Ecological, Economic and Social Mechanisms for Common-pool Resource Management

Abstract

Sustainable solutions to global environmental problems, such as overfishing and cli- mate change, will require long-term cooperation among nations and individuals. My thesis searches for policies and strategies that create stable, cooperative, solutions to local, regional and global environmental problems of the commons. I focus on common-pool resource management at the interface between ecology and economics. Overfishing in unmanaged fisheries has diminished fish stocks and harvests to the point that cooperative action could lead to an 8 to 40 percent increase in global fish yield. Food security will play an important role in maintaining global stability as the human population approaches 9 billion. Moreover, food security and climate change are linked: agriculture accounts for more than a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. All sources of greenhouse gas emissions must be brought under control via agreements among major emitting nations, a challenge that has not yet been successful in almost two decades. These global environmental challenges are unlikely to be adequately addressed without a theory that can explain the conditions for stable collective, cooperative global action. I analyze social, ecological and economic mechanisms that can stabilize cooperative action in the commons in order to advance our understanding of the ways in which tragedies of the commons can be averted.