Under what circumstances will villagers co-operate to supply themselves with goods and
services that they all need but could not provide for themselves individually? In what
circumstances are those who face a potential 'tragedy of the commons' able to organise a
system of rules by which the tragedy is averted?
Many writers on collective action and common property consider that these circumstances
are very limited. A long line of collective action theorists has argued that people
placed in a situation in which they could all benefit from co-operation will be unlikely to
co-operate in the absence of an external enforcer of agreements. An equally long line of
theorists on property rights has argued that common property resources are bound to be
over-exploited as demand rises.
In my view the only solution is private enclosure.
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