Commons Management in Migrant Communities

Godfreyb Ssekajja

doi:10.5334/ijc.1079

Abstract

This article examines whether (and why) migrant communities are less likely to support institutions for managing common pool resources. Focusing on Buvuma Island, which is situated in Uganda’s portion of Lake Victoria, I study the efforts at locally supporting forestry regulations among randomly selected communities. These communities have varying proportions of both immigrants and prospective out-migrants, and they are confronting the degradation of adjacent forest reserves. The evidence from survey data on 293 randomly selected heads of households suggests that migrant communities are less likely to support common pool resource institutions. The same evidence suggests that the lower likelihood of support among migrant communities has more to do with their weaker relationships (of reputation, trust, and reciprocity) than their expectations about the institutional net-benefits.

Highlights

An underexamined question for social scientists is whether migrant communities are less likely to support institutions for common pool resource management.1 A significant body of literature suggests that immigration (Curran & Agardy, 2002; Katz, 2000) and out-migration (Rudel, 2011; Robson & Berkes, 2011; Wang et al, 2016) undermine institutional processes in local communities.2 the likelihood of successful institutions for common pool resource management among migrant communities remains poorly understood
Many prominent explanations emphasize the “past-based” determinants of collective action for common pool resource management, such as the core relationships of reputation, trust, and reciprocity (Ostrom et al, 1994; Andersson, 2004; McKean et al, 2000; Ostrom, 2010; Pretty & Ward, 2001), some studies suggest that new immigrant communities, with no prior interactions, can engage in collective action to support institutions for managing common resources (Anderson & Hill, 2004; Alston et al, 1996; McDowell, 2002; Clay & Wright, 2005; Alston et al, 2012)
This article attempts to explain whether immigrant communities are less likely to engage in collective action to support institutions for common pool resource management, and if so, what are the likely underlying mechanisms? The focus is on communities with varying proportions of both immigrants and prospective outmigrants

Summary

Introduction

An underexamined question for social scientists is whether migrant communities are less likely to support institutions for common pool resource management.1 A significant body of literature suggests that immigration (Curran & Agardy, 2002; Katz, 2000) and out-migration (Rudel, 2011; Robson & Berkes, 2011; Wang et al, 2016) undermine institutional processes in local communities.2 the likelihood of successful institutions for common pool resource management among migrant communities remains poorly understood. Some other studies suggest that collective action for common resource management is possible among new immigrant communities with no prior interactions, and no “past-based” relationships of reputation, trust, and reciprocity.

Results

Conclusion