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Section 1.5: Inter-generation versus Intra-generation Equity
The assumption behind this approach is that common property resources are
generally over-exploited and consumed in an unsustainable manner. Privatization
of the CPRs is therefore suggested as a possible solution to check their degradation
and ensure their physical rehabilitation. The crux of the argument is that intra-
generation inequity is a necessary cost to prevent the emergence of inter-generation
inequity.
This argument is based on the “Tragedy of the Commons” paradigm. Early writers on
the commons believed that the inability to apply the exclusion principle due to the
high cost involved would lead to the entry of users beyond the optimal level. This
would lead to the dissipation of responsibility of maintaining and conserving the
resource, and lead to their over-exploitation and ultimate degradation. The most
influential statement – and, indeed, the coining of the term ”Tragedy of the
Commons” was made by Garett Hardin (1968), based on an analysis of the
destruction of the common grazing lands of Medieval England.
The “Tragedy of the Commons” model had a strong influence on economists and
policy makers in the 1960 and 1970s. In fact, we can even find remnant of this
influence in, for instance, the writings of Gabriela Chicilinsky (1994), and in some of
the modern day legislation relating to forests (Baland and Platteau, 1994). However,
despite it’s popularity, there were some weaknesses in the conceptual underpinnings
of the model.
Section 1.6: Open Access versus Community Based
Management
The traditional approach to the commons dilemma assumes that common property
resources are not owned by any one: they are free goods, or non-property 1 . This
approach views CPRs as open access (res nullius) resources freely available to all
users. In the case of such goods there is an absence of attenuation so that over-
consumption of such resources may occur.
1 Goods “owned by no one and belonging to every one”, as defined NOAA (1985) Fishery Management -
Lessons From Other Research Management Areas. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
Washington D.C.; qtd. in Berkes (1989).
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