Voodoo versus fishing committees: The role of traditional and contemporary institutions in fisheries management

Elena Briones Alonso, Romain Houssa and Marijke Verpoorten

Ecological Economics, 2016, vol. 122, issue C, 61-70

Abstract: We study the co-existence of two community-based institutions for fisheries management in Benin: a traditional institution embedded in the Voodoo religion and a recent secular institution in the form of fishing committees. Using household survey data on fishing activities, we find that rules of both institutions have a statistically significant but small impact on the use of unsustainable fishing gear. We further find that Voodoo fishers who break the traditional Voodoo-based rule follow the fishing committee rule to the same extent as other fishers. This finding is consistent with a possible transition from the traditional Voodoo-based institution to the secular fishing committee institution. More research is needed to fully assess the effectiveness of, and interactions between, the two institutions.

Keywords: Community-based natural resource management; Institutions; Religion; Voodoo; Fisheries; Benin (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Voodoo versus Fishing Committees: The Role of Traditional and Contemporary Institutions in Fisheries Management (2015)
Working Paper: Voodoo versus fishing committees: the role of traditional and contemporary institutions in fisheries management (2015)
Working Paper: Voodoo versus fishing committees: the role of traditional and contemporary institutions in fisheries management (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:122:y:2016:i:c:p:61-70

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2015.11.024

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