Tragedy of the Commons Brook Milligan Department of Biology New - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Tragedy of the Commons

Brook Milligan

Department of Biology New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003 brook@nmsu.edu

Fall 2009

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

The Tragedy of the Commons

Hardin, G. 1968. The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162:1243–1248. Classic paper Unifies fundamental issues into a common framework Applicable to conservation biology, economics, politics, . . .

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Nature of a commons

A resource owned jointly Benefits to use of resource acrued individually Cost of resource use born jointly; therefore, individual component of cost of resource use reduced Imbalance in cost/benefit make increasing exploitation the rational strategy for all individuals Necessary outcome: overexploitation

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Examples of commons

pasture, grazing land

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Examples of commons

pasture, grazing land

A resource owned jointly

the land itself shared among users of the pasture

Benefits to use of resource acrued individually:

benefits of selling meat, dairy products, animals acrue to each individual owner of animal(s)

Cost of resource use born jointly; therefore, individual component of cost of resource use reduced

reduction of forage resource causing slower growth rate/lower milk production shared among all users of the pasture

Imbalance in cost/benefit make increasing exploitation the rational strategy for all individuals

benefitial to any individual to add one more head to the herd, because the increased benefit of selling more milk/meat/. . .

• utweighs the reduction in growth due to extra grazing

Necessary outcome: overexploitation

• vergrazing

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Examples of commons

pasture, grazing land reproduction national parks parking spaces fisheries resources extractive industries: mining, petroleum atmospheric and water pollution visual and auditory pollution financial institutions: emerge from a common pool of money (e.g., within a family or coop) health care welfare insurance

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Possible means of managing commons

Convert commons into private property Allocate right to use a commons Coercion

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Possible means of managing commons

Convert commons into private property

financial pools: family pool, banks insurance industry

• wnership rights to fisheries, emissions

Allocate right to use a commons Coercion

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Possible means of managing commons

Convert commons into private property

financial pools: family pool, banks insurance industry

• wnership rights to fisheries, emissions

Allocate right to use a commons based upon:

wealth, e.g., via an auction merit based upon agreed upon criteria lottery first-come, first-served with queues

Coercion

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Possible means of managing commons

Convert commons into private property

financial pools: family pool, banks insurance industry

• wnership rights to fisheries, emissions

Allocate right to use a commons based upon:

wealth, e.g., via an auction merit based upon agreed upon criteria lottery first-come, first-served with queues

Coercion But, who watches the watchers to make sure the commons are not degraded?

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Coercion as a method of managing commons

Definition of coerce: American Heritage Dictionary

to force to act or think in a given manner by pressure, threats,

• r intimidation; compel

to dominate, restrain, or control forcibly to bring about by force

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Coercion as a method of managing commons

Definition of coerce: American Heritage Dictionary

to force to act or think in a given manner by pressure, threats,

• r intimidation; compel

to dominate, restrain, or control forcibly to bring about by force

Elements of coercion

restriction of rights biased sets of options

e.g., not prohibition but increasingly expensive to continue

agreed upon by majority creates new freedoms

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Coercion as a method of managing commons

Definition of coerce: American Heritage Dictionary

to force to act or think in a given manner by pressure, threats,

• r intimidation; compel

to dominate, restrain, or control forcibly to bring about by force

Elements of coercion

restriction of rights biased sets of options

e.g., not prohibition but increasingly expensive to continue

agreed upon by majority creates new freedoms

Questions

is the dictionary defintion what Hardin means by coerce? how can restricting rights create freedoms? how can coercions be adopted?

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

No technical solution problems

What are “no technical solution problems”?

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

No technical solution problems

What are “no technical solution problems”?

technical solution: one relying solely on science and technology, without requiring changes in “human values or ideas of morality” some problems cannot be solved only with technical solutions some problems must be solved with changes in values or morality

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

No technical solution problems

What are “no technical solution problems”?

technical solution: one relying solely on science and technology, without requiring changes in “human values or ideas of morality” some problems cannot be solved only with technical solutions some problems must be solved with changes in values or morality

Why does Hardin claim that the tragedy of the commons is such a problem?

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

No technical solution problems

What are “no technical solution problems”?

technical solution: one relying solely on science and technology, without requiring changes in “human values or ideas of morality” some problems cannot be solved only with technical solutions some problems must be solved with changes in values or morality

Why does Hardin claim that the tragedy of the commons is such a problem?

Rational participants will continually exploit the commons Therefore, the “rules” must be changed so that strategy is no longer the rational one; i.e., changes in values are required

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Tragedy of the commons and conservation biology

How do the points raised by Hardin relate to issues of importance to conservation biologists?

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons

Tragedy of the commons and US politics

How do the points raised by Hardin relate to the general approaches to government espoused by the major US political parties? What are some current political issues that relate to the tragedy of the commons?

Brook Milligan Tragedy of the Commons