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Benefit Sharing Among Local Resource Users: The Role of Property Rights

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  • Torpey-Saboe, Nichole
  • Andersson, Krister
  • Mwangi, Esther
  • Persha, Lauren
  • Salk, Carl
  • Wright, Glenn

Abstract

Skewed distributions of benefits from natural resources can fuel social exclusion and conflict, threatening sustainability. This paper analyzes how user-group property rights to harvest forest products affect the distribution of benefits from those products within user groups. We argue that groups with recognized harvesting rights share benefits more equally among group members than groups without such rights. We test this argument with data from 350 forest user groups in 14 developing countries. Our results suggest that securing harvesting rights for local user groups can contribute to more equal benefit sharing, especially in ethnically homogenous groups.

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  • Torpey-Saboe, Nichole & Andersson, Krister & Mwangi, Esther & Persha, Lauren & Salk, Carl & Wright, Glenn, 2015. "Benefit Sharing Among Local Resource Users: The Role of Property Rights," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 408-418.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:72:y:2015:i:c:p:408-418
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.03.005
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    Cited by:

    1. Andersson, Krister P. & Smith, Steven M. & Alston, Lee J. & Duchelle, Amy E. & Mwangi, Esther & Larson, Anne M. & de Sassi, Claudio & Sills, Erin O. & Sunderlin, William D. & Wong, Grace Y., 2018. "Wealth and the distribution of benefits from tropical forests: Implications for REDD+," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 510-522.
    2. Brendan Coolsaet & Neil Dawson & Florian Rabitz & Simone Lovera, 0. "Access and allocation in global biodiversity governance: a review," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-17.
    3. Amina Ahmed Lahsen & Alan T. Piper, 2019. "Property rights and intellectual property protection, GDP growth and individual well-being in Latin America," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 28(1), pages 1-21, December.
    4. Ramirez-Gomez, Sara O.I. & van Laerhoven, Frank & Boot, René & Biermann, Frank & Verweij, Pita A., 2020. "Assessing spatial equity in access to service-provisioning hotspots in data-scarce tropical forests regions under external pressure," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 45(C).
    5. Brendan Coolsaet & Neil Dawson & Florian Rabitz & Simone Lovera, 2020. "Access and allocation in global biodiversity governance: a review," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 359-375, June.
    6. Schultz, Bill, 2020. "Resource management and joint-planning in fragmented societies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    7. Yadav, Bhagwan Dutta & Shrestha, Krishna Kumar & Acharya, Bishnu Prasad, 2021. "Contested forest management and the Nepalese Government’s forest policy," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    8. Chang, Kimberlee & Andersson, Krister P., 2021. "Contextual factors that enable forest users to engage in tree-planting for forest restoration," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).

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