The Tragedy of the Commons: The Political Commons
I first came across the problem (tragedy) of the commons in a political science course in grad school. We read a remarkable work by Elinor Ostrom about the problem. Her work both resonated with me and left me looking for…
The Tragedy of the Commons: Rational Actor
This is a follow on to Tragedy of the Commons: The Political Commons. It specifically looks at the rationality implied in Ostrom’s 8 points and the Rational Actor/Choice, Game, and Agency theories. What happens if the rational hypothesis fails…