2001; building trust and the growth of social network Grafton 2005. This investment is considered to promote local rules or institution to govern coral reef
resources, therefore improve sustainable coral reef resource use. The capacity building of local communities in natural resources management is at the same
time regarded as social capital investment. Following this emerging perspective, a community-based management has
been promoted by local NGOs, university, and national and regional government, in small islands in South Sulawesi to spur shared stewardship among resource
users. It had advocated collective action of local fisher communities to promote among others, environmentally-friendly fishing practices and establishment of
community marine sanctuaries. Therefore, it is appealing to investigate to what extent investment in social capital of fisher communities can alleviate the problem
of overuse that generally associated with common-pool resources, and succeed in promoting durable collective action and institutional arrangements to govern
the resource.
1.3 Research Questions, Hypotheses, and Research Objectives Research Questions
Previous section has described that the theories on common-pool resources and natural resource management propose that social capital might
play a role in achieving sustainable resource use. Based on this perspective, the following questions will be specifically posed on this study:
1. How social capital contributes to sustainable resource use? 2. Which dimensions of social capital, in terms of bonding, bridging and
linking social capital, contributes to sustainable resource use and management?
3. To what extent social capital investment of fisher communities delivers collective action and institutional arrangements to govern sustainable
resource use?
Hypotheses
Along with the above research questions, the following hypotheses will be specifically sought on this study:
1. Social capital will improve sustainable coral reef resource use.
2. Bonding, bridging and linking social capital will promote sustainable coral reef resource use.
3. Investment in social capital will improve sustainable coral reef resource use.
Research Objectives
A comparative study is carried out in several small islands situated in Taka Bonerate Atoll and Spermonde Archipelago, South Sulawesi, which aims to
assess to what extent social capital as well as investment in social capital of fisher communities contribute to sustainable coral reef resource use. The specific
objectives of the study are: 1. To investigate to what extent social capital contributes to sustainable
coral reef resource use. 2. To investigate to what extent the dimensions of social capital, in terms
of bonding, bridging and linking social capital, contributes to sustainable coral reef resource use and management.
3. To investigate to what extent social capital investment of fisher communities delivers collective action and institutional arrangements to
govern sustainable coral reef resource use. In order to investigate social capital and its relation to institutional
arrangements of coral reef resource use at local level, the research framework must include the analysis of factors influencing resource use. An institutional
analytical framework analyzing factors affecting resource use acknowledges that the use of coral reef resource is affected by formal and informal institutions
governing its use Dolšak and Ostrom 2003: 10. Formal institution includes government laws and rules, and their enforcement. Alternatively, informal
institution is usually characterized by non-written rules or code of conducts accepted by a specific group of people. The establishment and endurance of
institution arrangements are affected by the characteristics of resource system and of resource users or fisher communities.
This investigation is structured in Figure 1. First, resource use is described, to understand the extent of destructive practices and the fishery sustainability of
each island. Second, the characteristics of resource users including cognitive and various dimensions of social capital are examined. Investment in social capital is
likely to affect the stock of social capital and the way resource users perceive and
craft rules. Third, how rules, institutional arrangements and collective action have been created by fisher communities are explored. The institution governing
resource use is likely to influence the way resource is utilized, and then can explain the differing practices of destructive fishing and fishery sustainability
across the studied islands.
Figure 1 The relationship between the chapters in this thesis.
Source: Adapted from Dolšak and Ostrom 2003.
1.4 Introduction to Chapters
