The dual impact of ecology and management on social incentives in marine common-pool resource systems
Authored by E S Klein, M R Barbier, J R Watson
Date Published: 2017
DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170740
Sponsors:
United States National Science Foundation (NSF)
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
Understanding how and when cooperative human behaviour forms in
common-pool resource systems is critical to illuminating
social-ecological systems and designing governance institutions that
promote sustainable resource use. Before assessing the full complexity
of social dynamics, it is essential to understand, concretely and
mechanistically, how resource dynamics and human actions interact to
create incentives and pay-offs for social behaviours. Here, we
investigated how such incentives for information sharing are affected by
spatial dynamics and management in a common-pool resource system. Using
interviews with fishermen to inform an agent-based model, we reveal
generic mechanisms through which, for a given ecological setting
characterized by the spatial dynamics of the resource, the two `human
factors' of information sharing and management may heterogeneously
impact various members of a group for whom theory would otherwise
predict the same strategy. When users can deplete the resource, these
interactions are further affected by the management approach. Finally,
we discuss the implications of alternative motivations, such as equity
among fishermen and consistency of the fleet's output. Our results
indicate that resource spatial dynamics, form of management and level of
depletion can interact to alter the sociality of people in common-pool
resource systems, providing necessary insight for future study of
strategic decision processes.
Tags
Agent-based model
Simulation
Cooperation
Spatial dynamics
behavior
Performance
fleet dynamics
Exploitation
Model
Efficiency
fisheries
Human behaviour
Strategies
Fisheries
management
Common-pool resource
Individual transferable quotas