Eighteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

This project seeks to understand how rural villages in India that are experiencing a rise of in-migration can use common-pool resource (CPR) institutions to prevent water poverty among host community members and migrants by ensuring equitable water distribution. The focus is on Pani Panchayats, which are village bodies in India that govern the use and distribution of water among villagers. I code the formal and informal rules of Pani Panchayats and other water distribution institutions in Indian villages to understand which rules are associated with institutional effectiveness and how they can evolve over time to accommodate an influx of migrants. Whether communities change their CPR institutions to accommodate migrants is also dependent on their willingness to help migrants integrate. Therefore, I also discuss a survey and experiment to explore the attitudes that host communities and migrants have towards each other, and which strategies and narratives work best in fostering cooperation and integration.