What Is the Tragedy of the Commons?
One person can rationally overuse a shared resource when the benefit is theirs and the costs are carried by all.
Video coming soon. The lesson video will appear here once it is published on YouTube.
Check yourself: sample questions
Think about each question, pick what you would answer if you like, then select “Show answer” to see the solution and why. Nothing is graded or sent to us. Example numbers are worked examples, not predictions.
1.What is the tragedy of the commons?
One person can rationally overuse a shared resource when the benefit is theirs and the costs are carried by all.
2.Who gave the idea its name, and when?
The thought is older than its name; Hardin later said the title should have been The Tragedy of the Unregulated Commons.
3.What does one herder gain and lose from one more cow?
So for each herder alone, adding a cow pays; economists call the shared part an external cost.
Full course: 5 more questions for this lesson
The full course unlocks all self-check questions of all 365 lessons, the daily plan, your progress and the printable learning record. Lessons 1 to 7 are completely free.
See the full course Start the free week
Already bought? Open the course on this device
Sources (4)
- Hardin, G.: The Tragedy of the Commons (Science, 13 December 1968; Textfassung
- Tragedy of the commons (Wikipedia)
- Elinor Ostrom (Wikipedia)
- Eigene Rechnung: synthetisches Weidebeispiel (Marge
Education only. Not financial advice.