Common resources, such as forests, rivers, and irrigation canals, are accessible to the public and vulnerable to overuse. Greed and a lack of understanding of resource limits can lead to the tragedy of the commons and the free rider problem. Disputes over resource use can be contentious, and privatization can limit access.
A common resource is a resource that is easily accessible to all members of the public who wish to obtain benefits from it. Some examples are natural, such as forests, rivers and lakes. Others are man-made, such as irrigation canals and reservoirs. With a common resource, limiting availability would be difficult, and members of the public could theoretically enjoy unlimited use. Those resources are vulnerable to overuse, a concern sometimes addressed with legislation and other measures intended to protect common resources.
A big problem with community resources is that greed on the part of individuals can ruin the resource for the community. In an example using public pastures, if a farmer chooses to graze more animals than his fair share, he will deplete the pasture, harming everyone’s livestock. On the other hand, if a sustainable number of livestock can be determined and the people sharing the land agree to limit their livestock to this number, everyone can enjoy the common resource, as well as preserve it for future generations.
In a situation known as the tragedy of the commons, the commons are destroyed by acts of greed or a lack of understanding of the limits of that resource. People may take too much water from a river, for example, without realizing that they’re basing their usage on water levels from flood years. In a situation known as the free rider problem, some people use more than their fair share of a common resource and everyone suffers because their overexploitation of the resource reduces the amount available to the community.
Humans have been exploiting common resources for thousands of years, and numerous studies have been conducted to learn more about how people interact with common resources. To this day, arguments between different groups over resource use can be highly contentious, as seen among nations with disputed resources along shared borders. The Colorado River in the United States, for example, is a heavily exploited common resource contested by multiple states, as well as Mexico. All claimants to the river’s water rely on it, forcing them to negotiate a just division of its contents.
The privatization of common resources is also a matter of concern in some areas of the world. While some resources are protected for use by the public, others can be purchased by private companies. People who have previously accessed a resource for free or at low cost may resent having to pay for it, and privatization may limit access to wealthier people.
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