The 'Tragedy of the Commons' describes a situation where individuals acting in their own self-interest deplete a shared, ___ resource.
- long
- rivalrous (or unregulated common)
- six
- Pigouvian
Answer: rivalrous (or unregulated common)
Coined by Garrett Hardin, this concept applies to common-pool resources like fisheries or grazing land, which are rivalrous (one's use reduces another's) but non-excludable. Without property rights or regulation, individuals overconsume, leading to the eventual destruction of the resource for everyone.