Rights, Institutions and Sustainability. How can we make it work?

Abstract

In developing social and agricultural policy for sustainability, great emphasis is beingplaced on property rights as a solution. This paper highlights that property is not a solution,it is merely a component in any integrated approach to changing the systems that driveresource use behaviour. The paper outlines some concepts for a more profound approach toshaping that behaviour.It follows the approach of highlighting the behavioural system that creates our patterns ofresource use. It then considers the social implications of sustainability approaches, and theimplications of a range of views about property and institutions. Finally the paper suggestssome over-arching principles that should be adopted in creating effective behaviour changetowards sustainability. In this framework, property rights are re-framed as subservientissues operating within the context of a more comprehensive approach.