Sustainable finance
Tragedy of the Commons
Definition
The tragedy of the commons is Garrett Hardin's 1968 model of a shared, open-access resource — a pasture, fishery, or the atmosphere — in which each user gains the full benefit of additional use while costs are shared by all, making overuse individually rational and collectively ruinous. Hardin prescribed privatisation or state control; Elinor Ostrom's Nobel-winning work showed that real communities worldwide govern commons sustainably through rules, monitoring and graduated sanctions, identifying the design principles of successful commons governance.
References
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This reference provides supporting context for how “Tragedy of the Commons” is defined and used.
Overview
How it is used
The model structures common-pool resource theory, fisheries and groundwater governance, climate negotiation analysis and debates on global commons management.
Why it matters
The tragedy of the commons is the master problem of sustainability; Ostrom's answer — governance, not inevitability — is the master hope.