R. Albert Berry

A Theoretical Model of Optimal Forest Resource Regimes in Developing Economies

The standard economic theory of natural-resource management has its roots in a conventional economic theory of commons that overlooked the role of institutional structures and the transaction costs. Hence, it has not been able to explain cases of successful management of forests as common property. An economic model in-corporating the role of transaction costs has been developed. A mathematical form that can represent the general nature of a transaction function is suggested. Static models for separable and nonseparable transformation and transaction functions are discussed. The possibility of different resource regimes being optimal in different socioeconomic conditions is highlighted.

Sustainability, Institutions, and Forest Management

This chapter provides an overview of the contents of this volume. To put the contents in perspective, first the developments related to the concept of sustainable development and sustainable forest management (SFM), institutions, institutional economics, and their importance to SFM are discussed. Next, the relevance of markets and other institutions to sustainable forest management is discussed. Finally, an overview of each chapter included in the five parts of this volume is provided.

Organizations, Institutions, External Setting and Institutional Dynamics

To study the dynamics of forest regimes, an institutional analysis framework which takes account both of factors internal to the institutions and organizations as well as of the external setting - the social, environmental, economic (including markets) and international factors — is developed. Adaptive efficiency, an efficiency measure different from allocative efficiency, is suggested for institutional changes that are path-dependent rather than just price or market-dependent. The framework is used to analyze the dynamics of Indian forest regimes. The main feature of those dynamics has been incremental path-dependent change, the exception being the sudden shift from the dominance of community regimes in the pre-British period to that of state regimes in the British period. The dominant factors in this pattern of incremental change have varied markedly over time. In pre-colonial India the inertia of the informal institutions played a major role. At the outset of the colonial period, “organisational energy” was directed at the dismantling of the existing institutions. But, later many self-reinforcing mechanisms contributed to path-dependent changes. In post-colonial India, self-reinforcing mechanisms at the level of the Legislative Wing (LW) and “organisational inertia” of the Executive Wing (EW) dominated the process of institutional change for a time. But, later the “organisational energy” of the LW, the external setting, and “organisational surges” of the EW allowed more rapid change. The adaptive efficiency varied — higher in decentralized regimes of pre-British India and recent regimes and lower in the centralized regimes of British India and the first four decades of independent India. Organisational inertia has been one of the main factors impeding institutional changes towards adaptive efficiency. Hence, policy and management prescriptions for sustainable forest management, in these countries, should address institutional and organisational aspects in an integrative manner.

Economics, Sustainability, and Forest Management

This chapter provides an overview of the contents of the volume. To put those contents in perspective, it first reviews developments related to the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development, the reactions of some main stream economists, the main problematic features of traditional economics, and the resulting need for a new paradigm within economics if sustainability issues are to be adequately handled. Next, an overview of the economics literature on sustainability and sustainable forest management is provided. Finally, each chapter included in the five parts of this volume is briefly reviewed.

Participation, Violence, and Development in Four Andean Countries

Author(s): Albert Berry Reviewed work(s): Reforming Chile: Cultural Politics, Nationalism, and the Rise of the Middle Class by Patrick Barr-Melej Modernization in Colombia: The Laureano Gomez Years, 1989-1965 by James D. Henderson The Unidad Popular and the Pinochet Dictatorship: A Political Economy Analysis by Pat ... Source: Latin American Research Review, Vol. 39, No. 3 (2004), pp. 185-204 Published by: The Latin American Studies Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1555474 Accessed: 16/08/2009 20:47

Reflections on injustice, inequality and land conflict in Colombia

ABSTRACT Arguably the most defining characteristic of Colombia’s agrarian history has been the lack of justice in rural society. That lack has had a major negative impact on lower-income rural families (mainly small farmers and wage earners) by helping to make their land a vulnerable asset, subject to systematic misappropriation of one sort or another. Small farmers have also been victimized by a pervasive policy bias against them. The societal cost of these two historic injustices has taken many forms, most obviously death and displacement, loss of land, food insecurity and loss of income. Absent these injustices, the average income of the agricultural population of small farmers and wage earners would be an estimated two to three times higher than it now is. Under a healthy agrarian structure Colombia would almost certainly have been spared the bulk of the violence and suffering of the last half-century.

Searching for a Better Society: The Peruvian Economy from 1950 (review)

on Potosí, but there is no specific chapter on environmental mining conflicts, certainly a great theme of Andean ecological-economic history. Thus the book is not yet “the” environmental history of the central Andes, but it contains some very good materials and ideas towards such a enterprise. Indeed, Gade does not present the book as environmental history but as historical cultural geography or cultural historical ecology, with emphasis on “culture.” Its main purpose is to forward our understanding of Andean identity, although there is nothing in the book on historical and geographical sociolinguistics, surely an important issue for identity. The quest for a cultural identity rests on the symbolic force of natural, agricultural, and “processed” objects, such as chicha and guinea pigs, chuno and coca, the spectacled bear and the mountain tapir, the chaquitaclla (foot plough) and the poncho, the potato, the maca and the quinoa. This book is a well-written introduction to the environmental history of the central Andes, more valuable than a textbook, because it is written to reflect the author’s personal well-informed search for the essence of lo andino.