To address this information gap, this volume brings together international experts in economics, sociology, and natural resource management to examine the links among property rights, collective action, and technological change for a variety of technologies across a range of community contexts in the developing world. Authors focus on the reciprocal relationships between community institutions and technologies, the role of property rights in conflicts between crop and livestock production systems, and the way that collective action differs across landscapes. A conceptual framework, methodological approaches, and "best bet" practices are presented to help guide future research.

Researchers, policy analysts, and students interested in the links between environmental sustainability, economic growth, equity and poverty alleviation, and technology adoption will benefit from this volume.

"The authors of this excellent book have sought to reach beyond narrow ways of thinking about property rights and collective action. They have succeeded in bringing together outstanding studies from many parts of the world. Their theoretical work provides a good understanding of the linkage between property rights, collective action, and technologies related to natural resource management. The case studies do an excellent job of illustrating the major arguments in their theoretical framework. Both scholars and practitioners will find something of value in this book."

-- Elinor Ostrom, Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Government, and Codirector, Center for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change, Indiana University

"This well researched volume takes the research agenda on property rights, collective action, and natural resource management a significant step forward by demonstrating not just the importance of these issues but also their complex nature. The contributors to this volume demonstrate that when it comes to policymaking, conventional wisdom provides at best a point of departure, but rarely the full answers to the issues arising in implementation. I find this one of the best source books for both ideas and empirical evidence in research on natural resource management and how it is shaped by economic, cultural, and technological factors."

-- Goran Hyden, Distinguished University Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Florida

Contributors: George Arab, Michael Bannister, Regina Birner, Ana Milena de la Cruz, Simeon Ehui, Sarah Gavian, Gustave Gintzburger, Marķa del Pilar Guerrero, Hasantha Gunaweera, Peter Hazell, Khalil Jani, Anna Knox, Nancy McCarthy, Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Woudyalew Mulatu, Thomas Nordblom, Onyango Okello, Keijiro Otsuka, John Pender, Frank Place, Jonathan Rae, Helle Munk Ravnborg, Sara J. Scherr, Glenn R. Smucker, Brent Swallow, Kimberly A. Swallow, Jon D. Unruh, Justine Wangila, Olaf Westermann, and T. Anderson White.