Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
2-2016
Abstract
We find that local institutions inherited from the precolonial era continue to play an important role in natural resource governance in Africa. Using satellite image data, we find a significant and robust relationship between deforestation and precolonial succession rules of local leaders (local chiefs). In particular, we find that those precolonial areas where local leaders were appointed by ‘social standing’ have higher rates of deforestation compared to the base case of hereditary rule and where local leaders were appointed from above (by paramount chiefs). While the transmission mechanisms behind these results are complex, we suggest that areas where local leaders were appointed by social standing are more likely to have poorer institutions governing local leadership and forest management.
Keywords
Deforestation, Africa, Precolonial institutions, Chiefs, Legal pluralism
Discipline
Environmental Sciences | Urban Studies and Planning
Publication
Land Use Policy
Volume
51
First Page
150
Last Page
161
ISSN
0264-8377
Identifier
10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.10.030
Publisher
Elsevier
Citation
LARCOM, S.; VAN GEVELT, Terry; and ZABALA, A..
Precolonial institutions and deforestation in Africa. (2016). Land Use Policy. 51, 150-161.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cis_research/43
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.10.030