Cooperation and the Commons Laboratory and Field Investigations of a Persistent Dilemma

In 1968, the biologist Garrett Hardin published a six-page article in Science entitled "The Tragedy of the Commons." Historically, the commons were public pastures in small communities on which local herders could freely graze their livestock. In such situations, it was in the self-interes...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inSocial Cognition, Social Identity, and Intergroup Relations pp. 297 - 317
Main Author Kramer, Roderick M.
Format Book Chapter
LanguageEnglish
Published Psychology Press 2011
Edition1
Subjects
Transactive Memory Systems
Social Identity Complexity
Marilynn Brewer
Basic Cognitive Processes
DEC PDP-1134
Stormfront Members
Vice Versa
In-group Positivity
ABM
Outgroup Negativity
Hot Potatoes
Optimal Distinctiveness
Informational Commons
FBI Field Office
FISA
Social Dominance Orientation
Out-group Negativity
Eventual Devastation
Ingroup Positivity
Intergroup Antipathies
Common Knowledge Effect
In-group Variation
Uncommon Categorization
Out-group Derogation
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:In 1968, the biologist Garrett Hardin published a six-page article in Science entitled "The Tragedy of the Commons." Historically, the commons were public pastures in small communities on which local herders could freely graze their livestock. In such situations, it was in the self-interest of each individual herder to graze as many animals as possible on the commons, since all of the profits from sale of the livestock accrued directly to the individual, while the costs of open grazing-measured in terms of damage to the commons-were shared by all of the herders. Yet, if all of the herders pursued their individually rational course of action, the result was the eventual devastation of the commons. Thus, individual rationality-perfectly sensible and sensibly pursued-led inexorably to collective folly.
ISBN:9781848729353
1848729359
DOI:10.4324/9780203816790-17