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Organizations, Institutions, External Setting and Institutional Dynamics

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Institutions, Sustainability, and Natural Resources

Part of the book series: Sustainability, Economics, and Natural Resources ((SENR,volume 2))

Abstract

To study the dynamics of forest regimes, an institutional analysis framework which takes account both of factors internal to the institutions and organizations as well as of the external setting - the social, environmental, economic (including markets) and international factors — is developed. Adaptive efficiency, an efficiency measure different from allocative efficiency, is suggested for institutional changes that are path-dependent rather than just price or market-dependent. The framework is used to analyze the dynamics of Indian forest regimes. The main feature of those dynamics has been incremental path-dependent change, the exception being the sudden shift from the dominance of community regimes in the pre-British period to that of state regimes in the British period. The dominant factors in this pattern of incremental change have varied markedly over time. In pre-colonial India the inertia of the informal institutions played a major role. At the outset of the colonial period, “organisational energy” was directed at the dismantling of the existing institutions. But, later many self-reinforcing mechanisms contributed to path-dependent changes. In post-colonial India, self-reinforcing mechanisms at the level of the Legislative Wing (LW) and “organisational inertia” of the Executive Wing (EW) dominated the process of institutional change for a time. But, later the “organisational energy” of the LW, the external setting, and “organisational surges” of the EW allowed more rapid change. The adaptive efficiency varied — higher in decentralized regimes of pre-British India and recent regimes and lower in the centralized regimes of British India and the first four decades of independent India. Organisational inertia has been one of the main factors impeding institutional changes towards adaptive efficiency. Hence, policy and management prescriptions for sustainable forest management, in these countries, should address institutional and organisational aspects in an integrative manner.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, 33 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3B3

    Shashi Kant

  2. Department of Economics, University of Toronto, 150 St. George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3G7

    R. Albert Berry

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  1. Shashi Kant
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto, Canada

    Shashi Kant

  2. Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto, Canada

    R. Albert Berry

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Kant, S., Berry, R.A. (2004). Organizations, Institutions, External Setting and Institutional Dynamics. In: Kant, S., Berry, R.A. (eds) Institutions, Sustainability, and Natural Resources. Sustainability, Economics, and Natural Resources, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3519-5_4

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