In pursuit of comparable concepts and data about collective action

Research on collective action confronts two major obstacles. First, inconsistency in the conceptualization and operationalization of collective action, the key factors expected to affect collective action, and the outcomes of collective action hampers the accumulation of knowledge. Inconsistent term...

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Autores principales: Poteete, Amy, Ostrom, Elinor
Formato: Artículo preliminar
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2003
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/157392
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author Poteete, Amy
Ostrom, Elinor
author_browse Ostrom, Elinor
Poteete, Amy
author_facet Poteete, Amy
Ostrom, Elinor
author_sort Poteete, Amy
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Research on collective action confronts two major obstacles. First, inconsistency in the conceptualization and operationalization of collective action, the key factors expected to affect collective action, and the outcomes of collective action hampers the accumulation of knowledge. Inconsistent terminology obscures consistent patterns. Second, the scarcity of comparable data thwarts evaluation of the relative importance of the many variables identified in the literature as likely to influence collective action. The International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) research program addresses both of these problems. Since its founding in 1993, the IFRI network of collaborating research centers has used a common set of methods and concepts to study forests, the people who use forest resources, and their institutions for resource management. The basic social unit of analysis in IFRI is the user group, defined as a set of individuals with the same rights and responsibilities to forest resources. This definition does not require formal organization or collective action, since these features are potential dependent variables. This strategy for data collection allows analysis of relationships between diverse forms of social heterogeneity and collective action within groups with comparable rights to resources. IFRI's relational database also captures the connections among forest systems, sets of resource users, particular forest products, formal and informal rules for resource use, and formal local and supra-local organizations. By the middle of 2001, the IFRI database included data on 141 sites with 231 forests, 233 user groups, 94 forest organizations, and 486 products in 12 countries. Drawing upon these data, IFRI researchers are contributing substantially to our understanding of collective action for institutional development, the mediating role institutions play relative to demographic and market pressures in patterns of resource use, and relationships between particular institutions and forest conditions. The paper describes IFRI's strategy for collecting comparable data based on consistent conceptualization and operationalization, summarizes the contributions of IFRI research to the study of collective action for natural resource management, and identifies continuing challenges.
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spelling CGSpace1573922025-01-10T06:36:10Z In pursuit of comparable concepts and data about collective action Poteete, Amy Ostrom, Elinor resource management forests forestry social aspects collective action forest products capacity development natural resources management research institutions Research on collective action confronts two major obstacles. First, inconsistency in the conceptualization and operationalization of collective action, the key factors expected to affect collective action, and the outcomes of collective action hampers the accumulation of knowledge. Inconsistent terminology obscures consistent patterns. Second, the scarcity of comparable data thwarts evaluation of the relative importance of the many variables identified in the literature as likely to influence collective action. The International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) research program addresses both of these problems. Since its founding in 1993, the IFRI network of collaborating research centers has used a common set of methods and concepts to study forests, the people who use forest resources, and their institutions for resource management. The basic social unit of analysis in IFRI is the user group, defined as a set of individuals with the same rights and responsibilities to forest resources. This definition does not require formal organization or collective action, since these features are potential dependent variables. This strategy for data collection allows analysis of relationships between diverse forms of social heterogeneity and collective action within groups with comparable rights to resources. IFRI's relational database also captures the connections among forest systems, sets of resource users, particular forest products, formal and informal rules for resource use, and formal local and supra-local organizations. By the middle of 2001, the IFRI database included data on 141 sites with 231 forests, 233 user groups, 94 forest organizations, and 486 products in 12 countries. Drawing upon these data, IFRI researchers are contributing substantially to our understanding of collective action for institutional development, the mediating role institutions play relative to demographic and market pressures in patterns of resource use, and relationships between particular institutions and forest conditions. The paper describes IFRI's strategy for collecting comparable data based on consistent conceptualization and operationalization, summarizes the contributions of IFRI research to the study of collective action for natural resource management, and identifies continuing challenges. 2003 2024-10-24T12:49:27Z 2024-10-24T12:49:27Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/157392 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Poteete, Amy; Ostrom, Elinor. 2003. In pursuit of comparable concepts and data about collective action. CAPRi working paper. 0029. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/157392
spellingShingle resource management
forests
forestry
social aspects
collective action
forest products
capacity development
natural resources management
research institutions
Poteete, Amy
Ostrom, Elinor
In pursuit of comparable concepts and data about collective action
title In pursuit of comparable concepts and data about collective action
title_full In pursuit of comparable concepts and data about collective action
title_fullStr In pursuit of comparable concepts and data about collective action
title_full_unstemmed In pursuit of comparable concepts and data about collective action
title_short In pursuit of comparable concepts and data about collective action
title_sort in pursuit of comparable concepts and data about collective action
topic resource management
forests
forestry
social aspects
collective action
forest products
capacity development
natural resources management
research institutions
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/157392
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