English Explanatory Dictionary

tragedy of the commons

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A situation in which unmanaged use of a shared resource (such as the atmosphere or an ocean) by a number of participants results in the unintended ruin or total consumption of that resource.

Word forms

tragedy of the commons tragedies of the commons

Etymology

Coined by American ecologist Garrett Hardin in 1968.

Related words

anticommons commons free rider let George do it public good
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