Can Immigration Explain Why Ethnic Diversity is Negatively Associated with Common Property Management?

Abstract

A persistent question for social scientists is the extent to which societal levels of ethnic diversity, and rates of immigration, make collective action difficult to achieve (or maintain). Here I examine whether immigration can explain why ethnic diversity is negatively associated with collective action. The focus is on two aspects of collective action for common property management (that is, voluntary contributions to toilet construction and voluntary compliance with forestry regulations) among Ugandan communities whose levels of ethnic diversity and rates of immigration vary. Preliminary evidence suggests that communities with lower rates of immigration are more supportive of common property management, irrespective of their levels of ethnic diversity. By implication, socio-political impediments to collective action may have less to do with the stock of demographic diversity than the flow rate of demographic change.