Tragedy of the commons
The "tragedy of the commons" is a concept that describes a situation where individuals, acting in their own self-interest, deplete or degrade a shared resource, ultimately harming the collective good. This idea, rooted in historical discussions dating back to Aristotle and popularized by ecologist Garrett Hardin in 1968, applies to various communal resources such as air, forests, oceans, and public lands. An example is farmers sharing a grazing area; while each farmer benefits by increasing their livestock, the collective result can lead to overgrazing, damaging the land for everyone.
Addressing the tragedy of the commons can be approached through various strategies. Education and raising awareness about the impacts of individual actions can promote more responsible behavior. Economic incentives, such as implementing taxes or fees for resource use, can motivate individuals to reduce their consumption. Additionally, regulatory measures, like quotas on resource extraction, can help maintain sustainability. In some cases, privatization of the resource may also prevent overuse, as individuals would then bear the full costs of their actions. The concept has expanded beyond ecology, influencing discussions in fields such as evolutionary biology and the management of digital information, known as "knowledge commons."
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Subject Terms
Tragedy of the commons
Definition: Situation in which the rational choices of individuals, acting independently and solely in their own self-interest, collide with the interests and needs of the larger community, resulting in the depletion of resources against the long-term interests of both individuals and the group
Environmentalists, conservationists, and others concerned with the depletion of the world’s shared natural resources have developed various approaches to averting the situation known as the tragedy of the commons.
Although the concept of the tragedy of the commons can be traced to Aristotle, the modern application of the concept is closely associated with ecologist Garrett Hardin, who published an article about it in 1968. The commons can be defined as any resource to which all persons have open, free, and unrestrained access. Examples of such shared resources include the atmosphere, rain forests, outer space, oceans, fisheries, and public land. The tragedy of the commons is a situation in which each individual makes a rational decision concerning a shared resource based on his or her own best interest. For example, if farmers share a plot of land where they graze their cattle, individual farmers could increase their own individual profits by grazing additional animals. They would gain the sole benefit of each additional animal in their herds and only bear a fraction of the cost. When all the farmers sharing the land choose to increase their individual profits in this way, however, they harm the common resource by overgrazing the land and compacting the soil.
Although the tragedy of the commons is a rational choice for individuals, it can be overcome. Sometimes averting the tragedy can be as simple as educating individuals about their behavior and appealing to their consciences. Some commentators place faith in technology as a means to overcome the tragedy, asserting that scientific advancements can repair or counterbalance any potential harm to the commons. Another way to prevent people from overusing common resources is to create economic incentives: When individuals must pay taxes or fees to use a common resource, they may be inclined to reduce their use of that resource. For some commons, such as the seas, limits can be placed on the numbers or amounts of given resources, such as fish, that can be harvested within a given period. The use of taxes, fees, and quotas to avert the tragedy of the commons requires that someone or something, often a government, exists that will monitor the compliance of individuals.
Another way to prevent the tragedy of the commons from occurring is to privatize the resource, so that it is no longer a commons. If a farmer owns the land on which he grazes cattle, he still has to make choices about the number of cattle that should be grazed in particular areas. If the number of cattle is increased beyond a certain point, the carrying capacity of the land, then the land will be harmed. Each additional animal represents a benefit to the farmer, but because the farmer owns the land he bears the entire cost as well. Rational individuals will not compromise their own private resources. Though initially an ecological concept, the tragedy of the commons has also been applied to evolutionary biology and the Internet, specifically to what is termed "knowledge commons," a space where a group of people create and control information.
Bibliography
Easton, Thomas A., ed. Environmental Studies. 4th ed. New York: McGraw, 2012. Print.
Hanley, Nick, and Colin J. Roberts, eds. Issues in Environmental Economics. Malden: Blackwell, 2002. Print.
Hardin, Garrett. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science 162 (1968): 1243–48. Print.
Ohler, Adrienne M., and Sherrilyn M. Billger. "Does Environmental Concern Change the Tragedy of the Commons? Factors Affecting Energy Saving Behaviors and Electricity Usage." Ecological Economics (2014): 1. Academic OneFile. Web. 29 Jan. 2015.
Stavins, Robert N., ed. Economics of the Environment: Selected Readings. New York: Norton, 2000. Print.