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Conservation and employment creation: can privatizing natural resources benefit traditional users?

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  • Baland, Jean-Marie
  • Bjorvatn, Kjetil

Abstract

The establishment of a private property regime is often proposed as a solution to the degradation of natural resources. While arguably more efficient than open access, private property often comes at a distributional cost (Weitzman, M. (1974), ‘Free access vs private ownership as alternative systems for managing common property’, Journal of Economic Theory 8(2): 225–234) as traditional users of the resource lose income and employment in the process. The present paper demonstrates that, in the case of renewable resources, traditional users may gain from privatization even if they are denied ownership of the resource. Indeed, a private owner maximizing profits tends to preserve the resource, which results in long-term increases in employment. We derive the conditions under which these long-term gains more than compensate traditional users for the short-run fall in labor demand and resource rents.

Suggested Citation

  • Baland, Jean-Marie & Bjorvatn, Kjetil, 2013. "Conservation and employment creation: can privatizing natural resources benefit traditional users?," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(3), pages 309-325, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:endeec:v:18:y:2013:i:03:p:309-325_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Bazillier, Remi & Girard, Victoire, 2020. "The gold digger and the machine. Evidence on the distributive effect of the artisanal and industrial gold rushes in Burkina Faso," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    2. Aldashev, Gani & Guirkinger, Catherine, 2017. "Colonization and changing social structure: Evidence from Kazakhstan," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 413-430.
    3. Martin F. Quaas & Max T. Stoeven & Bernd Klauer & Thomas Petersen & Johannes Schiller, 2018. "Windows of Opportunity for Sustainable Fisheries Management: The Case of Eastern Baltic Cod," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 70(2), pages 323-341, June.
    4. Libois, François, 2022. "Success and failure of communities managing natural resources: Static and dynamic inefficiencies," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    5. Bambio, Yiriyibin & Bouayad Agha, Salima, 2018. "Land tenure security and investment: Does strength of land right really matter in rural Burkina Faso?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 130-147.

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