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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Towards Re-Thinking Ecology: Investigating The Influence Of Behavioral Economics On Ecological Thought, Ned Weidner Mar 2013

Towards Re-Thinking Ecology: Investigating The Influence Of Behavioral Economics On Ecological Thought, Ned Weidner

LUX: A Journal of Transdisciplinary Writing and Research from Claremont Graduate University

The current mainstream ecological discourse among environmental activists seems to be focused on changing the current paradigm of ecological thinking towards one focused primarily on sustainability through a deeper connection with the Earth. Often these activists argue this deeper connection with the Earth is best achieved through a paradigmatic change in thinking. It is the argument of this paper that those who champion a paradigmatic shift in thinking towards sustainability need to re-think their plan of action for creating a sustainable relationship with the Earth’s environment because changing society’s way of viewing ecological matters as a way to create a …


Bridging Vs. Bonding Social Capital And The Management Of Common Pool Resources, Kathy Baylis, Yazhen Gong, Shun Wang Dec 2012

Bridging Vs. Bonding Social Capital And The Management Of Common Pool Resources, Kathy Baylis, Yazhen Gong, Shun Wang

Kathy Baylis

Social capital can facilitate community governance, but not all social capital is alike. We distinguish bonding social capital (within a village) from bridging social capital (between villages), and we compare their effects on the management of a common pool resource. We develop a theoretical model and show that bonding social capital can improve common pool resource management, while the effect of bridging social capital is mixed. We test these findings using primary data from Yunnan, China on social capital and firewood collection on communal lands. We find that bonding social capital decreases the consumption of the common pool resource, and …