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/. . . outweighs the reduction in growth due to extra grazing Necessary outcome: overexploitation overgrazing 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 ownership 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 ownership 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 ownership 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, or 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, or 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, or 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