RURAL INSTITUTIONS AND NATURAL RESOURCE EXPLOITATION: THE CASE OF IRISH COMMONAGE

This paper uses an original micro data set, to investigate, the role of a specific rural institutions in determining the grazing regime over a common property resource: Irish Commonage. It is found that the level of communal activity of the shareholders, mismanagement, and the degree of participation or democratic involvement in decision making processes of the committee representing shareholders and the number of people actively using the shares are key variables in explaining grazing impact on the common property resource.