SASUSG

Ostrom and Williamson Receive Nobel Prize

Economic governance: the organization of cooperation

The Nobel Foundation has announced that Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson have been awarded the Nobel Prize 'The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences' for demonstrating how common property can be successfully managed by user associations and developing a theory where business firms serve as structures for conflict resolution. Over the last three decades these seminal contributions have advanced economic governance research from the fringe to the forefront of scientific attention.

Economic transactions take place not only in markets, but also within firms, associations, households, and agencies. Whereas economic theory has comprehensively illuminated the virtues and limitations of markets, it has traditionally paid less attention to other institutional arrangements. The research of Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson demonstrates that economic analysis can shed light on most forms of social organization.

Elinor Ostrom has challenged the conventional wisdom that common property is poorly managed and should be either regulated by central authorities or privatized. Based on numerous studies of user-managed fish stocks, pastures, woods, lakes, and groundwater basins, Ostrom concludes that the outcomes are, more often than not, better than predicted by standard theories. She observes that resource users frequently develop sophisticated mechanisms for decision-making and rule enforcement to handle conflicts of interest, and she characterizes the rules that promote successful outcomes.

Oliver Williamson has argued that markets and hierarchical organizations, such as firms, represent alternative governance structures which differ in their approaches to resolving conflicts of interest. The drawback of markets is that they often entail haggling and disagreement. The drawback of firms is that authority, which mitigates contention, can be abused. Competitive markets work relatively well because buyers and sellers can turn to other trading partners in case of dissent. But when market competition is limited, firms are better suited for conflict resolution than markets. A key prediction of Williamson's theory, which has also been supported empirically, is therefore that the propensity of economic agents to conduct their transactions inside the boundaries of a firm increases along with the relationship-specific features of their assets.

See link: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2009/

People-Centred Resilience: Working with vulnerable farmers towards climate change adaptation and food security

 135 Oxfam Briefing Paper         16 November 2009

Globally, 1.7 billion farmers are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. The many who are already hungry are particularly vulnerable. Yet scaling up localised ‘resilience’ successes offers hope for these farmers, while helping to address the climate problem. New thinking to recognise vulnerable farmers as critical partners in delivering solutions is needed to increase their resilience and to enable them to help combat climate change. Bold new public investment to the supporting institutions will be needed.

This paper makes the case for investing in building up the resilience of vulnerable farming communities as a critical stepping stone to addressing the global challenges of food security; climate change adaptation; and climate change mitigation. It outlines what is required to put vulnerable farming communities at the centre of solutions to these three challenges. It provides a sense of early options for adaptation investment that address urgent needs while also delivering major co-benefits. Finally, it highlights the need for political will and commitment to address these challenges.

Read full paper: http://www.oxfam.org/en/policy/people-centered-resilience

Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies 

VACANCY
Director of PLAAS / Chair of Development Management

The Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) is located in the School of Government within the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, and is an internationally recognized centre of excellence. PLAAS engages in research, policy development and post-graduate teaching in relation to poverty, land and agrarian reform, and natural resource management in the Southern African region. The staff establishment currently comprises of a Director, a Deputy Director, a Senior Lecturer, 10 researchers, and 8 support staff. Most staff members are supported by donor-funded projects. The Director occupies a Chair in Development Management within the School of Government.

Applications are invited for the post of Director/Chair, beginning on 1st January 2010. The Director/Chair will provide overall strategic management of PLAAS, supervise Senior Researchers and senior administrators, raise funds for core functions, work closely with finance staff in managing the Institute’s finances, report to donors and maintain good relations with them, ensure a high public profile for PLAAS, and represent PLAAS on university and non-academic bodies. In addition, the Director/Chair will actively pursue his/her own research and publications agenda, lead PLAAS’ policy engagement activities, teach on the post-graduate teaching programme, and supervise MPhil and Doctoral students. The incumbent will provide strong intellectual leadership for the Institute, and work closely with a recently funded DST/NRF Research Chair in Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies.

For further details contact Ursula Arends of PLAAS at 27 21 959 3733.

To apply, please send a full Curriculum Vitae and a covering letter motivating your application (including the names, telephone/fax numbers and e-mail/postal details of 3 contactable referees) to: Kevin Gardner, HR Department, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, fax: 27 21 9591370, or e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Closing date for applications: 30th October 2009

Launch of Natureandpoverty.net platform

The Natureandpoverty.net website portal will be launched at the end of this month. Natureandpoverty.net aims to be the platform for practitioners working on ecosystem management and poverty alleviation.

The online platform Natureandpoverty.net is set up to increase understanding and effective action on the linkage between nature conservation and poverty alleviation. A key element in the design and set up of the platform is an open and bottom-up approach aimed at establishing an interactive community of practitioners. The platform will facilitate linking and learning between these individuals and NGOs that work in the field of nature conservation and poverty alleviation.

The platform will become a single network site for practitioners working on in the field of nature conservation and poverty alleviation. They aim to do so by presenting the following tools to its users;

• Connect: A tool that helps you connect with people and organisations that could be interesting and relevant for your network
• Share: A tool that allows people to share your experiences, practices & lessons learned that can be beneficial to others working in the same field,
• Find: A tool that will help people find practices, case studies, tools & resources that are useful for their work.

To join, become involved and share your experiences, practices & lessons learned through Natureandpoverty.net. please contact: Peter van Sluijs, Natureandpoverty.net Coordinator at IUCN NL.

For further information visit their new website and register at:  http://natureandpoverty.net