GEOG 106 Lecture Notes - Lecture 30: Excludability, Resource Management
Document Summary
Common property resources: excludability (or control of access): Controlling access by potential users may be costly and/or virtually impossible. Example: migratory resources (fish, wildlife, groundwater: subtractability: Each user is capable of subtracting from welfare of other users. Exploitation by one user adversely affects the ability of another user to exploit the resource. Tragedy of open access: when individual makes use of a non- private resource, individual will overuse the resource (receiving benefits, only a small part of drawbacks) Ex. allowing open access to world"s scarce resources = perverse incentives, using resources without full cost of their actions. Hardin"s possible and preferred solutions: promoting a conscience among resource users but self- interest is greater than interest to cooperate, government regulations: but this requires a bureaucracy, privatization: may not seem just . Two people suspected of committing a serious crime. Police do not know who committed the serious crime; ask the otherto implicate each other (simultaneously)
