the navigational rules of Cowes Harbour.<br />

As traffic increased with time, this created navigational hazards. It was also felt that<br />

oyster fishing was reducing bio-diversity and harming the seabed. Increasing traffic<br />

was also affecting oyster fishing: in the form of increased water pollution and<br />

accumulation of waste in the seabed, but this was ignored by the CHC. It was finally<br />

decided to close down oyster fishing. This led to intensive negotiations between the<br />

CHC and the fishermen. Finally, a settlement was arrived at. Under this settlement,<br />

the rights of the fishermen to fish in the waters of the Medina were accepted by<br />

granting them a Several Order. This gave them ”exclusive right of propagating,<br />

dredging, fishing for and taking shellfish of any description to which the Order<br />

applies” 4 . To utilise this Order, the oyster fishermen decided to abandon the<br />

traditional informal system of property rights – despite its success – and privatise the<br />

oyster beds. Accordingly, in August, 1996 they formed the Medina River Oyster<br />

Company Limited.<br />

78


During our survey we heard of another similar instance from our respondents. In<br />

Jitpur, another nearby village in Bankura, feuding between members of different<br />

families prevented timely decisions with respect to the water body. The increased<br />

transaction cost of arriving at a decision acceptable to members implied that the<br />

property right system was no longer feasible. The solution was again privatisation –<br />

leasing out fishing rights to the bandh (water body).<br />

In both cases (Cowes Harbour and Bankura) we see an abandonment of a<br />

successful communally managed system and transition to a private property regime.<br />

There are two differences between Steins’s case and the bandhs of Bankura. Firstly,<br />

in the case of Cowes Harbour, the decision to change the property rights was in<br />

response to contextual factors outside the control of the oyster fishermen – the<br />

decision of the CHC to close down the fishery. In Bankura, however, it was<br />

increasing risk aversion of the villagers and increasing opportunity cost of time,<br />

which caused the change. In Jitpur, however, it was demographic factors - the<br />

extension and growth of the family – which increased costs of arriving at an<br />

agreement, and led to the change in property rights.<br />

Section 5.4: Political Economy of the Management System<br />

Management of the use of the water body was undertaken by a group of 12<br />

members. These members were nominated by each branch of the 12 grandsons of<br />

Bauridas Mondol. Membership in this committee continues until a member was<br />

removed by the branch to which he belongs. The Committee was a stable body – for<br />

instance, at the time of our survey, the current Committee had been serving for<br />

about 7-8 years. The Committee was responsible for conserving the banks of the<br />

pond, guarding against theft by neighbouring villagers, hiring Santhals to catch fish,<br />

and utilisation of the proceeds from the water body. The members of the current<br />

Committee are as follows:<br />

Krishnapada (President), Dhirendranath 5 (Cashier), Ranjit (Secreatry), Bhaktipada,<br />

Prafulla, Nepal, Mahadev 6 , Tulsicharan, Shaktisadhan, Gorachand, Kamal.<br />

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There are two interesting features about the water body. One is its persistence of the<br />

existing system for over 6 generations. This has led to fragmentation of the<br />

ownership of the pond. Ownership therefore dissipated to almost the entire village.<br />

Or, to be more precise, it dissipated amongst each Mondol household.<br />

Fragmentation has occurred to such an extent that legal ownership has become<br />

virtually irrelevant. In fact, most of the members were unable to state their current<br />

share. As a result, legal ownership does not translate into a marketable right – as it<br />

is difficult to identify one’s share. Simultaneously, it does not enable any member to<br />

appropriate a corresponding share of the proceeds from the water body. Instead, the<br />

proceeds are utilized on community projects to avoid discord.<br />

Only three shares (of the original 2) had not been fragmented – these were owned<br />

by Tulsi, Sahadev and Bimal. The case of Bimal Mondol constitutes an exception as<br />

he is the only outsider to own a share in the pond. Bimal’s originl name was Bimal<br />

Dibar. His sister was married to a Mondol who died soon after. In the absence of any<br />

male heir, the widow requested her brother to settle in Hazamdihi and look after the<br />

property. This allowed Bimal Dibar to obtain a share of the pond. Probably to<br />

increase his acceptability he changed his name to Mondol.<br />

It may be noted that ownership of both land and the water body is through<br />

inheritance – and therefore is affected by the degree of fragmentation. The<br />

distribution of ownership of both these resources roughly parallels each other.<br />

Table 5.5: Land Holding Distribution<br />

Land holding categories (in bighas) Number of households Percentage<br />

0-1 38 38.38<br />

1-2 8 8.08<br />

2-5 23 23.23<br />

5-20 25 25.25<br />

20+ 5 5.05<br />

Total 99 100<br />

80


We see that a good percentage of local people have small holdings, where as the<br />

land holding distribution is clustered around medium (2-5) and semi-large (5-20)<br />

holdings both of them holding 235 and 25% respectively. Only 5% people have large<br />

land holdings.<br />

Table 5.6: Relation Between Caste and Land Holding<br />

Land holding (in bighas)<br />

Caste<br />

Upper caste Hindu Mondal Bauri<br />

0-1 0 33 4<br />

1-2 1 5 2<br />

2-5 5 7 11<br />

5-20 1 3 21<br />

20+ 2 0 3<br />

Total 9 48 41<br />

Mondol holds most of the lands. Mondol land used to get the irrigation water<br />

regularly. On contrary, Bauris could not get the irrigation water and hence their<br />

agriculture were rain fed agriculture. Among the Mondols, three have pump sets of<br />

their own and in winter when the water levels are low they used to take water from<br />

the irrigation canal with the help of the pump sets.<br />

Interestingly, the three families with the major share in the water body and land<br />

holdings also had greater political clout. Though they were not directly connected<br />

with the local organizations (the Panchayat, the sholana, and the committee to look<br />

after the water body), they influenced decision making in each of these bodies. For<br />

instance, in the latter body, they used Krishnapada Mondol as their representative.<br />

However, this greater say was not used to appropriate the financial gains but to<br />

increase their political power. Part of the financial gains (from leasing out the pond,<br />

for instance) used to be given to their recommended agents – the remaining was<br />

distributed amongst the community members.<br />

81


In the case of some of the benefits of resource uses, the share is not equitably<br />

proportioned. For instance, irrigation water from the canal can be used only by the<br />

farmers with land below the height of the banks of the canal. In the winter, when<br />

water level in the canal falls further, the water can be appropriated only through<br />

pumps. This further affects the extent of distribution of benefits from the resource.<br />

Some members also allege that they do not feel at home at social occasions, or are<br />

not invited at all – “they (the festivals) are for them.” The children of some villagers<br />

do no go to the school that is maintained out of the community funds.<br />

What is interesting about the distribution of the benefits is that they accrue, in<br />

general, to the Mondols. It is the Mondols who own the land below the banks of the<br />

canal and obtain the water overflowing from it. During winter it is the Big Three<br />

Mondols who have the pump set necessary to draw water from the canal. The Bauris<br />

feel unwelcome to the jatras and pujas. And it is the Mondol children who are<br />

enrolled in the school. Distribution of the benefits is, therefore, far from being<br />

equitable – the major share of the benefits are appropriated by the Mondols. This<br />

outcome follows from the fact that the Mondols alone have access to all the six uses<br />

of the resource. In time of our survey maximum number (60.6% of respondents) of<br />

people responded that they have no access of the date juice, where as 15.2% gets<br />

it. Also there were almost 24% of respondents who have no idea about the date<br />

juice, as they do not obtain it ever. Similarly, in case of jatras and pujas participation,<br />

75% of the people, basically Mondals participate in jatras and pujas where as 24%<br />

of the respondents basically Bauris had no right to join in the festival.<br />

Table 5.7: Pond Use According to Caste<br />

USE/CASTE UCH SC/ST OBC TOTAL<br />

Pujas/Jatras 3 21 8 32<br />

Family Work<br />

7 23 21 51<br />

Irrigation Work 6 6 25 37<br />

Fish available at a cheap rate 2 12 13 27<br />

No benefits 0 4 2 6<br />

All the uses 2 3 2 7<br />

Total 20 69 71 160<br />

82


Economic value of the pond (irrigation) is monopolized by the Mondols. Other uses<br />

are more or less equitably distributed.<br />

Table 5.8: Pond Use by Different Income Groups (Into Percentage)<br />

Income /uses Pujas/Jatras Family<br />

Work<br />

Less than<br />

10000<br />

Irrigation Fish at a<br />

cheap rate<br />

No<br />

benefit<br />

All<br />

benefits<br />

33.33 40 20 13.33 20 13.33<br />

10001-20000 28.13 50 21.88 25 6.25 6.25<br />

20001-30000 18.75 75 37.5 37.5 6.25 0<br />

30001-50000 33.3 50 83.33 58.33 0 0<br />

50001-80000 58.33 50 50 16.67 0 16.67<br />

More than<br />

80000<br />

57.14 71.43 71.43 28.57 0 14.29<br />

Total 34.04 54.26 39.36 28.72 6.38 7.44<br />

Decision-making by the community is not very democratic. Mondals are given<br />

priority. News after decision is obtained mainly by the Mondals – news obtained fairly<br />

quickly.<br />

Table 5.9: Information Received According to Caste<br />

Caste/<br />

Information<br />

As<br />

members<br />

Provided by<br />

committee<br />

From the<br />

members<br />

From the<br />

people<br />

No<br />

response<br />

UCH 1 4 3 1 0 9<br />

SC\ST 2 3 3 10 29 47<br />

OBC 9 7 15 5 4 40<br />

Total 12 14 21 16 33 96<br />

83<br />

Total


Section 5.5: Resource and Villagers<br />

Villagers use the ponds in various ways (described earlier). The system of legal<br />

ownership and administration of the water body has also been described. In this<br />

section we shall analyses why the resource user adhere routes – the costs and<br />

benefits of conservation: The main reasons for following the rules relating to pond<br />

use are:<br />

i) Benefits in the form of schooling, jatras, pujas (27 households)<br />

ii) Norms and penalties (24 households)<br />

Inspection of the records kept by the Solana does not indicate that a significant<br />

portion of the funds goes to social development projects. The exact utilization of the<br />

funds is not clear which castes doubts on the validity of the first reason. This is also<br />

supported indirectly by the fact that 19 households (20%) claim to be unaware of<br />

pond rules. When asked whether they would obey rules even if it reduced their<br />

economic welfare villagers claimed that they would maintain rules. The main reason<br />

therefore appears to be fear of getting punished.<br />

The life of the community has traditionally revolved around the water body and the<br />

resource flows from it. While the resource users are not totally dependent on the<br />

water body, they derive substantial benefits – both economic and psychological –<br />

from the resource. In recent years, the water body has assumed a new role as a<br />

source of development funds, which enables the community to be independent of the<br />

Panchayat. In such cases we would expect that the resource community would be<br />

aware of the resource condition. However this does not seem to be so.<br />

Table 5.10: Awareness of the Resource Conditions<br />

State of Resource Aware Unaware<br />

Pond 20 51<br />

Fish 33 38<br />

Trees 23 48<br />

Other water bodies 3 67<br />

Note: There were other open access water bodies, which were not properly preserved.<br />

84


CHAPTER 6: COMPARING BETWEEN INSTITUTIONS: A<br />

Section 6.1: Looking Back<br />

FRAMEWORK<br />

In the earlier three chapters we have examined the evolution of CPR institutions and<br />

their functioning. We have also tried to identify the reasons for their inefficient<br />

performance. In this chapter we shall integrate the case studied and undertake a<br />

comparative assessment.<br />

We shall start by re-analyzing our four case studies (we leave out Charcharia -<br />

though we may refer to it in passing) using a common framework. This will enable us<br />

to comment on the validity of our main and sub-hypotheses and pave the way for<br />

linking them to the theoretical developments in game theory. This will also enable us<br />

to recommend appropriate policy alternatives in the next chapter.<br />

Section 6.2: A Common Methodological Framework<br />

Early skeptics of the Harding’s Tragedy of Commons paradigm had stressed on<br />

refuting his gloomy predictions using empirical evidence. These studies used<br />

different methodologies. As a result their results and conclusions could not be<br />

compared easily. In a Workshop held by the Workshop of Political Theory and Policy<br />

Analysis, Indiana University, Oakerson (1986), therefore, recommended use of a<br />

common methodological framework to document case studies.<br />

Oakerson focuses on four sets of attributes or variables that can be used to describe<br />

typical CPRs:<br />

85


1. Physical attributes of the resource and the technology used to appropriate its<br />

yield.<br />

a) The relative capacity of the resource base to support multiple users at the<br />

same time without congestion and without diminishing the aggregate level of<br />

benefit.<br />

b) The degree of which exclusion is possible.<br />

c) Physical boundaries of the resource.<br />

2. Decision making a arrangements (organisation and rules) that govern<br />

relationships among users.<br />

a) Operational rules regulating use of the CPR.<br />

b) Rules establishing conditions of collective choice within the resource<br />

community.<br />

c) External arrangements linking the resource appropriators to the external<br />

community<br />

3. Mutual choice of strategies and consequent patterns of interaction among<br />

decision makers.<br />

4. Outcomes or consequences.<br />

In the next sections we briefly examine the features of each aspect to be studied and<br />

reanalyze our case studies on the basis of these aspects.<br />

Section 6.2.a: Technical and Physical Attributes of the Resource<br />

All CP problems are rooted in some set of constraints given either in nature or<br />

inherent in available technology. These constraints can be analyzed against three<br />

concepts drawn from literature.<br />

i. Jointness: This refers to the degree of subtractability arising from consumption<br />

(Samuelson, 1954). It ordinarily applies to simultaneous use, but it can be also<br />

used in the context of serial use. While utilization of the resources by our<br />

86


individual does subtract from the welfare of others, within limits all users can<br />

derive benefits jointly. The analyst should be concerned with delineating the limits<br />

to which such non-rival consumption is possible.<br />

ii. Exclusion: This refers to the ability (of provider to exclude potential users from<br />

using the good or services unless they pay for it. Whether exclusion can at all be<br />

applied or not, and the degree to which it can be applied, depends on the<br />

physical nature of the resource and the technology available to exclude it.<br />

iii. Indivisibility: This refers to the ability to partition the resource. In other words, it<br />

refers to the optimal scale of holding of the resource. In some cases it may not be<br />

feasible partition the resource. In such cases the problem of delineating the<br />

resource becomes important.<br />

Now let us see to what extent the resources studied satisfies these features.<br />

In the case of forest reserves consumption is non-rival except in very rare situations<br />

when degradation has reached acute levels. However, future resource users may be<br />

affected. Further, we found that the users in both Matha and Belemath were quite<br />

aware of the jointness of consumption. Similarly, the legal arrangements under which<br />

the water bodies were held in Bon Hoogly and Charcharia resulted in the derivation<br />

of joint benefits. In Hazamdihi, on the other hand, it is difficult to conclude whether<br />

consumption in rival or not. This is because the water body in Bankura is a multiple<br />

use resource. The Oakerson framework, however, is not meant for multiple use<br />

resources, but for single use resources. In Hazamdihi, some users are rival<br />

(irrigation), while others are non- rival (water for bathing, organizing of festivals and<br />

folk theatres out of returns from harvesting of fishes etc. from the water body).<br />

Exclusion is difficult in forests. This is because of the geographical spread of the<br />

resource. On the other hand, use of the water body in Hazamdihi can be easily<br />

monitored and excluded because of the physical nature of the resource (their static<br />

nature). Technology also is important - in areas like irrigation. There are, some<br />

problems in excluding Charcharia because of the terrain. As a result there are<br />

attempts to poach by outsiders. This requires monitoring by the co-operative. This<br />

was also a serious problem in Bon-Hooghly in the early 1970s. But this had died out<br />

in recant years as the co-operative has become viable and makes its presence felt in<br />

87


the locality. In addition and importantly the poachers (who were basically anti-<br />

socials, and not fisherman) lacked the necessary skill to evade monitoring. However,<br />

it is difficult to exclude the local factory and bathers who pollute the water of the<br />

water body in Bon Hooghly. The transaction costs involved in this operation will be<br />

too costly.<br />

Unlike forests, water bodies are not divisible. In the case of the forest the problem is<br />

that the boundary of the resource cannot be easily delineated.<br />

Section 6.2.b: Decision Making Arrangements<br />

The second component of the model consists of rules - the rules that structure<br />

individual and collective choices with respect to the commons. This component<br />

refers to the institutions or organizational arrangements of the commons. Such<br />

arrangements can be divided into three components: first, the rules that establish<br />

conditions of collective choice within the resource community; second, operational<br />

rules regulating resource use; and, third, the nature of ‘nesting’ of the local<br />

organization with external institutions.<br />

In the first two cases (forests) this component is identical. Conditions for making<br />

collective choices are ensured within the framework of the Forest Protection<br />

Committees. The villagers themselves establish these committees for each village.<br />

The jurisdictions of each Committee, their responsibilities, their rights, etc. are<br />

determined under the existing legislative arrangements. Thus we can say that the<br />

State provides the basic institutional vehicle for organizing collective action. This is<br />

also true for the Fisherman’s Cooperatives in Bon Hooghly and Charcharia. The<br />

Government ensures an environment in which the resource users can organize<br />

themselves to manage the resource.<br />

In Hazamdihi, on the other hand, the system was spontaneously evolved. It did not<br />

emerge as a result of Government intervention. Nor are the limits to this domain<br />

defined by legislation. The establishment of the Mondal family Hazamdihi and their<br />

fragmentation over time generated the need for collective action. The environment in<br />

which this collective action takes place is basically a family based system.<br />

88


Regarding the second sub-component, viz. the operational rules of the system, we<br />

again note that there is a similarity between the first two cases - Belemath and<br />

Matha. In both of them, the resource is the same and collective choice conditions are<br />

the same. This has resulted in the adoption of identical operational rules for both<br />

these resources. What is striking is that though the operational rules - or what Mark<br />

Sproulet - Jones would say, the rules - in - form - is same, the de-facto rules - the<br />

rules-in-use - is totally different and represents a sharp contrast to each other. In<br />

Belermath, there is a convergence between rules-in-use and rules-in-form. On the<br />

other hand, in Metha the two diverge. This contrast is of particular importance in view<br />

of the focus of CPR theorists on rules-in-use. The standard explanation for such<br />

contrasts lies in different socio-economic conditions. This cannot be accepted in this<br />

case. We had seen clearly that the villages of Belemath and Matha match each other<br />

which regard to economic prosperity (or rather its lack), extent of dependence on<br />

forests, literacy, cultural backgrounds, occupation structure, etc. the only difference<br />

lies in religious and ethnic composition of the population - while Belemath consists of<br />

mixed population, Metha has predominantly a tribal population. But again, literature<br />

would suggest that a tribal populated village is more likely to conserve their natural<br />

resource base. Obviously, we will have to seek an explanation elsewhere.<br />

A possible explanation of this is the difference in contextual factors operating in both<br />

villages. In Belemath the conditions within the community are similar to that of<br />

Matha. But there are differences in the bio-physical environment and in the resulting<br />

economic environment. The harsh climate of Purulia - which is an arid zone - renders<br />

agriculture a low-paying occupation. On the other hand, Belemath is more suitable<br />

for agriculture. The scarcity of water for rice cultivation in winter is solved by the<br />

canal irrigation system. The yields may not be very high - but they are stable and<br />

represent a secure flow. Further, there are employment opportunities in the<br />

surrounding area. The survival of the community, therefore, is not contingent on<br />

over-exploitation of the forests. This is precisely the root of the problem is Matha.<br />

The absence of any secure alternatives embedded within and outside the community<br />

forces the community to under-value future income flows. This leads to the<br />

deliberate choice of a rate of exploitation that will degrade and ultimately destroy the<br />

forest.<br />

89


Turning to the co-operatives we find that both Charcharia and Bon Hooghly are<br />

similar in their historical context. In both cases we have an economically distressed<br />

community desperately seeking alternative means of livelihood. The causes of the<br />

distress are, of course, different. In Charcharia it was economic oppression by the<br />

zamindars occurring in an economic environment bereft of any alternatives to the<br />

oppressed class. In Bon Hooghly, on the other hand, it was the distress caused by a<br />

large-scale migration after the Partition of Bengal and the ensuing aftermath. The<br />

basic historical experience, however, is the same. This has led to a similar level of<br />

convergence between rules-in-form and rules-in use in both cases.<br />

In Hazamdehi, on the other hand, the historical context is the fragmentation of the<br />

Mondol family. The fragmentation reduces the individual holdings of each family to<br />

such a small size that no individual holding can generate enough returns to justify<br />

assertion of individual rights. This has led to the adoption of operational rules within<br />

the Mondal caste. However, the extended Mondal family consists of only part of the<br />

village. The remaining villagers consist of Upper Caste Hindus and lowly placed<br />

Scheduled Castes (Bauris). The latter are excluded from access to the water body -<br />

or rather from of its uses. The operational rules therefore define the resource<br />

community in away that does not correspond to the geographical domain. This has<br />

interesting effects for equity as we shall see later on.<br />

Regarding nesting of local arrangements with external enforcements we find a<br />

similarity between the first four cases. In each of these, the local decision making<br />

body is formal unit explicitly recognized by the external authorities. The granting of<br />

legitimacy by external authorities has an important effect.<br />

Traditional societies are founded on behalf in established, timeless order. Such<br />

orders, rooted in the past, and legitimate by such association, are highly<br />

authoritative. This means that these reforms, conventions, beliefs, practices cannot<br />

be questioned, modified, or revised in the light of any utilitarian or rational exercise.<br />

The individual, therefore, has no scope and incentive to exercise autonomy. Further,<br />

given that thought is directed in terms of others, the order is basically communal and<br />

encourages co-operation and other socio-centric activities.<br />

90


But, over time, social and economic processes will undermine the sacred or<br />

authoritative properties of cultural narratives. Technological changes, population<br />

expansion, opening up of the society through linkages with distant (regional or<br />

global) market, greater mobility of individuals - these processes will introduce<br />

diversity within the previously unified cultural realms. And, as cultural acquires of<br />

fragmented, variegated and pluralism nature, conceptions of what is sacred will<br />

loose credibility. People will acquire the opportunity to stand back, critically examine,<br />

and loose faith in the traditional order of beliefs and way of life. The balance of<br />

authority will shift from society (or community) to the individual. Individualistic<br />

exercises - rational, or utilitarian will - become the driving force behind action.<br />

These changes may pose challenges to the socio-cultural legitimacy of the resource<br />

management authority. The state will have a role to play in the new order of things.<br />

The informal CPR regimes of traditional communities draw their strength and<br />

legitimacy from belief in the traditional socio-centric forces. But, with the increase in<br />

importance of individual optimization exercises, this belief in the inviolable nature of<br />

the tradition will be challenged. The loss in social authority will have to be<br />

compensated by the granting of political legitimacy. In the future, the concepts of co-<br />

operative management will have to become increasingly relevant on the<br />

management of local natural resources. The state should delegate its power through<br />

a process of political decentralization to resource users and resource management<br />

institutions.<br />

This is exactly what happened in the case of Belkemath, Charcharia, and Bon<br />

Hoogly - and attempted in Matha. In all these communities we find an absence of<br />

pro-social norms controlling resource use, or even strengthening resource<br />

management institutions. In their absence proper nesting has provided the FPC in<br />

Belemath and the Fisherman’s Co-operatives in Bon Hooghly and Charcharia the<br />

authority to control and direct action successfully. Matha, on the other hand, does<br />

not represent a failure to link organization with external authorities (executive, judicial<br />

and legislative); it represents a failure to integrate local needs and conditions to the<br />

institutional structure. The policy makers have created an institution directed towards<br />

meeting perceived concerns of the community - but they fail to realize that contextual<br />

factors have created totally different kind of demand in Matha.<br />

91


In Hazamdihi there is a total lack of nesting. This is facilitated by the nature of the<br />

resource. It is locale nature and does not generate any externality or benefit outside<br />

the community. Nor is access easy from outside the community. The issue of using<br />

the resource, controlling its access, distributing the benefits and resolving conflicts is<br />

exclusively confined within the community. The absence of nesting is, thus, quite<br />

consistent with Ostrom’s design principles which require nesting only for resources<br />

whose use has implications outside the community, or where management affects<br />

individuals outside the community.<br />

Section 6.2.c: Patterns of Intersection within the Community<br />

Given the technical and physical features of the resource and decision-making<br />

arrangements relating to it’s use and management, the next question concerns<br />

behavior: what patterns of intersection characterize the behavior of users and other<br />

decision in relation to the CPR? Obviously the pattern of intersection will be<br />

interdependent. However, we have to examine the nature of interdependence.<br />

One explanation is in terms of private benefits and costs (Singh, 1994). Singh argues<br />

that an important prerequisite for successful and sustainable collective action is that<br />

the expected net benefit to every, or most of the members of the group must<br />

substantially and consistently exceed the expected the net private cost to every<br />

members (Singh 1994: 69). Ostrom (1990) herself has suggested that such a<br />

discounted cost-benefit is important for individual commitment to collective action.<br />

She also provides a frustratingly long list of variables that enter into such an<br />

analysis. While economic cost and benefits are important, we should note that these<br />

concepts are abstract (Oakerson, 1996). Both cost and benefits are perceived<br />

obstacles and inducements. Individual choices therefore derive from mental images<br />

of obstacles and inducements in one’s environments. Patterns of interaction cannot<br />

be understood excepts in terms of these elements of choice.<br />

The basic pattern of intersection on which successful joint use of commons depends<br />

is reciprocity. In a pattern of reciprocity, individuals contribute (through mutual action<br />

or mutual forbearance) to each other’s welfare, but without the interposition of an<br />

immediate quid pro quo. Instead, reciprocity depends on mutual expectations of<br />

positive performance (Oakerson, 1983). In the absence of reciprocal feeling, we will<br />

92


have free riding. Free ridings will not only act as an inducement to ‘defect’ - to use<br />

parlance from game theoretic models - but it will act as a disincentive to contribute.<br />

The fear of being duped can be, according to Oakerson, a predominant concern for<br />

resource users.<br />

In the case of the two forest reserves, the degree of interdependence is a single<br />

period of time is not very significance. Strategic interdependence is not of the type<br />

usually depicted in game theoretic interpretations of the Common Problem.<br />

Interdependence is manifested, as mentioned previously, only in the long run - i.e.,<br />

the problem is not one of intra-generation interdependence, but of inter-generation<br />

interdependence. However, interdependence is important in the short run when we<br />

consider efforts to conserve the resource. The reduction in forest use by any one<br />

member will affect not only future users - as the longevity of the resource increases –<br />

but it also encourages other to join the movement (sort of bandwagon effect). Such<br />

sort of effects is particularly important in the absence of institutional constraints to<br />

defection. In Matha, however, attempts of free riding are triggering off a policy of<br />

collective defection – with all the users maintaining their rate of exploitation even in<br />

the face of depletion of the resource. Economic factors – in the form of returns from<br />

periodic felling – do not seem to be very important in Belemath. In Matha, collective<br />

defection by the villagers implies that this return has been sacrificed by them in order<br />

to ensure their immediate income flow. In Matha, the issue does not seem to be a<br />

cost – benefit calculation but simply an extremely narrow capability set – a<br />

subsistence constraint. In Belemath, on the other hand, contextual factors have<br />

defined a broader capability set. This permits them to undertake action, which may<br />

have immediate adverse consequences on their economic security.<br />

In Bon Hooghly and Charcharia economic returns from the co-operative are<br />

important components of the family income of the members. Once again contextual<br />

factors have resulted in a situation where they have to rely on the co-operative to<br />

secure a stable and certain income flow. Further, the pattern of interaction dictated<br />

by the technical nature of resource withdrawal (fishing is a joint activity) is such that<br />

reciprocity acts as an important force compelling all members to devote at least a<br />

minimal effort without free riding.<br />

93


Interdependence is possibly most strongly manifested in Hazamdihi. As mentioned<br />

earlier excessive fragmentation has rendered individual holding infeasible and<br />

uneconomic. Further, inheritance has become so tangled that it may be difficult to<br />

dispose of one’s share. Any utilization of the resource has to be undertaken jointly.<br />

However, the transaction costs of collective action have increased significantly –<br />

particularly in recent years. This has led to changes in the form of the property<br />

regime. Fishing activities are no longer carried out under the supervision of villagers;<br />

instead the water body has been leased out to a single owner, while the sum so<br />

obtained is used for collective purposes. In the case of other activities like bathing,<br />

washing, etc. the nature of reciprocity is much less. In the case of irrigation,<br />

interdependence is potentially high, especially during the winter when water in the<br />

irrigation canal is low. In reality, technical factors – the absence of pump sets to<br />

withdraw water from canal – reduces interdependence to manifest within a few<br />

members (the Big Three Mondols) only. There is thus no competition between the<br />

villagers for irrigation water – and no question of interdependence or reciprocity.<br />

Section 6.2.d: Outcome of the Resource Regime<br />

The particular pattern of interaction generated within the community around the<br />

resource produces outcomes. These outcomes have to be evaluated using certain<br />

criteria. Oakerson (1986) suggest the use of efficiency and equity as a appropriate<br />

criteria.<br />

Considerations of efficiency in the use of CPRs generally relate to the overall rate of<br />

use. Technical and physical attributes dictate some optimal rate. Excessive use<br />

leads to resource depletion and degradation of the resource benefit.<br />

We can use different criteria for this purpose. In the case of forests one option was<br />

the use of official data to examine the rate of forest depletion and regeneration.<br />

However such data was available only for the entire area of Jungal Mahal, and not<br />

for the specific area surveyed by us. Another option available to us was the use of<br />

data generated by sophisticated techniques like GIS. Such data is very reliable and<br />

can give very precise data. However, our budget did not permit us to use this<br />

method. As a result, we had to rely on a crude method. We based our conclusions<br />

regarding the sustainability of the resource consumption pattern based on visual<br />

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observation and discussion with both villagers and officials. These indicated that a<br />

satisfactory level of forest regeneration had occurred in Belemath. In comparison to<br />

some parts of Jungal Mahal where the forest area had become denuded, a dense<br />

forest cover existed in the area around Belemath. On the other hand, forest officials<br />

in Matha and the concerned villagers both admitted that the forest was being over<br />

used. We could see large tracts of land where the forest cover had thinned<br />

appreciably.<br />

On the other hand, in the case of he fishermen’s co-operative in Bon Hooghly, the<br />

sustainability centered around two issues. The first issue relates to the quality of the<br />

water body. As pointed out earlier, sewage water is used to cultivate the fish. The<br />

water entering the water body contains municipal wastes. These provide nutrients to<br />

the fish. Thus the production process is joint – it uses a public ‘bad’ in combination<br />

with other inputs to produce fish and a public ‘good’ in the form of clean water that<br />

flows out of the water body. The wastes are a substitute for fish food. This externality<br />

is an interesting aspect of sewage fishing.<br />

Simultaneously, we have to consider the stock of fish. In this context, we should note<br />

two points. Firstly, the species in the water body are not rare, but are of common<br />

varieties. Hence they can be depleted without loss of bio-diversity. Secondly,<br />

replenishment is not biological but artificial – i.e. through re-stocking. Thus the<br />

question of whether the rate of catch is sustainable or not, or attempts to relate it to<br />

the Optimal Sustainable Yield (as in standard neo-classical models of fish extraction)<br />

is not very relevant in this case.<br />

In this case, as also in the case of both Charcharia and Hazamdihi, sustainability can<br />

be maintained by simply replenishing the fish stock by releasing adequate amounts<br />

of fish seed. In the case of Bon Hooghly we had access to the data on fish catch and<br />

seed released. Statistical tests indicated that (see Chapter 4) that the two were<br />

strongly co-related. However, as we had noted, the increasing importance of boating<br />

may lead to a shift in the focus of the co-operative. This may affect the sustainability<br />

of the outcome in the future. In Charcharia, our study was preliminary and we did not<br />

try to study the sustainability or efficiency of the outcomes. In Hazamdihi, the change<br />

in the form of the regime was recent and there was not sufficient data to come to any<br />

conclusion about the sustainability of the regime.<br />

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A related issue is that of equity. The presence of equity problems can generate<br />

conflict within the community leading the economy away from an efficient<br />

equilibrium, or even leading to the disintegration of the CPR regime. The extent of<br />

equity depends upon the initial distribution of endowments. The extent to which the<br />

system is equitable is thus a major concern for CPR analysts. A priori, we expect<br />

that the more homogenous a community is, the more equitable is the community,<br />

and the CPR institution.<br />

Regarding Matha, the structure of the community was fairly homogenous. This can<br />

be seen from the distribution of income and land. In Belemath, on the other hand, the<br />

community is slightly more heterogeneous. There are some members who are either<br />

politically or economically dominant. Theory would suggest, therefore, the<br />

emergence of an equitable outcome in Matha, rather in Belemath.<br />

In reality, however, we observed the converse. In Belemath we found that the<br />

presence of a dominant group acted as a catalytic agent generating environmental<br />

consciousness and investing in the process of creating and sustaining the regime.<br />

Not surprisingly, they appropriated the major share of the benefits from the regime –<br />

though not necessarily in the form of higher financial returns. Bromley (1994) has<br />

mentioned such a possibility. Specifically, the dominant group were interested in<br />

increasing their political clout. In Matha, on the other hand, the absence of any<br />

dominant elite implied that the absence of attempts to create the regime or operate<br />

it.<br />

In Bon Hooghly and Charcharia, on the other hand, the members came from a<br />

common background and possess similar endowments. This prevented any member<br />

dominating decision-making and contributed to an equitable outcome.<br />

The presence of a dominant group was also observed in Hazamdihi. The Mondol<br />

caste dominated the Bauris, while - within the Mondol caste – there was a<br />

dominance of three families. This dominance was manifested in various ways:<br />

a) The Bauris were deprived of access to the irrigation water from the water<br />

body during the kharif season.<br />

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) The Bauris did not benefit from the developmental and religious and cultural<br />

programmes financed from the funds from using the water body.<br />

On the other hand the elite Mondol families enjoyed a disproportionate share<br />

of the benefits through:<br />

a) Appropriation of irrigation water during the rabi season.<br />

b) Increase in their clout within the village and using it to extend their interests<br />

outside the village.<br />

In the latter context an interesting possibility is the emergence of a situation where<br />

the outside interests of these Mondols become more profitable to them than<br />

alternatives within the community. The question arises: will they still retain their<br />

interest in coordinating decision-making with regard to the water body in such an<br />

eventuality.<br />

Note that though the role of the ‘Big Three’ Mondols did play a major role in<br />

coordinating the process of decision-making, the dominance of the Mondol caste<br />

apparently did not contribute to the efficiency of the regime.<br />

Thus, homogeneity acted as a disincentive in Matha and as an incentive in Bon<br />

Hooghly and Charcharia. This is in line with the contested role of heterogeneity in<br />

CPR management (Varughese & Ostrom, 2001).<br />

In Matha the structure of the community is fairly homogeneous. This can be seen<br />

from the distribution of income and land. In Belemath on the other hand, the extent of<br />

homogeneity is slightly less significant. There are some members who are either<br />

economically or politically stronger than other villagers. These would suggest the<br />

presence of an equitable and efficient solution in Matha, and the absence of such a<br />

solution in Belemath. Reality however is different.<br />

In Belemath, the presence of dominant villagers has facilitated the organization of<br />

collective action. This group has acted as a catalytic agent to foster collective action.<br />

These groups has attempted to increase environmental consciousness amongst the<br />

villagers, playing a key role in peer monitoring and used their political or economic<br />

power and acumen to make the regime acceptable to the community.<br />

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The success of the regime in ensuring sustainable use of the forest is visible. Official<br />

data is available for the entire Jungle Mahal area – and not for the micro area<br />

studied. We were there fore forced to rely upon reports provided by the local users.<br />

This was supplemented by our visits to the adjoining forest areas. While we found<br />

large-scale denudation of forests in other areas, the forest cover in Belemath was<br />

visibly quite thick. We also found evidences of replanting.<br />

Section 6.3: Testing our Hypotheses<br />

Our proposed work was supposed to focus on the evolution of CPR institutions. Our<br />

central hypothesis was that the awareness of the problem of resource degradation<br />

would generate processes leading to collective action and the emergence of<br />

sustainable communal management systems. This means that we are interpreting<br />

the emergence of sustainable CPR regimes as a collective response to the<br />

degradation of the environmental resource base. This collective action is manifested<br />

through the supply of institutions.<br />

We had decomposed our central hypotheses into several sub-hypotheses as follows.<br />

The conditions for the emergence and persistence of a CPR institution were as<br />

follows:<br />

11. The resource appropriators perceive that the resource is being degraded and this<br />

can lead to disaster;<br />

12. The resource appropriators acknowledge their role in creating this crisis, i.e. they<br />

acknowledge that outcomes are jointly produced and can be avoided by changes in<br />

their existing behavior;<br />

13. Pro-social norms directed towards arresting the process of degradation and<br />

activated;<br />

14. Economic cost of cooperation are low;<br />

14.a. The private discount rate is low (i.e. there is limited availability of alternative<br />

income substitutes) and is allowed to converge to a lower collective discount<br />

rate;<br />

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14.b. The reduction in individual output / income is low;<br />

14.c. The information and enforcement costs of CPR institutions are low;<br />

15. Social and economic conditions of agents are more or less uniform and<br />

recurrently shared (i.e. agents have mutually consistent expectations);<br />

16. The expected flow of net benefit is an important determinant of the institutional<br />

form of the property regime;<br />

17. Another determinant of the institutional form of the CPR regime is the physical<br />

characteristics of the resource in question;<br />

18. The feed backs to resource conserving behavior are positive;<br />

19. Situational factors, like a temporary fall in income may lead to defection;<br />

20. Such defection will be tolerated up to certain limits without punishment. However,<br />

the contingent fulfillment of the threat will have to be credible.<br />

Based on the results of our field surveys integrated within the Oakerson framework,<br />

we shall now attempt to examine the validity of our central hypothesis and the sub-<br />

hypotheses.<br />

Section 6.3.a: Central Hypothesis<br />

Our central hypothesis was that the awareness of the problem of resource<br />

degradation would lead to the creation of the regime. Initially we had focused on the<br />

resource as the endangered component – we had assumed that the degradation of<br />

the resource was the main problem. This is an assumption common to most models<br />

in environmental economics. This assumption has been criticized in recent years.<br />

For instance, it may not be the resource that is endangered but the access of the<br />

community to the resource (Steins et al, 2000).<br />

In our case we found that only in the case of Belemath and Matha was there any<br />

appreciation of the environmental implications of their action by the users. Even then<br />

it is only in Belemath that the appreciation that degradation was occurring led to<br />

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collective action institutionalized in FPCs. In Matha, this realization failed to evoke<br />

any corresponding response.<br />

On the other hand, in both Bon Hooghly and Charcharia it was the resource<br />

community that was threatened. In Charcharia it was a common local group; in Bon<br />

Hooghly it was a group dispersed over a large geographical area united only in their<br />

history, traditional occupation and present crisis. If we think of the resource in terms<br />

of the water body, the original users in Bon Hooghly (the local community) were<br />

totally disinterested in the state of the resource. In Charcharia, too, litigation had<br />

converted the water body into an open access resource. Political intervention by the<br />

CPI (M) members led to the emergence of the realization that local fishermen could<br />

restructure their precarious capability set based on the water body.<br />

In Hazamdihi there was no crisis – either of the resource or the community. The<br />

creation of the property regime was basically a response to the indivisibility of the<br />

resource and changing transaction costs of alternative regimes.<br />

Therefore, it is difficult to accept the hypothesis as a general truth. It is partially true<br />

only in the case of forests. It is not born out in the case of the water bodies. This<br />

implies that realization of a threat to a resource is neither necessary (as shown by<br />

the water bodies) nor sufficient (as exemplified by Matha) for the creation of CPR<br />

regimes. We should not, therefore, treat the evolution of CPR institutions as an<br />

exclusive phenomenon relating to environmental economics.<br />

Section 6.3.b: Testing Our Sub-hypotheses<br />

Our central hypothesis had been divided into several components. We analyse the<br />

validity of each of these sub-hypotheses below.<br />

11. We have seen that the emergence of CPR institutions is not always linked to<br />

degradation issues. Our first sub-hypothesis is therefore invalid. This will affect the<br />

other sub-hypotheses that were linked sequentially to each other.<br />

12. Outcomes need not always be joint. Further, interdependence may be manifested<br />

across generations – especially in the case of forests. However, as we have<br />

observed, some amount of reciprocity is needed to foster co-operation.<br />

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13. We found an absence of normative or institutional constraints to free riding<br />

attempts in all our case studies.<br />

14. Low economic costs of co-operation were significant in explaining success in Bon<br />

Hooghly, Charcharia and Hazamdihi. In the case of Belemath, the reduction of<br />

benefit from co-operation was low. In the case of Matha, the high costs of co-<br />

operation appeared to significantly inhibit co-operation.<br />

4.1 The discount rate appears to be important in Matha and Belemath in<br />

explaining the failure and success of the respective regimes. However, they appear<br />

to be less important in the other regimes.<br />

4.2 Contextual factors appear to define the limits to the alternatives available to<br />

resource users in our survey areas. The presence and absence of alternatives<br />

appeared to be significant in explaining institutional success. However, the impact<br />

varied depending upon the exact situation. In Charcharia and Bon Hooghly the lack<br />

of alternatives forced the co-operative to rely on the water body; in Matha it<br />

prevented conservation attempts. Again in Belemath, the presence of alternatives<br />

enabled the resource users to reduce their rates of exploitation. In Hazamdihi,<br />

contextual factors appeared to be of minor importance.<br />

4.3 Low information costs and enforcement costs characterize the cases of<br />

Belemath, Matha and Hazamdihi. In Bon Hooghly the social costs of restricting<br />

access leads to a Pareto irrelevant externality (see chapter 4); the monitoring costs<br />

in Charcharia are also quite high.<br />

15. Homogeneity of the agents was an important factor in explaining the success of<br />

the regimes in Bon Hooghly and Charcharia. In Belemath, on the other hand, it was<br />

the presence of dominant agents that ensure the success of the regime. In<br />

Hazamdihi, heterogeneity led to inequity between the resource users. Finally, in<br />

Matha, homogeneity or shared recurrent experiences does not seem to have played<br />

a role.<br />

16. The surplus from the resource has determined the choice of the regime in each<br />

case – though it has not affected its efficiency. Changes in the form of the regime in<br />

Hazhmdihi have been dictated by changes in the expected flow of income from the<br />

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esource. Water body, regular financial flows and heritage of common occupation<br />

and skill of are compatible to co-operative type of regime; while in sustaining a<br />

multiple use forest resource, where use in kind rather than in cash seems to be<br />

compatible with JFM / FPC type of regime.<br />

17. From our discussion of the application of the Oakerson Model to our cases we<br />

can see that the physical feature of the resource is an important factor explaining the<br />

form of the regime. It may not have determined the exact form – which is affected by<br />

expected benefits - but the range of possible forms of regimes is set by the nature of<br />

the resource.<br />

18. Feedbacks either in the form of visible restoration or stable income flows has<br />

appeared to play an important part in the success of the regimes in Belemath, Bon<br />

Hooghly, Charcharia and Hazamdihi.<br />

19. Despite the success of these regimes, we found that transgressions of the rules<br />

were also present. Such violations were due to temporary fall in income. A seasonal<br />

pattern of defection was observed in both Belemath and Matha.<br />

20. The community that did not normally take any action tolerated such violations.<br />

However, reputation was used to judge whether such behavior was temporary or a<br />

manifestation of deviant behaviour. Only in case of the later, sanctioning was<br />

implied.<br />

Our hypotheses relating to the evolution of the regime appears to be invalid.<br />

Economic costs and contextual factors played important role in determining the<br />

evolution of CPRs. Heterogeneity appears to be a contested factor in literature – this<br />

fact is also born out in our study. In contrast, we were, however, more successful in<br />

anticipating the factors influencing choice of the institutional form and the response<br />

to transgressions.<br />

Section 6.4: Collective Action and Its Constraints<br />

Our research proposal intended to study how CPR institutions evolve. But there are<br />

some constraints to such process. We shall seek to identify from our case studies<br />

the constraints to collective action and the creation of CPR regimes. Based on this<br />

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analysis we shall seek to address the long-term objective of our project proposal, viz.<br />

to identify the appropriate areas of intervention in the creation of CPR institutions –<br />

whether by the state, or by external agencies, like NGOs. This will help in<br />

appropriate policy formulation to prevent resource depletion based on modifying or<br />

creating local institutions and without unduly disturbing the local social and cultural<br />

environment.<br />

Below are listed the main impediments to the creation and management of local<br />

CPR regimes that can be derived from the empirical observations of our study areas.<br />

1. In the context of conservation – depletion dilemma, people are usually<br />

reluctant to participate in local CPR management efforts if they do not expect<br />

to receive some short-run and adequate compensation for the sacrifices to be<br />

made for conservation. These sacrifices may be in the form of restraint in<br />

using the resource or of investing in resource-conserving and generating<br />

activities.<br />

2. Theoretical insights (especially from game theory as will be discussed in the<br />

next chapter) as well as our field experience suggest that collective action is<br />

more probable with small face-to-face user communities living close to well-<br />

delineated CPRs and when the users can develop simple and understandable<br />

rules in their own way to confront a common challenge. Absence of closeness<br />

and failure to develop simple rules to be followed aborted the evolution of<br />

CPR in many instances (like Purulia).<br />

3. When there is an elite group that holds a strategically superior position in the<br />

CPR that enables them to by-pass collective endevour and mutual<br />

vulnerability the success of a CPR is less probable.<br />

4. Decentralized punishment mechanisms may not be always enough to ensure<br />

co-operative behaviour. External sanctions may often be needed to<br />

complement internal punishment schemes. Absence of well-accepted<br />

mediators to settle conflicts and absence of transparency and non-<br />

discriminatory use of sanctions may impede CPR formation and it’s survival.<br />

Failure to provide monitors with right kind of incentives and ensure their<br />

accountability generates further problems.<br />

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5. Communities not inheriting any past experience of successful collective action<br />

and trust formation may confront a baffling situation when faced with a<br />

collective action problem in the form of generating and maintaining a CPR<br />

regime.<br />

6. Absence of enlightened and farsighted leaders to mobilize and motivate<br />

enough co-operators may spell doom on the demand for and supply of CPRs.<br />

7. Growing consumerism, increasing market influence, and outside opportunities<br />

hinder sustenance of cooperation and CPRs.<br />

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CHAPTER 7: GAME THEORIES, EVIDENCES AND POLICIES<br />

Section 7.1: CPR Use as a Collective Action<br />

Multiple-person interactions as we observed in the case studies on managing local<br />

CPR often give rise to games and strategic situations in communities that in the most<br />

general form concern problems of collective action. We have seen instances where<br />

the aims of the whole community or collective could be best served if individual<br />

members had taken some particular action or actions, but these actions were not in<br />

the best private interests of those individuals. We have also seen instances where<br />

improvements could be achieved upon such unsatisfactory Nash equilibrium. Thus,<br />

to comprehend these diverse experiences, and to understand the conditions for and<br />

against sustainability of local co-operation and thereby of the CPRs we need first to<br />

understand the nature of such games. They generally come in three forms or may<br />

appear in some hybrid forms of the three forms (Baland and Platteau, 1996). The<br />

three forms we are talking about are the prisoners’ dilemma (PD), chicken (CG), and<br />

co-ordination/ assurance (AG) games.<br />

Consider a two-person game and suppose that (in a CPR setting) cooperation (C) on<br />

the part of only one person yields benefits b1 to each person and imposes costs c1 on<br />

the cooperator, while mutual cooperation by both has benefits b2 and costs c2 for<br />

each. When both defect (D), both receive 0. Then the general payoff structure is as<br />

shown in Table 7.1.<br />

Table 7.1: General Form of a Two-Person Collective Action Game<br />

Strategies of Players I and II<br />

Player I<br />

Player II<br />

Co-operate Defect<br />

Co-operate (b2-c2, b2 – c2) (b1-c1,b1)<br />

Defect (b1, b1-c1) (0,0)<br />

The above game is a prisoners’ dilemma (PD) if<br />

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1 > b2-c2, 0 > b1-c1 , and b2-c2 > 0.<br />

The first inequality implies that the best response to C is D, the second implies that<br />

the best response to D is also D, and the third says that (C, C) is jointly preferred to<br />

(D, D).<br />

The game is one of chicken (CG) if :<br />

b1 > b2-c2, and 0 < b1-c1<br />

These inequalities indicate that each player wants to defect/ shirk when the other<br />

cooperates and cooperate when the other shirks.<br />

For both the PD and CG cases, it is socially optimal for both of them to play C if<br />

2(b2-c2) > 2b1-c1<br />

Finally, the game is one of assurance (AG) if<br />

b1< b2-c2, 0> b1-c1 and b2-c2 > 0.<br />

Here the inequalities say the C is the best response to C, that D is the best response<br />

to D, and that (C,C) yields higher payoffs to both players than does (D,D). The<br />

assurance game (AG) above implies that<br />

2 (b2-c2) > 2b1 > 2b1-c1,<br />

and hence it is socially optimal for both to cooperate.<br />

We, now, extend our arguments to a situation in which a population of N players<br />

must each decide whether to cooperate. If n of them cooperates, each of the<br />

participants incurs a cost c that depends on the number n, so we write it as a<br />

function c(n). Also each person in the population, whether a cooperator or not,<br />

enjoys a benefit from the sustainable use of the resource that is also a function of n:<br />

b (n). Thus each cooperator gets for participation the payoff p(n) = b(n) – c(n), while<br />

each shirker, gets the payoff s(n) = b(n).<br />

Suppose player i is contemplating whether to participate or to shirk. His decision will<br />

depend on what the other (N-1) individuals in the population are doing. In general,<br />

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player i will have to make decision when the other (N-1) players consist of n<br />

participants and (N-1-n) shirkers. If I decides to shirk, the number of cooperators is<br />

still n, so i gets a payoff of s(n). If i decides to participate, the number of cooperators<br />

becomes n+1, so i gets p (n+1). Thus player i’s final decision depends on the<br />

comparison of these two payoffs; i will participate if p (n+1) > s(n), and will shirk if<br />

p(n+1) < s(n). This comparison holds true for every version of the collective action<br />

game (Dixit and Skeath, 1999). Differences in behaviour in the different versions<br />

arise because the changes in the payoff structure alter the values of p (n+1) and s<br />

(n).<br />

Following Dixit and Skeath (1999) we can use the payoff functions p(n) and s(n) to<br />

construct a third function showing the total payoff to community as a function of n,<br />

which we write as T(n). This payoff to community consists of the value p(n) for each<br />

of the n participants and the values s(n) for each of the (N-n) shirkers:<br />

T (n) = n p (n) + (N-n) s(n)<br />

To get a better understanding of what allocation of people between participants and<br />

shirkers maximizes the total payoff T (n), we rewrite T (n) as,<br />

T (n) = N s (n) – n[s (n) – p (n)]<br />

We can interpret this T (n) as if every one of the N people got the shirker’s payoff,<br />

but then the shirker’s extra benefit [s(n) – p(n)] was removed from each of the n<br />

participants. We normally expect s (n) to increase as n increases; therefore the first<br />

term in the expression, Ns (n), also increases as n becomes large. If the increase in<br />

the second term is not too fast with increasing n, then the effect of the first term<br />

dominates the value of T (n); T (n) increases steadily with n in this case and is<br />

maximized at n = N. However, this is not a general result. T(n) can be maximized for<br />

some n


Following Dixit and Skeath (1999) again, we use graphs of the p (n+1) and s (n)<br />

functions to indicate the type of the game, its Nash equilibrium, and its socially<br />

optimum outcome. We simplify by drawing p (n+1) and s (n) functions as smooth<br />

lines to bring out the basic issues.<br />

Pay off<br />

s(n)<br />

p(n+1)<br />

0 n N-1<br />

FIGURE 7.2: MULTIPERSON PRISONERS’ DILEMMA<br />

Figure 7.2 illustrate the case of PD where s(n) lies above p(n+1) everywhere. But the<br />

left intercept of the s(n) curve is below the right intercept of the p(n+1) curve, i.e.<br />

s(0)< p(N). This implies that if every one including i shirks, i’s payoff is les than if<br />

everyone including i participates. However, in PD situation it is not automatic that<br />

T(n) function is maximized when n is as large as possible. If the gap between s(n)<br />

and p(n) widens sufficiently fast with the increase in n, then the negative impact of<br />

the second term in the expression for T (n) outweighs the positive impact of the first<br />

term as n approaches N. this suggests that it may then be best to let some person to<br />

shirk, that is to have n s (n). Thus i<br />

chooses to participate if few others are participating; while for large n, p (n+1) < s (n)<br />

and i’s choice is to shirk if many others are participating.<br />

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Pay off s(n)<br />

p(n+1)<br />

0 n N-1<br />

TABLE 7.3: MULTIPERSON CHICKEN<br />

If the two curves intersect the Nash equilibrium number of participants could be at an<br />

integer value of n. Otherwise, strictly speaking the game has no Nash equilibrium.<br />

The important feature of this game is that when there are few people taking one<br />

action, it is better for any one person to take that action, and when there are many<br />

people taking one action, it is better for any one individual to take the other action.<br />

In this CG if each participants payoff p(n) is an increasing function of n, and if each<br />

shirker’s payoff s(n) does not become too much greater than p(n) then the total<br />

social pay off is maximized when every one participates. But more generally it may<br />

be better to let some shirk. Of course, the resulting unequal distribution of pay offs<br />

may make it harder to implement the optimum.<br />

We now consider the assurance (AG) case. In Figure 7.4, s (n) > p(n+1) for small n<br />

and p (n+1) > s (n) for large n. the former inequality implies that if only few others are<br />

participating, then individual i wants to shirk too. The latter inequality says that if<br />

many others are participating, then i wants to participate too. This game has two<br />

pure strategy Nash equilibria at the two extremes: \either every one shirks or every<br />

one participates. When both the curves are rising (as we have assumed) the right<br />

hand extreme equilibrium (where each person is better off if more people participate)<br />

is clearly better one for society. The question is how to bring it about.<br />

When N, the total number of people in the group we are considering is very large<br />

then p (n+1) is almost the same as p (n). Since p (n) = b (n) – c (n) and s (n) = b (n),<br />

p(n) is always less than s(n), and hence even if the game has a AG structure,<br />

individuals will always want to shirk when N is very large. Collective action in a large<br />

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group manifest themselves as PD. However, this outcome is not necessarily true for<br />

small groups.<br />

Pay off<br />

s (n)<br />

p (n+1)<br />

0 n N-1<br />

Figure 7.4: Multiperson Assurance Game<br />

Collective action problems, moreover, in the context of rural communities in<br />

particular, generally cover a broader range of activities and issues than that of<br />

participating in the management of a CPR only (we will come back to this point<br />

again). Hence, in general, we need to allow for a broader interpretation of the payoffs<br />

p (n) and s (n); we need to allow p (n) and s (n) to be any functions of n. Then there<br />

is no automatic presumption about which of the two payoff functions is larger and all<br />

three kinds of games – PD, CG and AG and hybrid variants of them deserve our<br />

attention. In the most general case, p (n) and s (n) may not even be straight lines<br />

and can intersect many times and there can be several equilibria (Dixit and Skeath,<br />

1999).<br />

The feature (in collective action problem) common to all three types is the need to<br />

induce individuals to act cooperatively.<br />

Section 7.2: CPR Games and Co-operation<br />

Collective action problems come in diverse forms, and there is no uniquely best<br />

solution to all of them. However, it has been observed that groups or societies<br />

generally devise various means to cope with them. Human societies usually rely on<br />

purposive social and cultural customs, norms, incentives and sanctions in inducing<br />

cooperative behaviour from their individual members. These methods are generally<br />

conscious, deliberate attempts to design the game in order to solve the collective<br />

action problem. The nature of the problem and it’s solution methods, thus, need to<br />

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e approached from the perspective of the type of game being played. However, as<br />

we shall see that a unique type of game may not be able to capture the nature of the<br />

problem in it’s entirety.<br />

While sociologists and anthropologists look at social norms and codes of conduct in<br />

understanding cooperative behaviour as a solution to collective action problem,<br />

economists usually emphasize incentives and penalties (Bardhan and Udry, 1999).<br />

In the literature the problems raised by common property are usually represented by<br />

the formal framework of the repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma. In the context of repeated<br />

PD, it is shown that cooperative equilibria can be sustained spontaneously by the<br />

long run interests of foresighted self-interested individuals. The possibility of<br />

cooperation depends, of course, on the future payoffs not being discounted too<br />

heavily, and/ or short-run benefits to defection not being too large. The latter, of<br />

course, will depend on the punishment that other people can impose on the potential<br />

defector.<br />

The force of external penalties of sanctions, or the internalized ones of norms is<br />

more likely to emerge and be sustained through repetition. To put it in formal terms,<br />

let us consider the two-player PD case. We have for PD in our example in Figure<br />

7.1,<br />

b1 > b2-c2, 0> b1-c1 and b2-c2 > 0.<br />

For a repeated PD suppose the discount factor is δ


1- (b2-c2) ≥ δ (b2-c2)/(1-δ),<br />

then there exists no finite T, and as a result no retaliatory strategy can sustain<br />

cooperation.<br />

The retaliatory strategies should not merely make it sufficiently costly for the<br />

defector, but to be credible they should not be too costly for the punisher. But therein<br />

lies a second order collective action problem, since punishment is costly to the<br />

punisher, while the benefits are distributed diffusely in the community (Bardhan and<br />

Udry, 1999). Moreover, detection and punishment are never easy. In real situations,<br />

very often payoffs are not entirely determined by the player’s actions, but are subject<br />

to some random fluctuations. Inflicting severe punishment on a player without being<br />

sure of the extent of his guilt is not only morally unjustified; it is counterproductive as<br />

well- the incentive to cooperate gets blunted if cooperative actions or temporary non-<br />

habitual defections are susceptible to painful punishment by mistake (Dixit and<br />

Skeath, 1999).<br />

Society can inflict punishment on defectors (or shirkers) in several ways. One is<br />

through ‘sanctions’ imposed by other members of the group. Sanctions often take<br />

the form of disqualification from future games played by the group. Society can also<br />

create ‘norms’ of behaviour that change individual payoffs so as to induce<br />

cooperation. A norm changes the private payoff scale of each player by adding an<br />

extra cost in the form of shame, guilt, or dislike of the mere disapproval of others.<br />

Society establishes norms through a process of education or culture. Compliance of<br />

norms crucially depends upon the extra cost. In this sense norms differ from custom.<br />

Norms also differ from sanctions in that others do not have to take any explicit<br />

actions to hurt the offender who violets the norm; the extra cost gets internalized in<br />

the payoff scale of the offender (Dixit and Skeath, 1999). This phenomenon of<br />

internalization rather than explicit actions finds evidence in our study of Burdwan<br />

(Belemath) where we saw visible expressions of feeling of guilt on the part of norm-<br />

violators. Perception of society’s general adherence to norms reinforces norms.<br />

However, they loose their force if they are frequently seen to be violated. This is<br />

what we observed in the case of Purulia.<br />

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Successful solution of collective action problems, however, hinges significantly on<br />

success in detection and punishment. As a rule, small groups are more likely to have<br />

better information about their members and their actions. They are, thus, more likely<br />

to be able to detect cheating and organize when inflicting punishment of whatever<br />

form on a cheater. However, under imperfect observability threats to deter<br />

opportunistic behaviour, in equilibrium may have a positive expected cost (they may<br />

have to be carried out even though nobody defected) and an expected benefit.<br />

Sometimes sanctioning system may be so costly and complex that people usually<br />

prefer to devise their own mechanisms to deter opportunistic behaviour. FPCs in<br />

Burdwan (Belemath) and night-guard system in Bon-Hooghli are such mechanisms.<br />

An external enforcer of cooperation, as an alternative, may not be able to detect<br />

cheating or impose punishment with sufficient clarity and swiftness. Of course there<br />

can arise situations, for example in the case of Purulia (Matha), where both kinds of<br />

enforcements may fail.<br />

To ensure cooperation in the repeated PD, however, the benefits of cooperation in<br />

the future must themselves be sufficiently probable too to act as an incentive to<br />

cooperate in the present. This needs the game to be infinitely repeated, or sufficient<br />

uncertainty must prevail about how many times it will be repeated. These<br />

requirements are to avoid the standard problem of breakdown of cooperation<br />

through backward induction in finitely repeated games.<br />

Section 7.3: Beyond Prisoner’s Dilemma<br />

A model suggested by Bendor et al. (1994) seems to be interesting in the context of<br />

many CPRs supporting mostly poor users. It is grounded in the ‘satisficing’ principle<br />

and presumes a bounded rationality characterized by limits on information gathering<br />

or cognitive abilities. In this model, as characterized by Baland and Platteau, (1996),<br />

players make strategy revisions after every interaction based on a comparison<br />

between a given ‘aspiration level’ and the payoff actually obtained in the current<br />

period. Here the state of any player at any stage t is represented by a probability<br />

vector over his set of pure actions where these probabilities can be seen as<br />

reflecting his relative inclination to select different actions. Such a state is updated in<br />

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the following manner: if the realized payoff from the chosen action at t exceeds an<br />

aspiration level, that action will assume a larger weight at the following stage, with<br />

compensating adjustments in the weights on other available actions. The converse<br />

will occur if the payoff falls short of the aspiration level. Bender et al. have shown<br />

that in such repeated games with feed back effects, stable long run outcome (ie.,<br />

equilibrium with consistent aspirations) need not be Nash equilibria of the one-shot<br />

game. Here feedback effects operate in a manner that resembles ‘punishment’<br />

imposed on unilateral defection in repeated games.<br />

Initial aspiration level in the above ‘satisficing’ model of strategy learning will<br />

determine the nature of equilibrium. Suppose that in a two-player game the agents’<br />

aspiration is near the (mutual) non-cooperative payoff instead of being near the<br />

(mutual) co-operative payoff. Also suppose that player I experiments with C at stage<br />

t. Since player II continues to defect, player I obtains a payoff lower than his<br />

aspiration, thereby making him inclined to defect at t+1. As for player II, he ended up<br />

with a payoff above his aspiration at t and this make him also more inclined to defect<br />

at t+1. Thus, after a cooperative (C) random move of one of the two players at stage<br />

t, they will both receive their aspiration pay off at t+1. As a consequence, players will<br />

have no incentive to return to co-operation at subsequent stages. The satisficing<br />

model has a ‘self-fulfilling’ property (Baland and Platteau, 1996): if members of a<br />

given society have initially, a low aspirations- say, because of an unhappy,<br />

experience in a previous game – they will be inclined to repeat this negative<br />

experience in the present. Our field study in Purulia where we found large-scale<br />

defection, to an extent, resembles this kind of game. The experience of Hazamdihi<br />

reflects the opposite picture. Shared experiences or beliefs and inherited patterns of<br />

behaviour may have played a role in such settings.<br />

Many contributors in the literature on CPR, particularly in a small-group settings have<br />

suggested that the constellation of the relevant p(n) and s(n) of collective action are<br />

often a kind that is not of PD type. The pay off structure may be more favourable to<br />

the possibility of co-operation, particularly when p (n) and s (n) are interpreted<br />

broadly. Small groups or communities are generally characterized not only by the<br />

repeated interactions but also by multilevel interrelationships among their members.<br />

This is a feature, which follows from the socially ‘embedded’ nature of many micro-<br />

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societies (Baland and Platteau, 1996). Social lives in which individuals interact have<br />

many levels. These plural interests may at times be so intertwined that their<br />

interactions in relation to the CPR management may not be represented by an<br />

isolated game – and that too by an isolated PD game. CPR problem becomes part of<br />

a larger game (of which, as we shall see, AG may be one) corresponding to many<br />

social and economic activities at the local level.<br />

An important class of problems that arise in connection with the management of<br />

CPRs requires symmetric and coordinated actions. Even in a one shot AG<br />

(Assurance/coordination game) it is in the interest of the players to cooperate<br />

provided they can be assured that others (or in a multiperson setting a sufficient<br />

number of others) will do the same. This is something that the static PD game with<br />

it’s dominant strategy of defection for each player does not capture. The payoff<br />

structure of AG, however, allows three possible equilibria (two in pure strategies and<br />

one in mixed strategy), and the actual outcome will depend on the prior expectation<br />

of each individual’s action. In the case of CPR mutual expectations of cooperation<br />

may be facilitated by pre-play communication and the opportunities for mutual<br />

reassurance.<br />

In many cases coordination is fruitful only if the numbers of cooperators attains a<br />

critical size. To explore such kinds of situation following Baland and Platteau (1996),<br />

let us, consider an N-player AG. Let us assume that a given local public good (say,<br />

the maintenance and management of a local forest or water-body) yields individual<br />

benefits to each member of a community equal to b (n), where n is the number of<br />

voluntary cooperators (contributors to the local public good). Each cooperator incurs<br />

a fixed cost of c units and, hence, the total cost for the community is equal to cn.<br />

Player i’s choice, then, is as follows:<br />

Table 7.5: Pay-off to Co-operation with Different Numbers of Co-operating Players<br />

Player I<br />

Payoff to player i if the number of other cooperators<br />

Strategy n -1 n -2 n-3 … 0<br />

Cooperate b(n)-c b(n-1)-c b(n-2)-c … b(1)-c<br />

Defects b(n-1) b(n-2) b(n-3) … 0<br />

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Let us assume that b / (n) > 0 and b // (n) > 0, implying increasing returns to the<br />

provisions of the public good. We assume also that b (1)- c b(n*-1)<br />

or c < b(n*) – b(n*-1): once a certain number, n*, of other players agree to cooperate,<br />

player i has an incentive to do the same since the cost of individual cooperation is<br />

less than the marginal individual benefit of that cooperation. Since b // (n)>0, if b (n*) –<br />

c > b (n*-1), then b (j) > b (j-1) + c, for all j > n*. Therefore, as long as at least n*<br />

other players contribute, player i prefers to cooperate rather than free ride.<br />

In the game depicted above, there are two Nash equilibria in pure strategies. The<br />

first equilibrium is characterized by universal defection: given that no one else<br />

cooperates by contributing, player i has no incentive to undertake the collective<br />

action alone (we are thus not in a CG). In the second equilibrium everyone<br />

contributes and the collectively optimal level of public good is provided. To avoid the<br />

‘bad’ equilibrium, a subgroup of players may decide to undertake the collective<br />

action in concert, regardless of what the others do. In such games there lies an<br />

important role for leadership and the function of leadership consists of mobilizing a<br />

sufficient number of cooperators and set the assurance process rolling. The initial<br />

leadership may not necessarily come from within the community. External agents<br />

like a political party, an enlightened individual or group of individuals or local<br />

panchayats playing the role of a catalyst may also serve the cause. We have<br />

reasons (based on our field studies) to believe that this is what happened in<br />

Burdwan, Bon-Hooghli and Chacharia and this is what failed to evolve in Purulia.<br />

However, in all the cases contextual factors (defining the state of nature) played an<br />

important role in the emergence and non-emergence of leadership.<br />

When returns to scale in the provision of public good is subjected to decreasing<br />

returns to scale, b // (n) < 0. Here again, there exists a critical number of cooperators,<br />

n*, below which no individual player has any incentive to contribute. However, there<br />

now also exists an upper critical size, say n*, beyond which the individual b / (n) < c.<br />

Here the two Nash equilibria in pure strategies would imply: a bad equilibrium in<br />

which everyone defects (does not contribute) and a ‘nice’ equilibrium in which just<br />

n** players contribute while the others defect or, possibly, as in the case of Bon-<br />

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Hooghli, all the N members may put in less effort and shirk only partially. As long as<br />

the size of the community is small and N < n** we have the ‘nice’ equilibrium.<br />

However when N > n**, a sub group of players does not contribute in equilibrium and<br />

free ride on others’ efforts. The problem facing the players here resembles that of an<br />

N-player CG, in which Nash equilibrium would be sub-optimal.<br />

In a community setting the community may try to overcome such free riding by<br />

resorting to a coordinated solution by rotating overtime the burden and / or benefit of<br />

cooperation among the various agents. The community may also look for multiple<br />

use of the resource to generate additional benefits to make co-operation more<br />

attractive. Bon-Hooghli and Chacharia in our case studies have been experimenting<br />

with such kind of solutions with some success.<br />

From our discussion thus far, we understand that it is one thing to identify a potential<br />

collective action problem and another to find a formal model that captures it best. It is<br />

important to understand the context in which a particular set of interactions take<br />

place.Usually, the small, free-standing game is viewed as the game being played<br />

when often the free-standing game is actually embedded in a much larger game<br />

(Daird et al.,. 1994). Hence, before we can be sure that a simple game captures the<br />

dynamics of a collective action problem or any other complicated interaction, we<br />

need to understand the extent to which it can be isolated from the context in which it<br />

arises.<br />

Let us consider an AG. Standing alone it does not have a unique solution. However,<br />

it does have one when it is part of a larger game. We consider such a game in a two<br />

player setting. The game shown in the figure below embeds both a PD and the AG.<br />

Let us assume that, in this larger game, player I makes an initial move.<br />

Table 7.6: Pay-off to Nested Assurance Games<br />

Player I defects Player I cooperates<br />

Player II Player II<br />

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Player I<br />

Strategies C D Strategies C D<br />

C 2.5,2.5 1.5,3 C 6,2.5 0,0<br />

D 3,1.5 2,2<br />

D 0,0 1,3<br />

In initial move player I cooperates (C) or defects (D). After D, player I and player II<br />

confront a PD; after C, they confront an AG. Player II knows whether player I chose<br />

C or D before moving. In stage two player II does not know whether player I playes C<br />

or D, but player II should not expect player I ever to play D after having played C in<br />

the initial move. Player I receives a maximum pay off of Rs.1 by playing C and then<br />

D. Player I should not play this strategy given that another strategy (playing D and<br />

then D) has a payoff Rs.2.<br />

Any time player II sees that player I plays C, player II should believe that player I will<br />

then play C again. For this reason, player II plays C in response to player I’s initial<br />

move of C. Because player II believes that player I will play C after playing C, player<br />

II ensures a pay off of Rs.1.5 rather than Rs.0 by playing D. Player I has two beliefs:<br />

First, that player II is rational and, second, that player II believes that player I is<br />

rational and therefore does not play dominated strategies. Hence, player I infers that<br />

player II plays C. For this reason, player I adopts the strategy of first playing C and<br />

the again C. By doing so, player I enjoys a payoff of Rs.6 instead of payoff of Rs.2<br />

that player I would earn from playing D initially.<br />

This AG, even though standing alone does not have a unique solution, it does have<br />

one when it is part of a larger game. If either of a sub games that begin after player I<br />

makes the initial move were free-standing, there would be either an inefficient<br />

outcome (in the case of PD) or an indeterminate one (in the case of AG). However,<br />

when theses games are part of a larger game the outcome may be totally different.<br />

In the above game the possibility of facing a PD situation actually helps the players<br />

to attain the outcome that is in their joint interest. Games may be misidentified when<br />

the small, free-standing game is viewed as the entire game. An isolated PD is a<br />

problem; an embedded PD may solve a problem (Daird et al., 1994). Relationship<br />

with each other or in a multiplex interaction setting defining broader notion of s(n)<br />

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and p(n) or any common third party may come to help and avoid the PD outcome. A<br />

common third party like CPI (M) in the case of Burdwan, Bon-Hooghli or Chacharia,<br />

could generate among a section of the community a concern for sustainability of the<br />

resource. This section possibly could foresee the possibility of the existence of the<br />

PD and to avoid that took the initial move towards cooperation in an embedded<br />

game that culminated to an AG with a (C, C) equilibrium.<br />

Baland and Platteau (1996), discuss interesting hybrid cases of payoff structures<br />

where players with a payoff structure characteristic of the AG interact with player<br />

with a payoff structure characteristic of the PD or CG. In particular, when group size<br />

is small and when PD players coexists with AG players, it may be in the interest of<br />

the former to conceal their free rider type by cooperating till the last (few) stages of<br />

the game. Clearly, situations, which can arise/ evolve in field setting and contextual<br />

factors operating there are of much wider variety than what the tragedy of commons<br />

implies. Depending on the characteristics of the resources concerned as well as<br />

various features of user groups- their social and historical background, size, their<br />

time preference and the importance of their subsistence constraints, their exit<br />

possibilities, quality of community leadership, presence of third party catalytic<br />

agents, existence of other areas of social interactions, etc, problems of resource<br />

exploitation may or may not be appropriately described as PD games. Such<br />

problems of resource management, thus, may well lead to AG or CG situations, or a<br />

mixture of different payoff structures, or may assume the characteristics of<br />

embedded games. Moreover, the type of game itself may undergo change overtime.<br />

This is the perspective that we adopt here. This perspective emphasizes human<br />

encounters in a CPR setting involving problems of trust, mutual vulnerability, group<br />

identity, homogeneity of group members, leadership, and co-ordination among group<br />

members. Co-operation in general, but not always, works better in small groups with<br />

similar resource needs and close interactions, shared norms acting as focal points<br />

and coordinating mutual expectations, and patterns of reciprocity. In such community<br />

monitoring is easier, ‘common knowledge’ assumption of models of strategic<br />

decisions is likely to be more valid, incentive dilution is less of a problem, chances of<br />

pre-play communication and learning about one another’s intended plans of action<br />

are better, and social sanctions are easier to implement through reputation<br />

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mechanisms and multiplex relationships of face-to-face communities. Bankura,<br />

Burdwan, Bon-Hooghli and Chacharia are the cases in point. Absence of many of<br />

such traits exemplifies Purulia.<br />

Migration and outside opportunities leading to mobility possibilities work against<br />

cooperation and sustainable resource use. Contact with outsiders and exit options<br />

reduce effectiveness of social norms, and prolonged repetition of the game also<br />

becomes more uncertain, raising incentives for short-run opportunism (Bardhan and<br />

Udry, 1999). Sometimes, as in the case of Purlia (Matha), owing to the survival<br />

constraint and contact and proximity of market, the discount rate of future incomes of<br />

the resource users seems to be infinitely high and free riding behaviour (mining the<br />

forest) appears as a natural weapon in the mutual struggle for sheer subsistence.<br />

With receding regular opportunities for income and employment, the poor tend to<br />

make up for the loss of income by exploiting CPRs more intensely with ever<br />

increasing risk of degradation of the underlying resource base. Local level<br />

management is much more problematic when, as attested by the Purulia experience,<br />

a market develops for resource (forest) products thus giving rise to over harvesting<br />

for sale by the community members themselves.<br />

Awareness of ecological stress leading to collective preventive actions is likely to<br />

develop more quickly in those societies in which prevails a sense of loss and scarcity<br />

or dispossession. Moreover, it emerges more easily with respect to localized and<br />

visible resources than with respect to resources having opposite characteristics. In<br />

our field studies Burdwan, Bon-Hooghli and Chacharia appear to belong to the first<br />

group while Purulia, with dispersed villages to the second. We have seen from our<br />

field experience that quite often success of collective action in many cases is<br />

additionally associated with effective leadership. Good leaders (from within the<br />

community or as a catalytic third party) perform several critical functions: to help<br />

people become aware of the resource condition and the nature and extent of<br />

confronting them; to convince them that their long-term interest lies in concerted<br />

action; to set before others the good example; to mobilize a sufficient number of<br />

them to ensure coordinated efforts; in generating AG environment; and in the<br />

designing and enforcing of rules and sanction mechanisms. Experiences of<br />

Burdwan, Bon-Hooghli and Chacharia shows that collective action probably performs<br />

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etter when it is led by committed and literate persons who have been exposed to<br />

wider world.<br />

Section 7.3.a: Bankura (Hazamdihi): Another Dimension<br />

Bankura (Hazamdihi) stands apart from our studies of other CPRs in several<br />

respects. The community of the resource (water body) owners has a long history and<br />

is an offshoot of an expanding family tree. The resource has multiple uses and<br />

some of which are enjoyed by others (not members of the owner community) as free<br />

access resource. However, this access is customary and based on some kind of<br />

mutual understanding. Decisions regarding fishing activities belong to the exclusive<br />

domain of the owner community. It appears that returns from fishing do not form a<br />

part of the subsistence of the individual members, rather they support the provision<br />

of some local public goods (like financing local festivals, schools etc). We have seen<br />

in the case of Chacharia, how a private resource turned into an open access<br />

resource in the first place and then into a CPR. Here we see the transition of a CPR<br />

from community based appropriation and provision to a lease-holding partially<br />

private appropriation and provision even when legal ownership still lies with the<br />

community. Because of the specific characteristic of the resource (in this case<br />

surface water) this transition has not undermined the resource base either. How do<br />

we then explain this transition?<br />

Collective action problems in the context of CPRs generally have two distinct but<br />

independent problems: problems of appropriation concerned with allocating the<br />

subtractible flow of an existing CPR and the provision problems which are to do with<br />

the process of creating a resource, maintaining or improving it’s production<br />

capabilities, or avoiding it’s destruction (Baland and Platteau, 1996). In Bankura<br />

(Hazamdihi) the community initially confronted the second kind of problems, possibly<br />

because of the gradual erosion of dependence on the resource and increasing<br />

outside opportunities and contacts of the members increasing opportunities and<br />

transaction cost of provisoning. This impacted on the first set of problems. Failing to<br />

maintain the resource the community tried to solve both the problems by leasing out<br />

the resource without abdicating it’s ownership right. The decision to lease-out fishing<br />

right is a collective decision and as such solved a collective action problem. Here the<br />

resource is a kind of durable good that can be used during several periods (without<br />

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degrading it’s sustainability). Whenever feasible and risk and transaction cost<br />

minimizing, the owner community of the durable good prefers to lease the resource<br />

rather than operate and sale the proceeds itself.<br />

In fine, we share the view of Bardhan and Udry (1999) that in a situation of strategic<br />

interdependence in the management of CPRs game-theoretic models in general give<br />

us important insights into the sustainability of cooperation among self-interested<br />

agents. However, they point out that at the same time it is instructive to recognize<br />

that there are aspects of real-world cooperation in specific contexts which such<br />

models may fail to handle adequately. For instance, they cannot usually handle the<br />

impact of ongoing interactions among agents in the updating and contingent<br />

modifications of the rules of the game. The latter may include, among others, group<br />

dynamics of community leadership bringing about endogenous preference changes<br />

and reorientation of values in a community.<br />

Again, a single game structure may fail to represent the evolution of collective action<br />

problem. The character of an initial game may undergo change and evolution<br />

overtime. In a CPR context, as we have observed, situations in a specific CPR may<br />

as well reflect nuances of different game structures and as such may not be<br />

amenable to a particular form of game to theorize them.<br />

Section 7.4: Looking for a Policy<br />

“Economists have spent much effort on examining the question of the comparative<br />

efficiency of various resource management regimes. The insights provided by<br />

economists are extremely valuable, even though they do not point to a particular<br />

reason as ‘the’ best solution” (Baland and Platteau, 1996). We also share this view.<br />

We have noted earlier that neither privatization nor state ownership in isolation can<br />

adequately address the problem of CPRs.<br />

What about the community-based approach to resource management? Our<br />

experiences based on the case studies show that in many situations, though not<br />

always, co-ordination and leadership problems play a dominant role. When poor<br />

people overexploit local natural resources even when they are aware of the<br />

ecological impact of their actions, it is often because they face acute subsistence<br />

constraints, which lead them to discount streams of future benefits heavily. They<br />

122


generally need externally provided economic incentives to be induced to conserve<br />

their resources. External catalytic role by State via local level institutions can play a<br />

significant role here. Even a political party, as we have seen, can act as a catalytic<br />

agent. Trust and co-ordination can be created under impulse of catalytic agents who<br />

may often come from outside the community.<br />

When resource users face survival constraints In the context of resource<br />

conservation (i.e. where there private discount rate are high), and CPR entails a long<br />

gestation period (like regeneration of a forest or reclaiming a water body) they need<br />

to be adequately compensated (by some form of subsidy or alternative income<br />

earning opportunities) to induce them to allow the resource to grow to the level of<br />

stock where it can be used sustainably over an infinite planning horizon.<br />

When the community group size is large, smaller units operating under the umbrella<br />

of a bigger unit (with a more complex co-operative structure) could be designed to<br />

by-pass the problems of large number. The state can help designing such regimes<br />

suitable for concerned local conditions.<br />

In the presence of social stratification and unequal capability sets of different<br />

members of a community (all having stakes in a resource), simple, just and easy to<br />

comprehend collectively designed rules could be designed. This would imply a<br />

relatively egalitarian access to local CPRs even when inequality in private capability<br />

and political (or otherwise) power prevail within a community. Local elite may even<br />

behave as natural leaders to be trusted by others and may play an important<br />

catalytic role for the success of collective action. This result is more probable when<br />

economic and other inequality does not prevent uniformity of interest in a collective<br />

agreement.<br />

Sanctions and punishments to be effective need also to be tolerant for non-habitual<br />

subsistence – constrained deviants. These systems must be graduated, flexible and<br />

tolerant / forgiving and mix external (e.g. state) and internal mechanisms.<br />

When historical memory of past successful collective action is non-existent, success<br />

of CPRs will then crucially depend on external assistance. Where social relations are<br />

not too distinct, distant or mutually hostile collective action may be possible. State<br />

can play the role of a catalytic agent here too.<br />

123


Increasing market and market opportunities can lead to opportunistic behaviour<br />

(especially in the case of forest resources). Zoning the natural resource base of a<br />

CPR by the state and enforcing and monitoring by the resource community in close<br />

collaboration with the state may prevent over use of the resource and break down of<br />

the CPR.<br />

All these imply that in many situations state intervention could be reshaped to<br />

institutionalize collaboration between state administration and local resource users.<br />

The state would provide centralized information about the state of the natural<br />

resource base and the possibility of successful collective action, an efficient and<br />

accessible credit market and certain social securities; while local resource users of<br />

CPRs with their indigenous knowledge of local ecology and relative autonomy of<br />

decision making would consider the state not as an alian intruder but as a provider of<br />

critical minimum help to create and manage CPRs. The precise mode of such<br />

partnership will, of course, depend on the specific contextual factors.<br />

The new socio-political concept known as participatory institutions seems to hold<br />

some promise in this context. Under this concept the state, people and all other<br />

stakeholders are treated to be equal partners in decision-making, implementing and<br />

sharing the costs and benefits of a natural resource.<br />

124


ITEMS<br />

APPENDIX A: STATISTICAL TABLES<br />

A.1: BELEMATH<br />

Table A.1.1: Gender Ratio<br />

AGE MALE FEMALE TOTAL NU<strong>MB</strong>ER<br />

OF PERSONS<br />

0-6 50 71 121<br />

7-12 58 66 124<br />

13-18 54 67 121<br />

19-48 216 209 425<br />

ABOVE 49 45 24 69<br />

TOTAL 423 437 860<br />

Table A.1.2: Dependence on CPR (1995)<br />

ENERGY INTERMEDIATE<br />

CONSUMPTION<br />

INCOME HOUSING ROOF LEAVES BRANCHES SHAL MATRESS<br />

CLASS MATERIALS<br />

LEAVES<br />

0-10000 0.00 0.27 19.18 0.48 0.36 1.01<br />

10001-<br />

20000<br />

0.00 0.63 14.61 1.81 6.95 1.50<br />

20001-<br />

30000<br />

2.81 0.18 8.53 0.23 2.98 0.85<br />

30001-<br />

40000<br />

0.00 0.00 7.19 0.37 0.00 1.15<br />

40001-<br />

50000<br />

0.74 0.00 16.67 0.00 27.40 0.00<br />

50001-<br />

60000<br />

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.06 0.00<br />

60001-<br />

70000<br />

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

70001-<br />

80000<br />

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 13.57 0.00<br />

80001-<br />

90000<br />

0.00 0.00 2.33 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

90000> 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

VILLAGE<br />

AVERAGE<br />

1.30 0.42 13.54 1.15 4.87 1.23<br />

Table A.1.3: Dependence on CPR (2000)<br />

ITEMS CONSUMPTION ENERGY INTERMEDIATE<br />

INCOME HOUSING ROOF LEAVES INCOME HOUSING ROOF<br />

CLASS MATERIAL<br />

S<br />

CLASS MATERIALS<br />

0-10000 0.00 0.25 15.67 0.45 0.31 0.79<br />

10001-<br />

20000<br />

0.00 0.37 11.93 1.21 3.48 1.23<br />

20001-<br />

30000<br />

1.61 0.14 7.53 0.18 2.34 0.78<br />

30001-<br />

40000<br />

0.00 0.00 6.66 0.33 0.00 1.01<br />

40001-<br />

50000<br />

0.73 0.00 11.43 0.00 16.27 0.00<br />

50001- 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.97 0.00<br />

A


ITEMS CONSUMPTION ENERGY INTERMEDIATE<br />

INCOME HOUSING ROOF LEAVES INCOME HOUSING ROOF<br />

CLASS<br />

60000<br />

MATERIAL<br />

S<br />

CLASS MATERIALS<br />

60001-<br />

70000<br />

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

70001-<br />

80000<br />

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 13.57 0.00<br />

80001-<br />

90000<br />

0.00 0.00 2.33 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

90000> 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

VILLAGE<br />

AVERAGE<br />

0.76 0.27 11.19 0.80 2.68 1.03<br />

Size of Holding<br />

(Bighas)<br />

Income Class<br />

Table A.1.4: Intermediate Pattern of Forest Items (1995)<br />

0-5 6-10 11-15 16-30 21-30 ABOVE<br />

31<br />

0-10000 4 1 1 1 0 0<br />

10001-20000 13 6 3 0 5 5<br />

20001-30000 8 2 3 1 2 0<br />

30001-40000 2 0 1 0 0 0<br />

40001-50000 0 0 0 0 0 1<br />

50001-60000 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />

60001-70000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

70001-80000 0 0 1 0 0 0<br />

80001-90000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

90000> 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

Village<br />

Average<br />

28 9 9 2 7 6<br />

Size of Holding<br />

(Bighas)<br />

IncomeClass<br />

Table A.1.5: Pattern of Forest Items Used as Energy (2000)<br />

0-5 6-10 11-15 16-30 21-30 ABOVE<br />

31<br />

0-10000 1 4 6 4 10 3<br />

10001-20000 8 23 35 23 8 6<br />

20001-30000 2 25 4 1 1 0<br />

30001-40000 3 7 5 0 0 0<br />

40001-50000 1 0 0 0 1 0<br />

50001-60000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

60001-70000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

70001-80000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

80001-90000 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />

90000> 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

VILLAGE<br />

AVERAGE<br />

16 59 50 28 20 9<br />

B


Size of<br />

Holding<br />

(Bighas)<br />

Income Class<br />

Table A.1.6: Pattern of Forest Items Used in Consumption (past)<br />

0-5 6-10 11-15 16-30 21-30 ABOVE<br />

31<br />

0-10000 4 0 0 0 0 0<br />

10001-20000 30 1 0 0 0 0<br />

20001-30000 9 0 0 0 0 0<br />

30001-40000 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />

40001-50000 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />

50001-60000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

60001-70000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

70001-80000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

80001-90000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

90000> 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

VILLAGE<br />

AVERAGE<br />

45 1 0 0 0 0<br />

Size of<br />

Holding<br />

(Bighas)<br />

Income Class<br />

Table A.1.7: Pattern of Forest Items Used in Consumption (2000)<br />

0-5 6-10 11-15 16-30 21-30 ABOVE<br />

31<br />

0-10000 4 0 0 0 0 0<br />

10001-20000 25 3 0 2 0 1<br />

20001-30000 7 0 0 1 0 1<br />

30001-40000 0 1 0 0 0 0<br />

40001-50000 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />

50001-60000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

60001-70000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

70001-80000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

80001-90000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

90000> 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

VILLAGE<br />

AVERAGE<br />

37 4 0 3 0 2<br />

Main<br />

Occupation<br />

Agricultural<br />

Worker<br />

Table A.1.8: Income wise-Occupation Distribution<br />

Farmer Busine<br />

ss<br />

Serv<br />

ice<br />

Woodculture<br />

Forest<br />

related<br />

Other<br />

Occupatio<br />

n<br />

Unem<br />

ployed<br />

0-10000 28 3 1 0 0 19 8 10<br />

10001-<br />

20000<br />

70 42 12 3 0 46 41 81<br />

20001-<br />

30000<br />

7 27 13 0 0 17 9 47<br />

30001-<br />

40000<br />

6 16 4 0 0 6 3 26<br />

40001-<br />

50000<br />

0 4 2 0 0 0 0 5<br />

50001- 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3<br />

C


Main<br />

Occupation<br />

60000<br />

60001-<br />

70000<br />

70001-<br />

80000<br />

80001-<br />

90000<br />

Agricultural<br />

Worker<br />

Farmer Busine<br />

ss<br />

Serv<br />

ice<br />

Woodculture<br />

Forest<br />

related<br />

Other<br />

Occupatio<br />

n<br />

Unem<br />

ployed<br />

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1<br />

0 1 0 1 0 0 0 3<br />

90000> 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

TOTAL 111 94 32 4 0 88 62 176<br />

Response<br />

A.2: MATHA<br />

Table A.2.1: Time required for going to jungle<br />

Decreased Unchanged Uncertain<br />

Increased<br />

Income class<br />

0-10000 1 0 4 0<br />

10001-20000 9 6 24 2<br />

20001-30000 7 2 8 0<br />

30001-40000 2 1 4 0<br />

40001-50000 0 0 1 0<br />

50001-60000 0 0 1 0<br />

60001-70000 0 0 0 0<br />

70001-80000 0 0 1 0<br />

80001-90000 0 1 0 0<br />

90000> 0 0 1 0<br />

Total 19 10 44 2<br />

Table A.2.2: Time Required for collecting leaves<br />

Response<br />

Decreased Unchanged Uncertain<br />

Increased<br />

Income class<br />

0-10000 1 0 3 1<br />

10001-20000 14 3 16 8<br />

20001-30000 6 1 9 1<br />

30001-40000 2 0 4 1<br />

40001-50000 1 0 0 0<br />

50001-60000 0 1 0 0<br />

60001-70000 0 0 0 0<br />

70001-80000 0 0 1 0<br />

80001-90000 0 0 0 1<br />

90000> 0 0 1 0<br />

Total 24 5 34 12<br />

D


Table A.2.3: Consumption Pattern of Forest Items (1995)<br />

Income class 0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 Above 31<br />

0-10000 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />

10001-20000 16 0 0 0 0 0<br />

20001-30000 6 0 0 0 0 0<br />

30001-40000 3 0 0 0 0 0<br />

40001-50000 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />

50001-60000 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />

60001-70000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

70001-80000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

80001-90000 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />

90000> 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

Total 29 1 0 0 0 0<br />

Table A.2.4: Consumption Pattern of Forest Items (2000)<br />

Income class 0-5 6-10 11-15 16-20 21-30 Above 31<br />

0-10000 1 1 0 0 0 0<br />

10001-20000 15 0 0 1 0 0<br />

20001-30000 6 0 0 0 0 0<br />

30001-40000 2 0 0 0 0 1<br />

40001-50000 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />

50001-60000 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />

60001-70000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

70001-80000 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

80001-90000 1 0 0 0 0 0<br />

90000> 0 0 0 0 0 0<br />

Total 27 1 0 1 0 1<br />

Tables A.2.5: Illegal Felling: Manage without breaking branches<br />

Response<br />

Decreased<br />

Increased<br />

Income class<br />

0-10000 1 4<br />

10001-20000 8 33<br />

20001-30000 5 12<br />

30001-40000 3 4<br />

40001-50000 0 1<br />

50001-60000 1 0<br />

60001-70000 0 0<br />

70001-80000 1 0<br />

80001-90000 1 0<br />

90000> 1 0<br />

Total 21 54<br />

E


Income class<br />

Table A.2.6: Illegal Felling: Break branches of trees in need<br />

Response<br />

Decreased<br />

Increased<br />

0-10000 5 0<br />

10001-20000 37 4<br />

20001-30000 15 2<br />

30001-40000 5 2<br />

40001-50000 1 0<br />

50001-60000 1 0<br />

60001-70000 0 0<br />

70001-80000 0 1<br />

80001-90000 0 1<br />

90000> 0 1<br />

Total 64 11<br />

Table A.2.7: Item wise dependence on CPR (1995)<br />

Income Class Consumption Energy Intermediate<br />

Housing Roof Leaves Branches Shall Mattress<br />

Materials<br />

Leaves<br />

0-10000 2.00 0.00 0.00 35.32 60.13 0.00<br />

10001-20000 0.00 0.58 1.89 28.87 27.26 0.77<br />

20001-30000 0.22 0.13 0.26 20.03 7.90 1.24<br />

30001-40000 0.00 47.40 20.33 16.95 5.20 0.00<br />

40001-50000 0.00 0.77 0.0 3.24 4.66 0.00<br />

50001-60000 0.03 0.00 0.00 3.19 0.00 0.00<br />

60001-70000 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

70001-80000 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

80001-90000 0.06 0.00 0.00 4.51 0.00 0.00<br />

90000> 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

Village<br />

Average<br />

0.53 4.73 2.95 24.12 21.03 0.69<br />

Table A.2.8: Item wise dependence on CPR (2000)<br />

Income Class Consumption Energy Intermediate<br />

Housing Roof Leaves Branches Shall Matress<br />

Materials<br />

Leaves<br />

0-10000 1.90 0.00 0.00 1<strong>3.08</strong> 22.82 0.00<br />

10001-20000 0.00 0.56 1.45 16.89 15.89 0.48<br />

20001-30000 0.21 0.12 0.26 14.25 6.15 0.80<br />

30001-40000 0.00 7.50 4.37 7.70 3.36 0.00<br />

40001-50000 0.00 0.72 0.00 <strong>3.08</strong> 4.35 0.00<br />

50001-60000 0.03 0.00 0.00 3.09 0.00 0.00<br />

60001-70000 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

70001-80000 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

80001-90000 0.06 0.00 0.00 4.31 0.00 0.00<br />

90000> 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00<br />

Village<br />

Average<br />

0.37 1.04 1.24 14.05 11.87 0.44<br />

F


A.3: Bon Hooghly<br />

Table A.3.1: Collection of Revenue and Net Profit from Pisiculture and Boating<br />

Revenue from Revenue from<br />

Net Profit from<br />

Year<br />

Pisiculture Boating Net Profit Pisiculture<br />

1974-5 (-)27 -27<br />

1975-6 39548 12397 12397<br />

1976-7 193222 18401 18401<br />

1977-8 220617 22221 22221<br />

1978-9 304597 50810 50810<br />

1979-0 117228 (-)2447 -2447<br />

1980-1 111012 17400 17400<br />

1981-2 146116 (-)12446 -12500<br />

1982-3 365211 24801 24801<br />

1983-4 375468 2956 2956<br />

1984-5 363738 4910 4910<br />

1985-6 385981 19994 19994<br />

1986-7 559111 58942 58942<br />

1987-8 416595 1498 1498<br />

1988-9 499118 38790 38790<br />

1989-0 1319589 6416 6416<br />

1990-1 950189 18390 18390<br />

1991-2 683632 18759 18759<br />

1992-3 1502050 18822 18822<br />

1993-4 1507050 20348 58011 58011<br />

1994-5 2117682 30247 64730 64730<br />

1995-6 1831720 98325 25310 25310<br />

1996-7 1989203 89050 54841 54841<br />

1997-8 1951512 46298 46298<br />

1998-9 1667995 72155 4421 4421<br />

1999-0 2288275 82910 2196 2196<br />

Table A.3.2 : Seed and Sales of Fish<br />

Year Fish Seed Fish Sales<br />

1975-6 3547 39548<br />

1976-7 3560 193222<br />

1977-8 13005 220617<br />

1978-9 115159 304597<br />

1979-0 16239 117228<br />

1980-1 28715 111012<br />

1981-2 26439 146116<br />

1982-3 64534 365211<br />

1983-4 106492 375468<br />

1984-5 102822 363738<br />

1985-6 110850 385981<br />

1986-7 107408 559111<br />

1987-8 203985 416595<br />

1988-9 123504 499118<br />

1989-0 241753 1319589<br />

G


Year Fish Seed Fish Sales<br />

1990-1 240989 950189<br />

1991-2 154758 683632<br />

1992-3 363129 1502050<br />

1993-4 498833 1507050<br />

1994-5 632629 2117682<br />

1995-6 591398 1831720<br />

1996-7 591398 1989203<br />

1997-8 674856 1951512<br />

1998-9 497942 1667995<br />

1999-0 527319 2288275<br />

Table A.3.3: Value Added<br />

Year VA (Rs.) VA with 1 year Lag (Rs.)<br />

1975-6 11.15 54.47<br />

1976-7 54.28 61.97<br />

1977-8 16.96 23.42<br />

1978-9 2.65 1.02<br />

1979-0 7.22 6.84<br />

1980-1 3.87 5.09<br />

1981-2 5.53 13.81<br />

1982-3 5.66 5.82<br />

1983-4 3.53 3.42<br />

1984-5 3.54 3.75<br />

1985-6 3.48 5.04<br />

1986-7 5.21 3.88<br />

1987-8 2.04 2.45<br />

1988-9 4.04 10.68<br />

1989-0 5.46 3.93<br />

1990-1 3.94 2.84<br />

1991-2 4.42 9.71<br />

1992-3 4.14 4.15<br />

1993-4 3.02 4.25<br />

1994-5 3.35 2.9<br />

1995-6 3.1 3.36<br />

1996-7 3.36 3.3<br />

1997-8 2.89 2.47<br />

1998-9 3.35 4.6<br />

1999-0 4.34<br />

H


APPENDIX B: RESULTS OF CVM EXERCISE IN BON HOOGHLY<br />

We had stated our intention of undertaking a CVM exercise to test the extent to<br />

which perceptions of non-use community members can shape the evolution of the<br />

resource regime and the status of the resource. Mid-way, doubts arose in our minds<br />

regarding the efficacy of this method. So we abandoned our CVM study.<br />

We had estimated WTP as a function of caste, gender, family size, literacy,<br />

occupation, family income/per capita income, knowledge about the resource and<br />

attitude regarding environmental issues. We ran an OLS to estimate monthly WTP<br />

per individual to protect the water body. The WTP was surprisingly high – Rs.<br />

594.60! However, the standard deviation was high (2448.3540). We felt that this<br />

reduced the reliability of the value obtained for the WTP. The results of our study are<br />

presented below, after excluding those who had stated protest bids.<br />

Two different results are given below:<br />

Experiment 1: WTP = -954.1714 + (71.5003) LIT + (0.010227) TFAMINC + (-<br />

99.4609) AT3 + (196.0209) AT4<br />

The respective T-Ratios and Standard Errors are<br />

Regression Standard Error T-Ratio[Probability]<br />

INT 593.5519 -1.6076[.110]<br />

LIT 30.0275 2.3812[.019]<br />

TFAMINC 0.0020383 5.0175[.000]<br />

AT3 156.4291 -1.2751[.204]<br />

AT4 156.1808 1.2527[.212]<br />

R-Square = 0.19259, R-Bar-Square = 0.16936, Standard Error of Regression =<br />

1874.6, F-Statistics = F (4,139),8.2891.<br />

Experiment 2: WTP = -1358.3 + (69.5457) LIT + (0.0099896) TFAMINC + (144.6698)<br />

AT4;<br />

The respective T-Ratios and Standard Errors are<br />

Regression Standard Error T-Ratio [Probability]<br />

INT 502.9494 -2.7007[0.008]<br />

LIT 30.0553 2.3139[0.022]<br />

TFAMINC 0.0020343 4.9106[0.000]<br />

AT4 151.5473 0.95462 [0.341]<br />

R-Square = 0.18315, R-Bar-Square = 0.16565, Standard Error of Regression =<br />

1878.8, F-Statistic = F (3,140) 10.4634[0.000].<br />

I


Note: Here the variables are INT = intercept term, LIT = literacy level of the<br />

respondent, TFAMINC = total family income of the respondent, AT1 = Agreeing upon<br />

the fact that the India should not pursue any development program that damage<br />

environment, AT3 = Disagreeing upon the fact that India should adopt program that<br />

increase income and employment rather that protect environment, AT4 = Disagree to<br />

the fact that we should not pay to protect a park that we do not visit frequently.<br />

J


REFERENCES<br />

1. Aggarwal, Bina (1990) Social Security and Family: Coping with Seasonality<br />

and Calamity in Rural India. Journal of Peasant Studies; 17(3); pp.341-412.<br />

2. Ajwen I. & M. Fishbein (1977) Attitude-Behaviour Relations: A Theoretical<br />

analysis and Review of Empirical Research. Psychological Bulletin. 84(5); pp.<br />

888-918.<br />

3. Altman, I. & Joachim F. Wohwwill ed. (1976) Human Behaviour of<br />

Environment: Advances in Theory and Research, Vol. 1. Plenum Press, New<br />

York.<br />

4. Anderson, Peder (1983) ‘On rent of fishing grounds’: a translation of Jens<br />

Warming’s1911 article, with an introduction; History of Political Economy,<br />

15[3], pp. 391-396.<br />

5. Arnold, J.E.M. & W.C. Stewart (1991) Common Property Resource<br />

Management in India. Tropical Forestry Paper No. 24, dept. of Plant Science,<br />

Oxford Forestry Institute, UN of Oxford, Oxford, UK<br />

6. . Arnold, J.E.M. (forthcoming) Devolution of Common Property Resources to<br />

Local Collective Control: Experiences in Forestry. Paper under preparation for<br />

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