Common property rights, adaptive capacity, and response to forest disturbance

This paper reports the results of a statistical analysis which measures the effects of adaptive capacity on forest conditions in response to a prior disturbance. Particular emphasis is placed on common property rights as a form of institutional adaptive capacity. Common property rights are delineated in terms of rights of access, withdrawal, management, exclusion, and alienation. Using statistical analysis of 326 forest user groups from 13 countries in the database of the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) program, the effects on user group rankings of forest conditions are estimated with a probability model. Overall, the results indicate that user groups with more complete property rights are more likely to rank forest conditions favorably. However, the effects of property rights also depend on the level of other forms of adaptive capacity such as the organizational capacity of the group and the number of rival user groups.

► Different types of common property rights are identified and measured for 326 user groups in the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) program.
► The effects of different types of common property rights on forest conditions are estimated following forest disturbance.
► The effects of property rights are assessed at different levels of other forms of adaptive capacity including the number of rival user groups and the organizational capacity of the user group.