Framework for the study of human provisioning

Arild Vatn

Chapter 11 in Rethinking Ecological Economics, 2026, pp 182-201 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter formalizes key insights from previous chapters. It maintains that the economic process is about the social provisioning of human needs. Any living being needs to exchange matter and energy to live. This provisioning must be organized, and the way it is done influences resource use and the resulting environmental and distributional impacts. The concept of a resource regime is basic to the framework. It refers to combinations of property/use rights (e.g., private, public, common) and rules for interaction between economic actors (e.g., trade, command, cooperation). The next level in the framework is the governance structure, including the actors – i.e., the social, political and economic actors – and the institutional ramification for political and social action. Finally, the full framework is established by embedding the governance structure into its bio-physical environment. The framework can be utilized to characterize different political-economic systems and evaluate their legitimacy.

Keywords: Framework for human provisioning; Property rights; Interaction rules; Resource regimes; Governance structures; Legitimacy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781803921839
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