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The Tragedy of the Commons
Belongs to a Class of Problems that have no Technical Solutions
The Nuclear Arms Race
Human Population Growth
The Tragedy of the Commons
Background: What Shall We Maximize?
Thomas Malthus on Population Growth
Jeremy Bentham: Greatest Good for the Greatest Number
Adam Smith: The Invisible Hand
Thomas Malthus:Unlimited Growth
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
Unlimited Population Growth Based on the Exponential Equation
Limited Population Growth Based on the Logistic Equation
Pierre Francois Verhulst:Limited Growth
rate of change = ⎟⎠⎞
⎜⎝⎛ −
K
N1rN
The Logistic Equation
N = Population Size
R = Reproductive Capacity of the Species
K = Carrying Capacity of the Ecosystem
Multiple “Steady States” Possible with the Logistic Equation
Pierre Francois Verhulst:Limited Growth
Multiple “Steady States” Possible with the Logistic Equation
The optimum population is less thanthe maximum possible population.
But:
“The difficulty of defining the optimum is enormous…”
Tragedy of Freedom in a Commons
Pasture Example (the village green)
Grazing Example (the wide open west)
“Inexhaustible” Resources of the Ocean
Tragedy of Freedom in a Commons
Pasture Example (the village green)
What are the benefits and costs to me ofadding one more animal to my herd?
Benefit: I get all the biomass generated bythat animal
Costs: The village green is degraded a bit, but that cost is shared by all otheranimal owners
Tragedy of Freedom in a Commons
Oceans Example (fisheries)
What are the benefits and costs to me oftaking yet more fish from a stressed population?
Benefit: I get all the biomass generated bythose fish.
Costs: The fish population is further degraded, but that degradation is shared by all my competitors.
Pollution
A Commons Can Absorb the Pollutionof a Small Population, but Not of aLarge One.
Bottom Line
Use of a Commons Involves:
• Privatization of Profit;
• Socialization of Costs
Bottom Line
Use of a Commons Involves:
• Privatization of Benefits
• Socialization of Risks
Legislating Temperance
Morality is System-Sensitive
Prohibition (“Thou Shalt Not…”) is Easy
Legislating Temperance is Difficult
Freedom to Breed is Intolerable
?
?
?
?
Freedom to Breed is Intolerable
To couple the concept of freedom to breed with the belief that everyone born has an equal right to the commons is to lock the world intoa tragic course of action.
Freedom to Breed is Intolerable
Freedom to Breed is Intolerable
Freedom to Breed is Intolerable
Conscience is Self-Eliminatingand Pathogenic
The genes of those with the conscience to restrict their uses of the Commons or to restrict their breeding will sooner (themselves) or later (their lack of offspring) be eliminated from the population.
Mutual CoercionMutually Agreed Upon
We institute … taxes and other coercive devices toescape the horror of the Commons
Recognition of Necessity
The Commons is justifiable only under conditions of low population density
Injustice is preferably to total ruin
Freedom is the recognition of necessity(Hardin Quoting Hegel)
Tragedy of the Anticommons
The existence of numerous rights-holders impedesthe attainment of a socially desirable outcome
Patents
Permits
Biodiversity Access
The Ingredients for Avoiding a Tragedy of the Commons:
Elinor Ostrom
1. The nature of the resource
2. Recognition of resource depletion
3. Nature of the community:
“Small and stable populations with a thick social network and social norms promoting conservation do better”
The Bermuda Fisheries: A Tragedy of the Commons
Averted?
James Butler
James Burnett-Herkes
John Barnes
Jack Ward
Where?
The Bermuda Fisheries: A Tragedy of the Commons Averted?
Background:
1. A Problem Perceived
2.A Study Undertaken
3. A Policy Changed
The Ingredients for A Tragedy of the Commons
The Ingredients for Avoiding a Tragedy of the Commons:
Elinor Ostrom
1. The nature of the resource
2. Recognition of resource depletion
3. Nature of the community:
“Small and stable populations with a thick social network and social norms promoting conservation do better”
Prior to 1970:
Resource was in excess of the demand.
A “Commons” use of the resource seemed OK.
Policy was to increase fisheries activity.
In 1975:
Policy was to “exploit the harvestable resourcesto their maximum sustainable levels”
Estimated Trophic Position
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
Kole Aweoweo Roi
Estimated TP from AA-CSIA
Parrotfish Snapper Grouper
x
x
X Hamlet
o
o
o
o
1980 and 1984 attempts to regulate the use of fish pots, but problems remained:
Pots were too indiscriminately efficient
Pot fishery was too difficult to police
Fishermen used more pots than they were allotted - and tagged their illegal pots with other fisher’s names!
Fishermen took other fisher’s pots
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
1980 and 1984 attempts to regulate the use of fish pots, but problems remained:
Pots were too indiscriminately efficient
Pot fishery was too difficult to police
Fishermen used more pots than they were allotted - and tagged their illegal pots with other fisher’s names!
Fishermen took other fisher’s pots
I. Reporting and Measurement Issues
“I Fish, Therefore I Lie”
1980s: A growth in the use of the resource by other economic interests.
Tourism: Scuba, Snorkel, Glass-Bottom Boat
Charter fishermen found their interests alignedmore with tourism than with commercialfishing
1990:Anne Cartwright DeCouto moves the Fish Pot Ban through Parliament
Fish Pots redeemed by the government for substantial cash compensation
1991 and beyond:
Fish Pot ban to be permanent
Reef fishery goal to be “obtaining the maximum yield of fish consistent with the conservation of resources for other users."
In short, “Fish to well below the MSY”
The Bermuda Example of Averting a “Tragedy of the Commons”
Made possible by a fortuitous set of circumstances:
A. Affluence
B. Isolation
C. Changing Economic Interests
D. An Advantageous Political Environment
The Ingredients for Avoiding a Tragedy of the Commons:
Elinor Ostrom
1. The nature of the resource
2. Recognition of resource depletion
3. Nature of the community:
“Small and stable populations with a thick social network and social norms promoting conservation do better”
Garrett Hardin: Summary and Epilogue
He was a controversial misanthrope, and he loved it:
A. Right-wing ideologues hated him because ofhis ideas on population control - he promoted contraception and abortion.
B. Left-wing ideologues hated him because of his “lifeboat” mentality - he favoured strict controls on immigration, and opposed humanitarian foreign aid.
C. He did his part to reduce human population.
Pioneering professor, wife die in apparent double suicideby Scott Steepleton
September 18, 2003
Garrett James Hardin, a pioneer in the field of population's effect on Earth, died over the weekend along with his wife in an apparent double suicide.
The bodies of Mr. Hardin and his wife, Jane, were found inside their Santa Barbara home Sunday. Mr. Hardin was a professor emeritus at UCSB whose groundbreaking 1968 essay "The Tragedy of the Commons" put forth the notion that human misery would increase greatly without the recognition that livable space on Earth is finite.
