The Origins of Institutions for Collective Action in Common-Pool Resource Situations

Abstract

"Considerable attention has been paid by the authors of the case studies to the problems of collective action in relation to common-pool resources. Accepted theories of collective action appear to conclude that individuals using a common-pool resource are locked into a struggle leading to the destruction of the very resource on which their livelihood depends. Several cases, however, have described situations where individuals using a common-pool resource have devised their own customs or rules to limit individual actions in ways that avoid the tragedy of the commons. Other cases illustrate what the accepted theories predict--resource systems that are over-used and whose capability to sustain a productive flow of resource units into the future is seriously endangered."