Is the 'Tragedy of the Commons' a Myth?

Examples from around the world showing that the popular theory often doesn't hold up present powerful implications for commons management.

2 minute read

May 11, 2021, 8:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


The concept of the "tragedy of the commons," developed in 1968 by Garrett Hardin, goes like this: "humans, when left to their own devices, compete with one another for resources until the resources run out." Writing in Aeon, Michelle Nijhuis argues that this popular theory, which has since "provided a temptingly simple explanation for catastrophes of all kinds," is "a false and dangerous myth."

Political scientist Elinor Ostrom, who went on to win the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2009—decades after her pioneering research—found examples from around the world that contradicted Hardin's hypothesis that "[f]reedom in a commons brings ruin to all."

"While Hardin speculated that the tragedy of the commons could be avoided only through total privatisation or total government control, Ostrom had witnessed groundwater users near her native Los Angeles hammer out a system for sharing their coveted resource. Over the next several decades, as a professor at Indiana University Bloomington, she studied collaborative management systems developed by cattle herders in Switzerland, forest dwellers in Japan, and irrigators in the Philippines. These communities had found ways of both preserving a shared resource – pasture, trees, water – and providing their members with a living."

The successful communities, Ostrom observed, featured some similarities: "clear boundaries (the ‘community’ doing the managing must be well-defined); reliable monitoring of the shared resource; a reasonable balance of costs and benefits for participants; a predictable process for the fast and fair resolution of conflicts; an escalating series of punishments for cheaters; and good relationships between the community and other layers of authority, from household heads to international institutions."

Ostrom's research has powerful implications for the field of commons management, an increasingly important aspect of a globalized world facing the threat of destabilizing climate change and other conservation challenges. "While conservation almost always carries at least some short-term costs, researchers have found that many community-based conservation projects reduce those costs and, over time, deliver significant benefits to their human participants, tangible and intangible alike."

Tuesday, May 4, 2021 in Aeon

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Bird's eye view of manufactured home park.

Manufactured Crisis: Losing the Nation’s Largest Source of Unsubsidized Affordable Housing

Manufactured housing communities have long been an affordable housing option for millions of people living in the U.S., but that affordability is disappearing rapidly. How did we get here?

March 25, 2025 - Shelterforce

U-Haul truck on road with blurred grassy roadside in background.

Americans May Be Stuck — But Why?

Americans are moving a lot less than they once did, and that is a problem. While Yoni Applebaum, in his highly-publicized article Stuck, gets the reasons badly wrong, it's still important to ask: why are we moving so much less than before?

March 27, 2025 - Alan Mallach

Rusty abandoned oil well and equipment with prickly pear cactus next to it in West Texas.

Using Old Oil and Gas Wells for Green Energy Storage

Penn State researchers have found that repurposing abandoned oil and gas wells for geothermal-assisted compressed-air energy storage can boost efficiency, reduce environmental risks, and support clean energy and job transitions.

March 31, 2025 - Pennsylvania State University

Downtown Los Angeles skyline viewed from a distance with freeway and trees in foreground.

Updating LA’s Tree Rules Could Bring More Shade to Underserved Neighborhoods

A new USC study finds that relaxing Los Angeles’ outdated tree planting guidelines could significantly expand urban tree canopy and reduce shade disparities in lower-income neighborhoods, though infrastructure investments are also needed.

5 seconds ago - USC Dornsife

Aerial view of Claifornia aqueduct with green orchard on one side.

California's Canal Solar Projects Aim to Conserve Resources and Expand Clean Energy

California’s Project Nexus has begun generating electricity from solar panels installed over irrigation canals, with researchers and state agencies exploring statewide expansion to conserve water and boost clean energy production.

1 hour ago - Turlock Journal

Close-up of older woman's hands resting on white modern heating radiator mounted on wall indoors.

HHS Staff Cuts Gut Energy Assistance Program

The full staff of a federal program that distributes heating and cooling assistance for low-income families was laid off, jeopardizing the program’s operations.

2 hours ago - The New York Times