Co-Location, Socioeconomic Status and Perceptions of Environmental Change in the Indian Sundarbans

Susmita Dasgupta, Bansari Guha and David Wheeler

No 8917, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Research on the determinants of collective action in the commons generally focuses on interest-group heterogeneity, implicitly assuming that groups perceive the same problems but have different priorities. This paper changes the focus to the role played by perceptions themselves. Within localities, collective action may be easier if elite and non-elite households have similar perceptions of environmental problems. Regionally, collective action may be aided by common perceptions among local elites who communicate across village lines. This paper uses regression analysis to explore variations in environmental perceptions across classes and localities, using new survey data from the Indian Sundarbans. The paper finds that perceptions vary significantly across localities. Within localities, perceptions among elite households vary significantly more than perceptions among non-elite households. The results therefore favor locally-oriented collective action in the region, along with local governance that promotes non-elite participation.

Keywords: Global Environment; Educational Sciences; Hydrology; Environmental Strategy; Environmental Management; Environmental Governance; Brown Issues and Health; Pollution Management&Control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-06-26
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-dev and nep-env
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http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/15636156 ... ndian-Sundarbans.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Co-location, socioeconomic status and perceptions of environmental change in the Indian Sundarbans (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:8917

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