SOCORM

Social complexity in Resource Management

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'This research projects starts from the observation that in some instances, government intervention is effective in conserving renewable natural resources, such as fish stock, but not in others. We argue that government intervention does not take place in a vacuum, as sets of social norms may exist that govern resource use. In some cases these social norms promote sustainable harvesting strategies, but they may also aggravate overfishing if they are merely aimed at reducing costs of exploitation. Success or failure of government intervention depends crucially on how this intervention interacts with the local set of social norms. We hypothesize that these social norms are shaped by the state and dynamics of the natural resources and hence co-evolve with these resources. The key objective of this project is to analyze how decisions of resource users are influenced by the biological and institutional environment. Specifically, we aim to identify, first, under which conditions social norms of resource exploitation evolve; second, how quickly these social norms adapt and respond to environmental changes; and third, how government intervention interacts with these social norms. The execution of this research project is explicitly interdisciplinary and stimulates close cooperation between economists and biologists. We combine mathematical biology with economic modeling and behavioral experiments, to obtain a unique mix of methods allowing us to address the research topic. Our approach is innovative as we explicitly take into account that the institutional setting is not an exogenous constant, but over time, institutions are determined endogenously through the interplay between economic, social and ecological forces acting on the system. This research combines insights from behavioral and resource economics as it addresses under what circumstances formal government intervention can stimulate or crowd out self-regulation.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Considering social complexity of stakeholders in the fishing sector could help in managing our sea's bounty. The findings could eventually help in managing other natural resources as well.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

As the world's resources become scarcer, the EU is looking at how effective government intervention is in conserving renewable natural resources. Indeed, governments have been successful, for example, in partly conserving fish stocks but not as successful in managing certain forests. Evidence shows that government intervention is very much affected by social norms and biological complexity, which are crucial determinants in furthering resource management.

Against this backdrop, the EU-funded project 'Social complexity in resource management' (SOCORM) investigated how decisions of resource users are influenced by the biological and institutional environment. It looked at how social norms related to resource exploitation evolve, how these social norms react to environmental changes, and how government intervention can address resource management.

The project team noted that while social cooperation to address resource management in a given community could be successful, it could also slowly erode or even suddenly collapse. SOCORM therefore examined how individual agents are often tempted to overexploit the resource and how this differs from cooperative harvesting of resources. This involved looking at catastrophic transitions from strong cooperation to serious norm violation that could collapse the socio-ecological system.

Focusing on fish stocks and coastal communities, the project team then examined how social and ecological complexity mutually influence each other, and when to expect a sudden collapse. The vicious cycle between environmental degradation and socioeconomic instability was also examined.

Lastly, SOCORM studied how policymaking could best integrate biological and social complexity in north-east Arctic cod fisheries. It took into consideration the current harvest control rule (HCR) and alternative HCRs to identify factors for success, examining as well social complexity of stakeholders involved. Within the policymaking arena, the project team also considered biological complexity such as genetic changes caused by intensive fishing and harvesting.

The new insights emerging from the project have been published in notable academic journals and stand to benefit policymaking on a government level, rendering the fishing industry more sustainable. The findings could positively affect cod stock not only in Europe but in the rest of the world as well.