Property rights and ecosystem properties

For almost two decades, institutional analysts have been struggling to distinguish clearly between institutional factors like property rights and the properties of the resources that are governed by such institutional arrangements. Institutions are regarded as man-made social constructions that regulate the relations between humans themselves with regard to the use of certain resources, while the biophysical attributes of a particular resource are considered given and unaffected by the institutional arrangements. This paper takes this distinction as a point of departure and takes a closer look at the complexities introduced into institutional analysis with the advance of new paradigms for governing resources—such as governing by environmental objectives and indicators, biodiversity governance, adaptive ecosystem management, etc.—and points to some of the institutional changes that this involves. In doing so, it re-examines some of the dichotomous conventions regarding the ‘nature of goods’ in light of increased attention given to ecosystem properties.