Anuncio

Property rights and collective action in natural resources with application to Mexico

June 4-7, 2007
Casa de California
Mexico City

Taught by Gordon Rausser and Camille Antinori

Course description and objectives:

Control and access to natural resources is often a product of and a determinant of wealth, income and well-being. Changing ownership and access rights to natural resources can therefore have significant implications for stakeholders. However, the mechanisms through which these processes work are complex and multidimensional. Mexico is an excellent case study of how rights to land resources have played a pivotal role in its history and current economic activities.

An extensive but disjointed literature exists which bears on these issues. The aim of this course is bring together the most relevant of these works to illustrate linkages and the gaps which remain. We focus on natural resource management where property rights and collective action are central aspects. Mexico is one among many examples used to shed light on why ownership and institutions matter in an economic sense. Lectures will cover the political economy of natural resources; common property theory, various branches of contract theory, empirical challenges, governance and the distribution of wealth; and interdisciplinary work. Our goals are that, at the end of the course, participants will have a clearer appreciation of 1) the role of property and collective decisionmaking in generating economic safety nets, political power and wealth, and 2) strategies for analyzing economic behavior around the allocation of property rights and control.

There will be no written assignment. To gain the full benefit of the course, participants should attend all lectures and read a small set of assigned readings before the lecture to which they apply. Course lectures will be conducted in English. Ample time will be given for discussion.

The course entails two lectures a day. The morning lecture is held 10:00-13:00 and the afternoon lecture 16:00-18:30.

Lectures cover:
Lecture 1 Introduction to political economy of natural resources (Rausser)
Lecture 2 Theories of collective action, cooperation and common property (Antinori)
Lecture 3 Principal – agent theory and institutional organization (Antinori)
Lecture 4 Incomplete contracts, or why property rights matter (Antinori)
Lecture 5 A political economy model (Rausser)
Lectures 6 Power, influence and the distribution of benefits (Antinori)
Lecture 7 Problems with empirical measurement (Antinori and Garcia-Lopez)
Lecture 8 An interdisciplinary perspective (Antinori)

The course is open to scholars, practitioners and anyone interested in the material, and is free of charge. Background in economics would be extremely helpful but not necessary.

The Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE) and the University of California, Berkeley (UCB) are co-organizers of the course. For information on subscribing, please contact: