Tragedy of Commons

Tragedy of Commons
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Institution: The tragedy of commons can be explained as a situation in which people who share a resource over exploit it and as a result, the resource becomes depleted. According to Ponce, the term ‘share’ means that none of the parties can claim ownership of the resource. Ponce attributes the overexploitation of such resources to the fact that there lacks regulation on the usage and therefore, individuals lack limitation on the extent to which they should utilize the resource. Hardin (1968) presents an interesting concept of viewing the tragedy of commons. He implies that the term ‘commons’ can be metaphorically applied to almost all resources provided by nature. Hardin further suggests that the solution to such a problem rests not on the commons but on the parties that are entrusted with limiting the use of these resources.
The solutions to the tragedy of the commons rest not with the resources too. According to Mcardle (2012), if overgrazing is a problem, then the solution rests not with the pasture rather with the herder. That is, every herder’s aim is to maximise the use of pasture to their own benefit, bringing about the aspect of self-interest; this presents a clear situation of the tragedy of commons. If parties in charge of regulating the grazing ground do not step in and institute measures that will regulate its usage, then the pasture shall be overexploited to the point of depletion. According to Mcardle (20…