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Tutorial 8 Introduction to Tragedy of Commons & Externality debates 15 May 2020

You need to download the following documents

Tragedy of the Commons

Hardin G. 1968 The Tragedy of the Commons New Series, Vol. 162, No. 3859 (Dec. 13, 1968), pp. 1243-1248

Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science



Tragedy of the commons From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia.

Wikipedia contributors. Tragedy of the commons [Internet]. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopaedia; 2020 Apr 26, 18:20 UTC [cited 2020 Apr 28]. Available from:

Tragedy of the Commons

|In summary the tragedy of the commons has result in many Governments opting to go from privatisation of natural resources this was very clearly documented in|

|the Netflix Series Rotten Season 1 Episode 6 Entitled “Cod Is Dead” which specifically explores the flaws in applying catch shares. |

| |

|This documentary focuses on the domestic seafood industry, and the business and regulatory climate that has made it increasingly difficult for fishermen to |

|make a living. Special focus is given to the ongoing fallout from the Carlos Rafael seafood fraud case and the continuing impact of the controversial catch |

|share management system. |

|The episode interviews fishermen, scientists, environmentalists, and other stakeholders, with special emphasis placed on industry members in New Bedford, |

|Massachusetts. The full list of interviewees is: |

|Steve Welch – Commercial Fishing Captain |

|Richard Canastra – Co-Owner, The Whaling City Seafood Display Auction |

|Peter Baker – Director, U.S. Ocean Conservation-Northeast, The Pew Charitable Trust |

|Ian Saunders – New Bedford Dock Worker |

|Dr. Jonathan Hare – Science and Research Director, Northeast Fisheries Science Center |

|Seth Macinko – Professor of Marine Affairs, University of Rhode Island |

|Aaron Williams – Commercial Fishing Captain |

|Scott Lang – Former Mayor of New Bedford/Lawyer |

|Jake Kritzer – Director of Fishery Diagnostics and Design, Environmental Defense Fund |

|Tor Bendikson – Vice President, Reidar’s Trawl Gear & Marine Supply |

|Arthur Bogason – Chairmen, Icelandic National Association of Small Boat Owners |

|Ragnar Arnason – Professor of Economics, University of Iceland |

|Charles Smith – U.S. Coast Guard |

|Tom Williams – Commercial Fishing Vessel Owner |

|Rotten is available now on Netflix |

|You don’t need to watch this documentary ….. it is not necessary to watch but those that have Netflix and are interested in the topic it is a very good |

|documentary on applying privatising issues to goods that should be communally owned. I highly recommend viewing of this documentary if you can. |

Most governments have applied the idea of privatisation of resources that are potentially over-exploit ed so it goes beyond live stock in communally owned or state own commonage, or fish in the ocean or wood resources in a forest. This is often translated into “Catch Shares” see the article in Wikipedia.

Wikipedia contributors. Catch share [Internet]. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2020 Apr 13, 01:56 UTC [cited 2020 Apr 28]. Available from:



Elinor Ostrom Critique of Harding’s Tragedy of the Commons

Elinor Claire "Lin" Ostrom (née Awan; August 7, 1933 – June 12, 2012) was an American political economist whose work was associated with the New Institutional Economics and the resurgence of political economy.

In 2009, she was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for her "analysis of economic governance, especially the commons", which she shared with Oliver E. Williamson.

As background to the the tutorial please go through her biography found at Wikipedia.

Wikipedia contributors. Elinor Ostrom [Internet]. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2020 Apr 26, 21:27 UTC [cited 2020 Apr 28]. Available from:

Her last lecture was just weeks before her death and was presented in 2012 Hayek Lecture: Prof Elinor Ostrom and speaks on market failure and government regulation.

(For students who have limited Internet Access I have extracted the audio file which is loaded on the

There is also a good slide presentation of Ostrom’s ideas at the following link:



Ostrom received the Nobel Prize largely based on "her analysis of economic governance", and demonstrates how common property could be successfully managed by groups using it.

One of her most influential publications is

Ostrom E 2009 A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems SCIENCE VOL 325



Full article can be found here:



ESS211 Tutorial 8 Declaration and assessment criteria

Date Due 15 May 17h00.   Please submit electronically to ess211uwc.ac.za - please make sure your assignment is named with the following structure ESS211_Tut8_surname_student# so for me using my staff number it would look like this ESS211_Tut8_Knight_980994 Also ensure you have attached the completed form below.

I have gone through

| Topics |URL |Tick here |

|Garret Hardin’s |Read through the original 1968 Article | |  |

|Original |entitled The Tragedy of the Commons | | |

|Ideas | | | |

| |Read through the Wikipedia article on | |  |

| |the Tragedy of the Commons | | |

|Implementation |Catch share | |  |

|Ostrom |A General Framework for Analyzing |  |

| |Sustainability of Social-Ecological |strom%2Ce_a_general_framework_for_analyzing_sustainability_of_social.pdf | |

| |Systems | | |

| |Ostrom’s Background | | |

|Ostrom’s Last Public|Either view on YouTube or listen to the| (Video) | |

|Lecture |Audio clip uploaded to | | |

| | | |

| | |linor%20Ostrom%20speaks%20on%20market%20failure%20and%20government%20regulation.mp3 | |

| | |(Audio) | |

|PDF Explaining |Presentation of Ostrom’s ideas by |  |

|Ostrom’s Ideas |Danielle V. Dolan April 17, 2014 ESP |Ostrum%20Article%20Presentation.pdf | |

| |212B | | |

|Essay Writing |Preparation of Essays for Environmental| |  |

|Guidelines |and Sustainability Studies.doc | | |

| | |Preparation of Essays for Environmental and Sustainability Studies 2020.doc | |

| | | | |

All of the material (except the Video) can be downloaded from the following link:

I consulted the above material in the preparation of my ESS211 Tutorial 8 and I declare the work to be my own and original.

Name_________________________ _____________         Student Number _______________ Signature__________________________

TASK: Prepare a 3000 word essay: Review the contribution of Hardin and Ostrom to the management of communal natural resources and the governmental implications of these. Please note: Hardin never directly advocated that communal resources should be privatised. Governments have conveniently used his ideas to advance their own political agendas for privatising and possibly even profiteering. There is enough material for your essay without necessarily needing additional references, should wish to use additional references you may do so. Please cite your references, however due to the nature of the pandemic and THAT not everyone has good access to the Internet referencing WILL NOT form part of the assessment criteria. Due date: 15 May 2020

Grading Criteria: Review the contribution of Hardin and Ostrom to the management of communal natural resources and the governmental implications of these

|Assessment of the Essay |Allocation |

|Clearly stated Introduction. |    /10 |

|Body is well developed with all aspects laid out in a detailed organized structure. |   /60 |

|All information is accurate. |   /10 |

|Provided information has insight. |   /10 |

|The writing is free for spelling and grammatical errors. |   /10 |

|Total  Percentage |/100 |

|Comments: |

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