The Commons in the New Millennium: Challenges and Adaptation

Globalization, population growth, and resource depletion are drawing increased attention to the importance of common resources such as forests, water resources, and fisheries. It is critical that these resources be governed in an equitable and sustainable way. This text presents cutting-edge research in common property theory and provides an overview and progress report on common property research. The book analyzes problems that owners, managers, policy makers, and analysts face in managing natural commons. It examines findings about the physical characteristics of the commons, their complexity and interconnectedness, and the role of social capital. It also provides empirical studies and suggestions for sustainable development. The topics discussed include the role of financial, political, and social capital in deforestation, community efforts to gain political influence in Indonesia, the Maine lobster industry, outcomes of the implementation of individual transferable quotas in New Zealand and Iceland, and design of multilateral emissions trading for regional air pollution and global warming