“Beyond Ostrom: Randomized
Experiment of the Impact of Individualized Tree Rights on Forest
Management in Ethiopia”(July 6)
Organizer
Waseda Institute for Advanced Study (WIAS), Waseda University
Co-organizer
Research Institute for Environmental Economics and Management, Waseda University
WINPEC Renewable Energy Project, Waseda University
Speaker
TAKAHASHI, Ryo
Associate Professor, School of Political Science and Economics
Ryo Takahashi is an Associate Professor of Faculty of Political Science and Economics at Waseda University. He received his Ph. D. from the University of Tokyo.
He conducts empirical research on technology diffusion and environmental conservation in developing countries, particularly countries in Africa. One of his research is related to forest conservation in Ethiopia focusing on property rights and forest coffee production. In addition, he conducted a social experiment in Japan using vending machines to investigate how to stimulate the consumption of eco-friendly certified coffee.
Moderator
ARIMURA, Toshihide
Director, WIAS
Professor, School of Political Science and Economics
Date & Time
Tuesday, July 6 2021, 16:30 – 18:00
Venue
This seminar will be held online by Zoom.
Language
English
Outline
Although community forest management has become a principal approach for the management of forest resources in developing countries, empirical evidence on its effectiveness is mixed. In this study, we argue that while community forest management is effective in protecting forest resources as argued by Ostrom, it may fail to provide proper incentives to take care of such resources because of collective sharing of benefits of forest management. This study proposes a mixed private and community management system as a desirable arrangement for timber forest management in developing countries, which is characterized by communal protection of community-owned forest area and individual management of individually owned trees. By conducting a randomized experiment in Ethiopia, we found that the mixed management system significantly stimulated intensive forest management activities, including pruning, guarding, and watering. Furthermore, the treated members extracted more timber trees and forest products, which are byproducts of tree management (thinned trees and pruned branches). In contrast, the extracted volumes of nontimber forest products unrelated to tree management (fodder and honey) did not change by the intervention.
Prospected Audience
Faculty members of university, graduate students
Registration
Please send an e-mail titled “July 6th WIAS Sustainability Seminar” including your name and affiliation to rieem.waseda [at] gmail.com by July 4 (Sun).
You will receive a reply mail with registration URL.