Question

In the "Tragedy of the Commons" one side of the argument says that the problem is that self-interest causes the competition for the resource to become predatory. Why?

Answer 1

Answer:-

A commons is a resource—that is to say, it is something that has economic value to human beings; it has intrinsic properties that, in relationship to human needs and human understandings of the resource have value. But a commons is a resource that is unowned. As unowned, no one can claim exclusive use to the resource. No one can stop anyone from using the resource if they so choose; that´s the unowned part of it.

The "tragedy of the commons" argument predicts the overexploitation of resources held in common. There is a great deal of evidence to the contrary. The descriptive accuracy and predictive validity of six categories of assumptions of the argument are examined. These include individual motivations, characteristics of individuals, nature of institutional arrangements, interactions among users, the ability of users to create new arrangements, and the behavior of regulatory authorities. The tragedy of the commons argument is seriously incomplete. It needs to be replaced by a richer and more accurate framework.