Endangering Development: Politics, Projects, and Environment in Burkina Faso

The new institutional economics attempts to explain the degradation of natural resources using a rational-choice approach: social actors act rationally in the context of existing but inadequate institutions in that they attempt to make the best of a generally unsatisfactory situation. Engberg-Peders...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Africa (London. 1928) 2006, Vol.76 (3), p.437-438
Main Author: Bierschenk, Thomas
Format: Review
Language:English
Subjects:
Burkina Faso
Case studies
Cultural practices
Decision making
Development projects
Development research
Environment and politics
Gutenberg, Johannes (Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden)
International organizations
Local politics
Natural resources
Non-governmental organizations
Politics
Reviews of Books
Rural development
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Summary:The new institutional economics attempts to explain the degradation of natural resources using a rational-choice approach: social actors act rationally in the context of existing but inadequate institutions in that they attempt to make the best of a generally unsatisfactory situation. Engberg-Pedersen's empirical studies show, however, that the reactions of the village populations to the introduction of new decision-making structures have little to do with the rational cost-benefit considerations of individual actors.
ISSN:0001-9720
1750-0184
DOI:10.1353/afr.2006.0037