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The Tragedy of the Commons: Institutions and Fisheries Management at the Local and EU Levels

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  • Rouba Al-Fattal

Abstract

Garrett Hardin's Tragedy of the Commons argument states that resources held in common will inevitably suffer overexploitation and degradation. However, recent contradicting evidence has led theorists to question the soundness of this claim. This paper assesses the accuracy and predictive success of the six essential assumptions of Hardin's approach. The aim of the paper is to compare the functioning of the tragedy of the commons approach at the local and the international levels, in order to demonstrate that the context we choose affects the applicability of the hypothesis in explaining policy outcomes. The paper compares the validity of the tragedy of the commons hypothesis in three marine cases: California fisheries, modern Oregon fisheries and European Union Common Fisheries Policy. We find that at the local level the tragedy of the commons can be mitigated when a co-management of institutions is achieved, while the EU case shows that the tragedy of the commons is a realistic prediction when dealing with international institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Rouba Al-Fattal, 2009. "The Tragedy of the Commons: Institutions and Fisheries Management at the Local and EU Levels," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 537-547.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:21:y:2009:i:4:p:537-547
    DOI: 10.1080/09538250903214834
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David Feeny & Susan Hanna & Arthur F. McEvoy, 1996. "Questioning the Assumptions of the "Tragedy of the Commons" Model of Fisheries," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 72(2), pages 187-205.
    2. Dexter C. Payne, 2000. "Policy‐making in Nested Institutions: Explaining the Conservation Failure of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 303-324, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Pedro Valadas Monteiro, 2016. "Managing Scarce Resources and Sensitive Ecosystems: Assessing the Role of CFP in the Development of Portuguese Fisheries," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(04), pages 1-30, December.
    2. Hiroaki Hayakawa, 2017. "The tragedy of the commons: the logic of entry and the dynamic process under two scenarios," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 7(3), pages 311-328, December.

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