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The Tradeoff of the Commons


Alan D. Miller


University of Haifa - Faculty of Law; University of Haifa - Department of Economics

R. Preston McAfee


Yahoo! Research Labs
March 15, 2012

Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 96, No. 3-4, 2012

Abstract:     
We develop a model of scarce, renewable resources to study the commons problem. We show that, contrary to conventional wisdom, property rights can often be less efficient than a commons. In particular, we study two effects: (1) waste which arises when individuals expend resources to use a resource unavailable due to congestion and (2) the risk of underutilization of the resource. We provide necessary and sufficient conditions for each effect to dominate the other when the cost of determining the availability of a resource is low.

Keywords: Tragedy of the Commons, Spectrum, Open Access, Appointments, Property Rights, Reservations

JEL Classification: D23, D45, K23

Accepted Paper Series


Date posted: November 4, 2010 ; Last revised: May 24, 2012

Suggested Citation

Miller, Alan D. and McAfee, R. Preston, The Tradeoff of the Commons (March 15, 2012). Journal of Public Economics, Vol. 96, No. 3-4, 2012. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1702783 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1702783

Contact Information

Alan D. Miller (Contact Author)
University of Haifa - Faculty of Law ( email )
Mount Carmel
Haifa, 31905
Israel
+972-52-503-9259 (Phone)
HOME PAGE: http://econ.haifa.ac.il/~admiller
University of Haifa - Department of Economics ( email )
Haifa 31905
Israel
+972-52-503-9259 (Phone)
HOME PAGE: http://econ.haifa.ac.il/~admiller
Randolph Preston McAfee
Yahoo! Research Labs ( email )
Pasadena, CA 91103
United States
Feedback to SSRN (Beta)


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