Institutional analysis of food and agriculture policy in the Caribbean: The case of Saint Lucia
研究了圣卢西亚两个时期（1950年前和1950-2010年）的农业政策如何改变正式与非正式制度，导致农村社区衰落，并指出需要建立连接性制度来促进共同决策和权力下放。
The role played by various institutions in the domestic agri-food systems of Caribbean nations has become an increasingly important area of research and policy attention. This paper assesses the main policies that have been implemented in Saint Lucia's agri-food system over two time periods (pre-1950 and 1950 to 2010), and analyzes their influence on formal and informal institutions. Results suggest that rule convergence in export (formal) and domestic (informal) agricultural production systems displaced informal institutions to a lower position in the institutional hierarchy. This institutional change has reduced interactions between farming community members, with negative implications for bonding and bridging social capital in the domestic food production system. Collectively, these changes have resulted in unintended outcomes associated with the decline of many rural communities. Our findings highlight the need to better identify bridging institutions in Saint Lucia's domestic agri-food sector that could help support shared rule-making, the decentralization of power and reciprocal knowledge flows amongst policy actors.