Institutional Analysis at CIPEC
by: Clark Gibson,
Department of Political Science, Indiana University,
Research Associate, CIPEC and Assistant Professor, and
Fabrice Lehoucq, Department of Government, Wesleyan University.
The analysis of institutions involves the study of how rules shape human
behavior. These rules or institutions can be formal and codified
as law, or informal and exist as rules-in-use and norms. Researchers
using an institutional approach focus on how individuals and groups construct
institutions, how institutions operate, and the results generated by institutions.
At CIPEC, institutions are central to how we study human use of forest
resources in the western hemisphere. The research strategy of CIPEC
focuses on the effects of different property rights -- a particular set
of institutions -- on forest outcomes. Along with ecological conditions,
they are the way we sample the forests of the Americas. For CIPEC's
purposes, we identify three types of property rights systems -- private,
communal, and public (government-owned). Of course, institutions
other than property rights affect human use of forest resources.
CIPEC researchers also examine other formal and informal rules at the national
and subnational levels, as well as explore the complex bundles of rules
experienced by individuals at the local level.
CIPEC researchers employ many methods to investigate institutions.
Surveys and discussions with local farmers (based on the experience of
Indiana University's Anthropological Center for Training and Research on
Global Environmental Change - ACT),
interviews with public officials, data collection in government offices,
and the community-level methods of the International Forestry Resources
and Institutions (IFRI) Research
Program all help CIPEC researchers unpack the multiple layers of institutions
found in the field.
While all CIPEC researchers keep institutions at the center of their
work, there are three specialists at CIPEC who concentrate on the study
of institutions. Elinor
Ostrom is both the co-director of CIPEC and of the Workshop
and is the Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Political Science. Clark
Gibson is a Research Associate at CIPEC as well as an Assistant Professor
in the Department of Political
Science.
Recent CIPEC papers on Institutional Analysis:
Useful Institutional Analysis Sites
The Americas
Related Research
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Phone: (812) 855-2230
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Last Updated: May 11, 2005
Comments: cipec@indiana.edu
Copyright
2005, The Trustees of Indiana
University.
