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Coping with Tragedies of the Commons

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dc.contributor.author Ostrom, Elinor
dc.date.accessioned 2010-06-21T19:54:46Z
dc.date.available 2010-06-21T19:54:46Z
dc.date.issued 1998 en_US
dc.identifier.uri https://hdl.handle.net/10535/5876
dc.description.abstract "Contemporary policy analysis of the governance of common-pool resources is based on three core assumptions that (1) resource users are norm-free maximizers of immediate gains who will not cooperate to overcome the commons dilemmas they face, (2) designing rules to change incentives of participants is a relatively simple analytical task, and (3) organization itself requires central direction. The paper shows that these assumptions are wrong and a poor foundation for policy analysis. Findings from carefully controlled laboratory experiments are summarized that challenge the first assumption. A different assumption that humans are fallible, boundedly rational, and norm-using is adopted. The complexity of using rules as tools to change the structure of commons dilemmas is then discussed, drawing on extensive research on rules in field settings. Viewing all policies as experiments with a probability of failure, recent research on a different form of general organization—that of complex adaptive systems—is applied to the process of changing rules. The last sections examine the capabilities and limits of a series of completely independent resource governance systems and the importance of encouraging the evolution of polycentric governance systems." en_US
dc.language English en_US
dc.relation.ispartofseries Workshop Working Paper W98-24 en_US
dc.subject tragedy of the commons en_US
dc.subject self-governance en_US
dc.subject game theory en_US
dc.subject common pool resources--theory en_US
dc.subject Workshop en_US
dc.title Coping with Tragedies of the Commons en_US
dc.type Working Paper en_US
dc.type.methodology Theory en_US
dc.publisher.workingpaperseries Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN en_US
dc.subject.sector Theory en_US


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