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Women as decision makers in community forest management: Evidence from Nepal

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  • Leone, Marinella

Abstract

In many developing countries women are responsible for the collection and management of forest products essential to the daily lives of their household. However, women are often neglected in the decision-making process within community level institutions devoted to the management of natural resources. This paper looks at whether and how an increased participation of women in the Executive Committee (EC) of Community Forest User Groups (FUG) in Nepal affects forest protection. I exploit an amendment made to the guidelines for FUG formation that sets a higher threshold for women representation in the EC, to evaluate the impact of women on firewood extraction. The results show that higher female participation in the ECs of FUGs leads to a significant decrease in firewood extraction. These results suggest that in countries with common property resources, the effectiveness of collective action institutions depends also on their gender composition.

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  • Leone, Marinella, 2019. "Women as decision makers in community forest management: Evidence from Nepal," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 180-191.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:138:y:2019:i:c:p:180-191
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.01.002
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    2. François Libois & Jean-Marie Baland & Nicolas Delbart & Subhrendu Pattanayak, 2021. "Community Forest Management: The story behind a success story in Nepal," DeFiPP Working Papers 2106, University of Namur, Development Finance and Public Policies.
    3. Takahashi, Ryo & Otsuka, Keijiro & Tilahun, Mesfin & Birhane, Emiru & Holden, Stein, 2024. "Beyond Ostrom: Randomized experiment of the impact of individualized tree rights on forest management in Ethiopia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    4. Sutirtha Bandyopadhyay & Pranabes Dutta & Naveen Hari & Bipasha Maity, 2023. "Female Legislators and Forest Conservation in India," Working Papers 104, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    5. Siriluck Thammanu & Hee Han & E. M. B. P. Ekanayake & Yoonkoo Jung & Joosang Chung, 2021. "The Impact on Ecosystem Services and the Satisfaction Therewith of Community Forest Management in Northern Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-31, December.
    6. Shrestha, Gitta & Pakhtigian, Emily L. & Jeuland, Marc, 2023. "Women who do not migrate: Intersectionality, social relations, and participation in Western Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    7. Dennis Etemesi Olumeh & Dagmar Mithöfer, 2024. "Impact of collective action on household welfare: Empirical evidence from baobab collectors in Malawi," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95(2), pages 385-411, June.
    8. Ota, Liz & Lidestav, Gun & Andersson, Elias & Page, Tony & Curnow, Jayne & Nunes, Lilian & Goltiano, Henry & Gregorio, Nestor & dos Santos, Natalia Ferreira & Herbohn, John, 2024. "Reviewing gender roles, relations, and perspectives in small-scale and community forestry – implications for policy and practice," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    9. Bocci, Corinne & Mishra, Khushbu, 2021. "Forest power: The impact of community forest management on female empowerment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    10. Joyashree Roy & Anjal Prakash & Shreya Some & Chandni Singh & Rachel Bezner Kerr & Martina Angela Caretta & Cecilia Conde & Marta Rivera Ferre & Corinne Schuster-Wallace & Maria Cristina Tirado-von de, 2022. "Synergies and trade-offs between climate change adaptation options and gender equality: a review of the global literature," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-13, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender; Firewood collection; Collective action; Community forestry; Natural resource management; Nepal;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • Q23 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Forestry

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