Communal grazing: The case of the Mexican ejido

DETERIORATION of natural resources under communal use has occurred since the days of common pasture on medieval European manors ( 13 ). But much of the earth's grazing land still is used under communal systems of land tenure. What socioeconomic factors contribute to the denudation of communal resources? A case study in northern Mexico offers at least some answers. The common problem The earth's common resources, including water, air, and wildlife, are often used under conditions of open access. In other words, there are no restrictions or charges for using these resources. This is due mainly to the difficulty of enforcing rules for their use. Much discussion about the distortion of incentives for the user of communal resources under conditions of open access ( 4, 13 ) has produced two basic hypotheses: …