Institutional change in social-ecological systems: The evolution of grassland management in Inner Mongolia |
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| Institution: | 1. McGill University, Department of Geography, 805 Sherbrooke Street West, Room 705, Montreal, Quebec H3A 0B9, Canada;2. Institute of Grassland Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences/Key Laboratory of Grassland Ecology and Restoration, Ministry of Agriculture, 120 Wulanchabu East Street, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia 010010, China;1. College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, P.R.China;2. Grassland Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Huhhot 010010, P.R.China;1. Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7013, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden;2. Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, University of Goettingen, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, D-37073 Göttingen, Germany;3. Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California at Berkeley, CA 94720 - 3110 Berkeley, United States;1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Belt and Road’s Data Analysis and Decision Support, China Academy of the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing International Studies University, Beijing, 100024, China;2. School of Ecology and Environment, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, 010021, China;3. College of Geography and Environment Science, Northwest Normal University, 967 Anning East Road, Lanzhou, China;1. Ostrom Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, 513 N. Park Avenue, Bloomington, IN, 47408, USA;2. Department of Geography, Indiana University, Student Building 120, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA;3. School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, SPEA 347, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA;1. National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, 1 Park Place, Suite 300, Annapolis, MD 21401, United States;2. College of Urban and Environment Science, Peking University, 5 Yiheyuan Road, Beijing, 100875, PR China;3. School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, 440 Church Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA;1. College of Economics and Management, Northwest Agricultural and Forestry University, 3 Taicheng Road, Yangling, Shaanxi 712100, China;2. Key Research Base of Philosophy and Social Science, Shaanxi Province 712100, China |
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| Abstract: | Communities living in the grasslands of present day Inner Mongolia have experienced dramatic social, economic and ecological changes over the past millennium. More recently, these grasslands have undergone widespread degradation, raising concern for securing local herders' livelihoods. To understand these changes in ecological and welfare outcomes over long time scales, we define five broad periods of relative institutional stability over the past millennium, characterize social-ecological system during each period, and then assess major changes between these periods. Looking at changes in institutional contexts helps explain some of our outcomes of interest. We find that while much attention has been given to the change in grassland lease structures in China, the role of market integration and buffers against historically natural constraints on livestock production (e.g., protection from the winter months) have decoupled formerly tight local social-ecological links. This decoupling, along with weak land tenure security due to a complex and volatile policy landscape, suppresses local incentives for grassland conservation. |
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| Keywords: | Institutional change Social ecological systems Grasslands Inner Mongolia |
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