Commons Management in Migrant Communities

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.