Institutions and Environmental Change

by Young, Oran R.; King, Leslie A.; Schroeder, Heike

• ISBN13: 9780262240574
• ISBN10: 0262240572
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-11-30
• Publisher: Mit Pr

Summary

Studies show that institutions play a role both in causing and in addressing problems arising from human-environment interactions. But the nature of this role is complex and not easily described. This book presents an overview of recent research on how institutions matter in efforts to tackle such environmental problems as the loss of biological diversity, the degradation of forests, and the overarching issue of climate change. Using the tools of the "new institutionalism" in the social sciences, the book treats institutions as sets of rights, rules, and decision-making procedures. Individual chapters present research findings and examine policy implications regarding questions of causality, performance, and institutional design as well as the themes of institutional fit (or misfit), interplay, and scale. Institutions and Environmental Changeis the product of a decade-long international research project on the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change (IDGEC) carried out under the auspices of the International Human Dimensions Programme. The book's policy insights demonstrate that research on institutions can provide the basis for practical advice on effective ways to deal with the most pressing environmental problems of our times. Contributors: Frank Biermann, Carl Folke, Victor Galaz, Thomas Gehring, Joyeeta Gupta, Thomas Hahn, Leslie A. King, Ronald B. Mitchell, Sebastian Oberthur, Per Olsson, Heike Schroeder, Uno Svedin, Simon Tay, Arild Underdal, Oran R. Young.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Summary for Policy Makers	p. xiii
IDGEC Glossary	p. xxi
Introduction	p. 1
Institutions and Environmental Change: The Scientific Legacy of a Decade of IDGEC Research	p. 3
Research Foci	p. 47
Determining the Causal Significance of Institutions: Accomplishments and Challenges	p. 49
Evaluating the Performance of Environmental Institutions: What to Evaluate and How to Evaluate It?	p. 79
Building Regimes for Socioecological Systems: Institutional Diagnostics	p. 115
Analytic Themes	p. 145
The Problem of Fit among Biophysical Systems, Environmental and Resource Regimes, and Broader Governance Systems: Insights and Emerging Challenges	p. 147
Interplay: Exploring Institutional Interaction	p. 187
Global Change: Analyzing Scale and Scaling in Environmental Governance	p. 225
Policy Relevance and Future Directions	p. 259
Contributing to the Science-Policy Interface: Policy Relevance of Findings on the Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change	p. 261
Earth System Governance: A Research Agenda	p. 277
References	p. 303
Contributors	p. 351
Index	p. 353
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