Social Cooperation in Autonomous Agents to Avoid the Tragedy of the Commons

In this paper, we address the “Tragedy of the Commons” (TOC) problem for shared-resource systems by considering different types of behaviors of agents. On one extreme are self-interested agents while on the other one, agents are concerned about the welfare of the society. Algorithms to capture the different behaviors of the agents with and without interaction among the agents are proposed. An extensive experimental analysis for the different cases has been carried out as well as comparisons of our algorithms with an existing approach. Our study shows that if the agents are willing to sacrifice for some period of time, the sustainability of the society increases considerably.

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Sustainability as the Multigenerational Public Interest

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199941339.013.29 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Bryan G. Norton

Keyword(s):

Public Interest ◽

Tragedy Of The Commons ◽

The Other ◽

Deliberative Process ◽

Weak Sustainability ◽

Strong Sustainability ◽

The Commons ◽

The Difference ◽

Turf Wars

The concept of sustainability has become an important—and contested—term in politics prior to its being given a clear, academic meaning, resulting in disciplinary turf wars over defining the term. The conflict, with mainly economists on one side and ecologists and philosophers on the other, has centered on the difference between “strong” and “weak” sustainability. Weak sustainability requires only the protection of wealth across generations, while strong sustainability requires also the protection of ecophysical features of the environment. It is shown that weak sustainability, and solutions meant to achieve it, when applied to the parable of the tragedy of the commons, cannot protect resources whether owned or held in common. A communitarian approach, joined with an idea of communities as multigenerational entities and a commitment to a deliberative process seeking sustainability, can track a path toward strong sustainability.

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Internet Security And The Tragedy Of The Commons

Journal of Business & Economics Research (JBER) ◽

10.19030/jber.v1i11.3070 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1 (11) ◽

Author(s):

Chris Rose ◽

Jean Gordon

Keyword(s):

Tragedy Of The Commons ◽

Internet Security ◽

The Internet ◽

Shared Resource ◽

Internet Resources ◽

Security Models ◽

The Commons ◽

The Individual ◽

The Cost ◽

Average User

The size, complexity and growth of the Internet have caused numerous security problems for the average user because of the seemingly insurmountable task of securing their computers. Internet security has traditionally been thought of as requiring formal security solutions such as cryptography, firewalls and prescribed security models, but in fact most Internet security problems continue to be caused by users of the system who have no incentive to modify their behavior. Internet security is a shared resource and as such it is affected by the tragedy of the commons whereby inactions by some users cause their computers to consume more Internet resources and this causes further deterioration of the network. For example, why should the rest of the Internet continue to suffer because some users have yet to patch their computers from the Code Red worm of many years ago? We propose that the cost of Internet security should be the responsibility of the individual users and a sum of money should be held in deposit for every user of the Internet before they are allowed to join the network and this should be forfeited if inaction from these users then cause network degradation.

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Can the Tragedy of the Commons be Avoided in Common-Pool Forage Resource Systems? An Application to Small-Holder Herding in the Semi-Arid Grazing Lands of Nigeria

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12155947 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (15) ◽

pp. 5947

Author(s):

Rhoda F. Aderinto ◽

J. Alfonso Ortega-S. ◽

Ambrose O. Anoruo ◽

Richard Machen ◽

Benjamin L. Turner

Keyword(s):

Political Stability ◽

Tragedy Of The Commons ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Labor Costs ◽

Common Pool ◽

Market Expansion ◽

The Commons ◽

Grazing Lands ◽

The Impact ◽

Resource Systems

There exist common-pool resource systems where it is difficult to prevent prospective beneficiaries from receiving profits from the use or harvest of shared resources, and they are often subject to continual utilization, leading to resource degradation and economic erosion (a behavior known as the ‘tragedy of the commons’). Nigerian nomadic grazing systems currently undergoing the tragedy of the commons pose a great challenge to agrarian communities, herders and political stability throughout the country due to violent conflicts and property destruction as herders migrate in search of forage resources for livestock. We modeled these dynamics in order to better understand the Nigerian grazing lands, with the objective of identifying potential leverage points capable of reversing overgrazing-induced forage degradation, in order to ensure a sustainable livestock production sector. Model what-if experiments (crop restrictions, crop marketing and increased labor costs) were run, resulting in partial solutions that were effective only in the short-term or limited in geographic-scope. A sustainable solution should include a combination of strategies, as the impact of one strategy alone cannot effectively resolve these Nigerian grazing issues (e.g., collaboration between farmers, herdsmen and government stakeholders to increase market integration via crop market expansion while simultaneously providing forage regeneration time for grazing lands). The resulting model could be used by Nigerian policy-makers to evaluate the long-term effects of decisions which were previously unexplored.

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Preserving the Commons in Private Cluster-Home Developments

Practicing Anthropology ◽

10.17730/praa.14.4.r438501623h87114 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 9-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Honggang Yang

Keyword(s):

Natural Resources ◽

Tragedy Of The Commons ◽

Private Ownership ◽

Irrigation Systems ◽

The World ◽

Different Types ◽

The Commons ◽

Garrett Hardin ◽

Grazing Lands ◽

Freedom Of Action

The thesis of "The Tragedy of the Commons," as developed and popularized by ecologist Garrett Hardin (Science 162, 1968), is a striking recognition of the dangers of freedom of action in an environment which is limited. The "commons" consists of those resources that are needed but are not or can not be assigned private ownership. The concept applies throughout the world and over many different types of resources, such as fisheries, forests, grazing lands, and irrigation systems. Hardin studied the eroding situation of American communal and natural resources and found that "freedom in a commons brings ruin to all."

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