Property and Legal Institutions
Introductory
Tragedy of the Commons
A resource-use problem in which open access gives each user an incentive to overuse a shared resource.
Why It Matters
The concept helps evaluate property rights, regulation, collective governance, financial commons, information commons, and institutional responses to overuse.
Selected Literature
A short list of directly relevant archive entries.
1960
Introductory
1967
Intermediate
1991
Advanced
2016
Advanced
Related Cases
1707
Foundations of Law and Economics
Keeble v. Hickeringill
11 East 574, 103 Eng. Rep. 1127 (K.B. 1707)
Property protection, malicious interference, and incentives to make productive use of land.
1805
Foundations of Law and Economics
Pierson v. Post
3 Cai. R. 175 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1805)
First possession, capture rules, and the administrability of property rights in wild animals.
1879
Foundations of Law and Economics
Sturges v. Bridgman
11 Ch. D. 852 (1879)
Nuisance, coming to the nuisance, and reciprocal conflicts over incompatible land uses.
1972
Foundations of Law and Economics
Spur Industries, Inc. v. Del E. Webb Development Co.
108 Ariz. 178, 494 P.2d 700 (1972)
Coming to the nuisance, injunctions, and indemnity for relocating incompatible land uses.